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 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. 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. Additionally, the 2018 class of new coaches had another obstacle in their path to Signing Day. The 2018 signing class was the first to have an early signing date (Dec. 20), which left plenty of first-year coaches scrambling to fill out their allotment of scholarships.
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. 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 2018 recruited (all rankings and data from 247Sports Composite)
How College Football's New Coaches Recruited in 2018
ACC
| Team |
Total Signees |
National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Florida State | |||||
| Jimbo Fisher (2017) | 24 | 6 | 12 | 8 | 4 |
| Willie Taggart (2018) | 21 | 11 | 8 | 13 | 0 |
American
| Team |
Total Signees |
National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| UCF | |||||
| Scott Frost (2017) | 23 | 55 | 20 | 1 | 0 |
| Josh Heupel (2018) | 19 | 72 | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| Team |
Total Signees |
National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| SMU | |||||
| Chad Morris (2017) | 18 | 80 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Sonny Dykes (2018) | 18 | 89 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
Big Ten
| Team |
Total Signees |
National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Nebraska | |||||
| Mike Riley (2017) | 20 | 23 | 14 | 6 | 0 |
| Scott Frost (2018) | 24 | 22 | 18 | 6 | 0 |
Conference USA
| Team |
Total Signees |
National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Rice | |||||
| David Bailiff (2017) | 17 | 122 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Bloomgren (2018) | 18 | 116 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Team |
Total Signees |
National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| UTEP | |||||
| Sean Kugler (2017) | 17 | 133 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Dana Dimel (2018) | 15 | 132 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
MAC
| Team |
Total Signees |
National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Kent State | |||||
| Paul Haynes (2017) | 23 | 128 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Sean Lewis (2018) | 20 | 101 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
Pac-12
| Team |
Total Signees |
National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Arizona | |||||
| Rich Rodriguez (2017) | 27 | 45 | 24 | 1 | 0 |
| Kevin Sumlin (2018) | 21 | 58 | 21 | 0 | 0 |
| Team |
Total Signees |
National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Arizona State | |||||
| Todd Graham (2017) | 21 | 32 | 14 | 4 | 0 |
| Herm Edwards (2018) | 21 | 36 | 19 | 2 | 0 |
| Team |
Total Signees |
National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Oregon | |||||
| Willie Taggart (2017) | 25 | 19 | 20 | 5 | 0 |
| Mario Cristobal (2018) | 24 | 16 | 12 | 11 | 0 |
| Team |
Total Signees |
National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Oregon State | |||||
| Gary Andersen (2017) | 25 | 51 | 23 | 1 | 0 |
| Jonathan Smith (2018) | 21 | 70 | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| Team |
Total Signees |
National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| UCLA | |||||
| Jim Mora (2017) | 18 | 20 | 11 | 5 | 2 |
| Chip Kelly (2018) | 28 | 18 | 18 | 10 | 0 |
SEC
| Team |
Total Signees |
National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Arkansas | |||||
| Bret Bielema (2017) | 25 | 27 | 20 | 4 | 0 |
| Chad Morris (2018) | 16 | 55 | 14 | 2 | 0 |
| Team |
Total Signees |
National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Florida | |||||
| Jim McElwain (2017) | 23 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 0 |
| Dan Mullen (2018) | 19 | 14 | 7 | 12 | 0 |
| Team |
Total Signees |
National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Mississippi State | |||||
| Dan Mullen (2017) | 25 | 24 | 19 | 4 | 0 |
| Jim Moorhead (2018) | 23 | 27 | 17 | 6 | 0 |
| Team |
Total Signees |
National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Ole Miss | |||||
| Hugh Freeze (2017) | 23 | 31 | 19 | 3 | 0 |
| Matt Luke (2018) | 21 | 31 | 17 | 3 | 0 |
| Team |
Total Signees |
National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Tennessee | |||||
| Butch Jones (2017) | 28 | 17 | 23 | 4 | 1 |
| Jeremy Pruitt (2018) | 22 | 20 | 14 | 8 | 0 |
| Team |
Total Signees |
National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Texas A&M | |||||
| Kevin Sumlin (2017) | 28 | 13 | 20 | 8 | 0 |
| Jimbo Fisher (2018) | 23 | 17 | 10 | 13 | 0 |
Sun Belt
| Team |
Total Signees |
National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Georgia Southern | |||||
| Tyson Summers (2017) | 23 | 106 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Chad Lunsford (2018) | 22 | 87 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Team |
Total Signees |
National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| Louisiana | |||||
| Mark Hudspeth (2017) | 17 | 121 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy Napier (2018) | 14 | 123 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Team |
Total Signees |
National Rank | 3 Stars Signed | 4 Stars Signed | 5 Stars Signed |
| South Alabama | |||||
| Joey Jones (2017) | 16 | 116 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Campbell (2018) | 24 | 109 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
