How College Football's New Coaches Recruited in 2017
Ed Orgeron
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 130 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 2017 recruited (all rankings and data from 247Sports Composite)
Power 5 Conferences
Big 12
Team | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
Baylor |
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Art Briles (2016) | 18 | 41 | 13 | 2 | 0 |
Matt Rhule (2017) | 27 | 39 | 26 | 0 | 0 |
Team | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
Texas |
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Charlie Strong (2016) | 28 | 7 | 12 | 16 | 0 |
Tom Herman (2017) | 18 | 26 | 11 | 7 | 0 |
Big Ten
Team | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
Indiana |
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Kevin Wilson (2016) | 21 | 55 | 20 | 0 | 0 |
Tom Allen (2017) | 23 | 61 | 22 | 0 | 0 |
Team | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
Minnesota |
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Tracy Claeys (2016) | 21 | 46 | 19 | 1 | 0 |
P.J. Fleck (2017) | 26 | 57 | 25 | 0 | 0 |
Team | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
Purdue |
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Darrell Hazell (2016) | 23 | 80 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
Jeff Brohm (2017) | 21 | 69 | 18 | 0 | 0 |
Pac-12
Team | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
California |
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Sonny Dykes (2016) | 27 | 31 | 25 | 1 | 1 |
Justin Wilcox (2017) | 14 | 72 | 13 | 0 | 0 |
Team | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
Oregon |
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Mark Helfrich (2016) | 20 | 27 | 14 | 6 | 0 |
Willie Taggart (2017) | 24 | 20 | 19 | 5 | 0 |
SEC
Team | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
LSU |
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Les Miles (2016) | 26 | 3 | 8 | 16 | 2 |
Ed Orgeron (2017) | 24 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 1 |
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Group of 5
American Athletic Conference
Team | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
Cincinnati |
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Tommy Tuberville (2016) | 21 | 74 | 18 | 0 | 0 |
Luke Fickell (2017) | 23 | 67 | 17 | 1 | 0 |
Team | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
Houston |
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Tom Herman (2016) | 19 | 36 | 14 | 3 | 1 |
Major Applewhite (2017) | 20 | 68 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
Team | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
Temple |
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Matt Rhule (2016) | 28 | 58 | 16 | 1 | 0 |
Geoff Collins (2017) | 17 | 112 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
Team | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
UConn |
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Bob Diaco (2016) | 16 | 103 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
Randy Edsall (2017) | 19 | 97 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
Team | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
USF |
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Willie Taggart (2016) | 16 | 66 | 14 | 2 | 0 |
Charlie Strong (2017) | 18 | 75 | 13 | 0 | 0 |
Conference USA
Team | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
FAU |
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Charlie Partridge (2016) | 19 | 100 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
Lane Kiffin (2017) | 24 | 71 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
Team | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
FIU |
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Ron Turner (2016) | 26 | 101 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
Butch Davis (2017) | 28 | 77 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
Team | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
WKU |
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Jeff Brohm (2016) | 19 | 99 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
MIke Sanford (2017) | 19 | 84 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
MAC
Team | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
Western Michigan |
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P.J. Fleck (2016) | 27 | 71 | 19 | 0 | 0 |
Tim Lester (2017) | 22 | 89 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
Mountain West
Team | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
Fresno State |
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Tim DeRuyter (2016) | 24 | 85 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
Jeff Tedford (2017) | 21 | 101 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
Team | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
Nevada |
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Brian Polian (2016) | 22 | 104 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
Jay Norvell (2017) | 18 | 109 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
Team | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
San Jose State |
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Ron Caragher (2016) | 18 | 88 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
Brent Brennan (2017) | 24 | 103 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
Sun Belt
Team | Total | National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
Georgia State |
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Trent Miles (2016) | 21 | 125 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Shawn Elliott (2017) | 20 | 95 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
(Tom Herman photo courtesy of www.texassports.com)
