How did the new coaches perform on Signing Day?
Recruiting is the basic blueprint for any college football program. Building a winner starts on the recruiting trail, and the data is there to back up just how important Signing Day is to all 128 teams. Sure, there are going to be hits and misses in the team and player projections each season, but there’s plenty of accuracy and meaning behind the final rankings.
Recruiting isn’t just a one-month exercise, as coaches are essentially on the trail all year for multiple classes. Whether it's the junior college ranks or high school prospects, coaches are constantly looking for talent and their next standout players.
New coaches are often placed into a difficult position, as it takes a year or two to build relationships for a signing class. Most new coaches only have a couple of months (if that) to target their prospects to fit the new systems and fight for commitments on the recruiting trail.
We can’t read much into how new coaches recruited this season due to the short turnaround time. However, the numbers are certainly interesting. And it will be critical to see how these numbers change after each coach has a full year to recruit.
Let’s take a look at how the new coaches for 2016 recruited (all rankings and data from 247Sports Composite)
Power 5 Conferences
ACC |
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| Miami | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Al Golden (2015) | 22 | 26 | 15 | 6 | 0 |
| Mark Richt (2016) | 18 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 0 |
| Syracuse | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Scott Shafer (2015) | 29 | 58 | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| Dino Babers (2016) | 20 | 66 | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| Virginia | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Mike London (2015) | 23 | 50 | 22 | 1 | 0 |
| Bronco Mendenhall (2016) | 25 | 59 | 23 | 0 | 0 |
| Virginia Tech | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Frank Beamer (2015) | 24 | 29 | 20 | 4 | 0 |
| Justin Fuente (2016) | 21 | 41 | 19 | 1 | 0 |
Big 12 |
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| Iowa State | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Paul Rhoads (2015) | 24 | 66 | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt Campbell (2016) | 29 | 52 | 26 | 0 | 0 |
Big Ten |
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| Illinois | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Tim Beckman (2015) | 24 | 48 | 18 | 2 | 0 |
| Bill Cubit (2016) | 25 | 71 | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| Maryland | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Randy Edsall (2015) | 19 | 49 | 15 | 2 | 0 |
| D.J. Durkin (2016) | 21 | 42 | 14 | 3 | 0 |
| Minnesota | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Jerry Kill (2015) | 24 | 63 | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| Tracy Claeys (2016) | 20 | 48 | 18 | 1 | 0 |
| Rutgers | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Kyle Flood (2015) | 25 | 56 | 21 | 1 | 0 |
| Chris Ash (2016) | 17 | 74 | 13 | 0 | 0 |
Pac-12 |
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| USC | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Steve Sarkisian (2015) | 27 | 2 | 9 | 15 | 3 |
| Clay Helton (2016) | 20 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 2 |
SEC |
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| Georgia | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Mark Richt (2015) | 30 | 5 | 16 | 12 | 2 |
| Kirby Smart (2016) | 20 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 3 |
| Missouri | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Gary Pinkel (2015) | 24 | 25 | 20 | 2 | 1 |
| Barry Odom (2016) | 18 | 53 | 17 | 1 | 0 |
| South Carolina | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Steve Spurrier (2015) | 31 | 19 | 20 | 10 | 0 |
| Will Muschamp (2016) | 26 | 26 | 20 | 5 | 0 |
Independents |
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| BYU | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Bronco Mendenhall (2015) | 23 | 64 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| Kalani Sitake (2016) | 24 | 50 | 17 | 2 | 0 |
Group of 5 Conferences
American |
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| East Carolina | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Ruffin McNeill (2015) | 15 | 95 | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| Scottie Montgomery (2016) | 22 | 71 | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| Memphis | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Justin Fuente (2015) | 33 | 79 | 15 | 1 | 0 |
| Mike Norvell (2016) | 23 | 62 | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| Tulane | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Curtis Johnson (2015) | 19 | 93 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Willie Fritz (2016) | 25 | 86 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| UCF | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| George O'Leary (2015) | 18 | 72 | 15 | 1 | 0 |
| Scott Frost (2016) | 20 | 65 | 18 | 0 | 0 |
C-USA |
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| North Texas | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Dan McCarney (2015) | 25 | 94 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Seth Littrell (2016) | 17 | 106 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Southern Miss | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Todd Monken (2015) | 27 | 87 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Jay Hopson (2016) | 20 | 88 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| UTSA | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Larry Coker (2015) | 32 | 103 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Frank Wilson (2016) | 17 | 111 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
MAC |
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| Ball State | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Pete Lembo (2015) | 27 | 112 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Neu (2016) | 23 | 108 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Bowling Green | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Dino Babers (2015) | 24 | 110 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Jinks (2016) | 15 | 116 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Toledo | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Matt Campbell (2015) | 24 | 85 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Jason Candle (2016) | 22 | 93 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
Mountain West |
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| Hawaii | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Norm Chow (2015) | 14 | 123 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Nick Rolovich (2016) | 16 | 121 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
Sun Belt |
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| Georgia Southern | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Willie Fritz (2015) | 21 | 91 | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| Tyson Summers (2016) | 28 | 78 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| Texas State | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Dennis Franchione (2015) | 25 | 96 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Everett Withers (2016) | 24 | 105 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| ULM | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Todd Berry (2015) | 27 | 108 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt Viator (2016) | 19 | 122 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
