How would you grade the recruiting class?

[Bwilk55]

As the signing day is over for Texas and is wrapping up around the nation, I am curious as to how you all would grade this signing class.

The stats: We finished with 18 recruits, the 26th ranked class, with 7 4 stars and 11 3 stars. Our average grade was 87.51 (20th nationally). (All numbers from 24/7 composite, for comparison ESPN ranked our class 33rd, Rivals 28th - with 8 4 stars and 8 3 stars, with an avg of 3.3 for a rank of 16th).

So what grade would you give Herman and Co. for how they did with this class?

 

[oldhorn2]

I will save my grade until December

 

[sandman slim]

I will save my grade until December

Ooh so brave...

I would give UT a grade of C for this class. Some decent players but not too many all conference type talents. The good news for Texas is except for OU (A grade homerun class) the rest of the Big 12 didn't fair too well either.

 

[RoboCocks21]

Man who is this new troll? And another gooner....

 

[westx]

I would say B-. If we would have landed a top OL, I would give a B+. Texas filled it's real needs with top recruits (QB, RB, TE except more depth at OL. Our OL will be pretty good, but just lack the depth. We already have a good lot of DL, LBs, DBs, WRs.

 

[TexExSpur]

I'll give it a B, held on to prior staffs 6 commits. I would have said B+ had they added Chassion. But, It's a B based on holes in the roster.

Ehlinger and Graham were must

Added need at TE x 2, RB x 2 and a JUCO kicker to go along with the No.1 JUCO LB. All key additions from Herman within 6 weeks.

They know it's a win now situation and they attacked it as such.

Herman has had zero attrition thus far and there are currently 70 scholarship players on the roster, it's an 85 limit and he just added 18 plus a preferred walk on QB.

As for the troll above, OU (home run) is 27 kids deep, nothing more than a numbers game but a nice class.

 

[Godz40Acrez]

Gonna go way, way out on the ol' limb here... If ILB Gary Johnson ends up as good as I think he'll be and becomes the starting qb for the D this season, I'll give the class a hearty "A."

We have him for 3 seasons (tho he may be league-bound after 2).

 

[Cotton #12]

All recruiting classes really need to be judged 4 or 5 years from now,who starts,who does not stay,who makes all-conference,all-American or drops out.As Gary Patterson of TCU always remarks everyone is just "Paper Tigers" at the start but its ok to guess.

 

[freeper]

Maybe it's the fact that we just started a new semester and I'm being a grading hardass....but I call this a solid "C" effort....thoroughly underwhelming....

 

[TEKSIS]

I give this class a C minus. It plugged a few holes, but it's a watered down class.

"Herman said there’s validity to rankings and the correlation to on-field success. It exists. It’s real"

But like I said before, I'm not concerned. Strong left a lot of talent behind, and after Herman wins about 10 games this season, the recruits will come.

 

[outhereincali]

I say we did fine with this class. We signed 16 players if 6 of them make a positive contribution for the next 3 to 5 years than it's a good class. And besides the talent that's already here is legitimate.

Now here's where I want to talk about Tom Herman again. His first year at Houston he goes 13/1 including a 14 point win in the Peach Bowl over FSU and it wasn't that close. They did not have elite talent but this shows me that TH knows how to make players better than they are. With the chance to have a full year to recruit he signed the only 5* player that's not at a P5 school. And guess what? He made first team AA on the AP team, the most prestigious of all the AA teams. Still doubt he can't develop talent? I don't. And while they "only" went 9/3 last year two of those wins came against OK and LVL. In those games their defense shut down a couple of high powered offenses. And need I remind you that LVL had Lamar Jackson the Heisman winner. They shut him down, the game was't even close. Still doubt he can't inspire a team? I don't.

So we have a coach who develop talent, recruit top talent, and inspire a team, capable of taking them to the next level. He can obviously beat good teams. Finally, last year in SI's college fb preseason issue they had an article about Tom Herman. Braxton Miller, the qb on Ohio States nc team in 2014, said TH has the ability to relate to each player on an individual basis. A nc winning qb's opinion is good enough for me.

The point is all of what I'm writing is that I trust that TH will do good things with this recruiting class. Btw, somebody mentioned in another thread that we'll know how good a coach TH is when he goes up against SC and OK? Wth? he's already beaten OK!!!! The question is how will Bob Stoops do against Herman.

Only 7 months and one day till Maryland. HookemHorns

 

[oldhorn2]

Gary Johnson can only play 2 years....but he has 3 years to do that....whatever that means

As far as how "brave" I am....I am sick of hearing how well we did at recruiting only to suck on the field. I am now in the camp of " I dont give a crap about the class ranking...I want to see wins on the field"

 

[Bwilk55]

To answer my own post, I'd give this recruiting class, or really the job done by Herman and Co, an 80/100. On the fence between a C+ and a B-, so an 80 works. B+ had Zabie and K'lavon committed. A if we landed Little or flipped a 4 star or two.

He held on to all previous commits (all 6 of em), which included some really good players in Miller, Elingher, Graham. He had to fight to keep a few in the fold and was able to do that.

He made a few big additions in LB Gary Johnson and Toneil Carter (who admittedly fell into his lap a bit). He met major needs at kicker and TE - adding both a pass catcher and blocker. Orlando felt that an instant impact tall DT was needed so he made that happen with JUCO Chisolm.

Bimage, Kerstetter, Young all represent guys that were likely under rated overall. Young was the steal of the class according to Herman. Pouncey has a chance to work his way into a role with some time. Cummins and Cosmi are projects for sure but I like both of their attitudes and if they fill out could be solid players down the road.

Given the circumstances, I think Herman did a good job at keeping the class together, adding a few impact players, and filling in holes elsewhere. It was not a major success but not a failure either. I look forward to what he can do with a full year (especially if we can win in the fall).

 

[Bwilk55]

Gary Johnson can only play 2 years....but he has 3 years to do that....whatever that means"

As far as I understand it, it just means that they still have a redshirt year at their disposal. It would be like saying Sam Elingher has 5 to play 4. If I'm wrong, someone please correct me.

 

[cwillfromdatx]

I will give Herman a C. Not an upper C or low C, just a C. If he would have grab at least 1 top 10 kid of the state, it would have been a higher rating. This is the first time that UT hasn't grab one top 10 kids in the state. To me that means a lot. Sure, this is a transition class. He kept the 6 leftovers from Strong but he needed at least one boom kid. Hopefully the LB can come in and start but Juco to UT is a big difference. I know everyone here has a love crush on Herman but I'm still leary on him. U of H is cupcake to UT. Hell, Strong won in the cupcake conference but failed in a major conference.

 

[LongfellowDrew]

Man who is this new troll?

Doubt he's new. Probably someone that got kicked off and couldn't stay away so had to register under a new name.

 

[MiccoMacey]

As for the troll above, OU (home run) is 27 kids deep, nothing more than a numbers game but a nice class.

Not really wanting to turn this into an OU thread, but OU had 18 4* kids, the most of any program in the country. They're a top ten team on those recruits alone. If you add in the five star kids, OU still has the second most 4 and 5* kids combined, behind only Alabama. We also added eight three stars and a two star, so yes, we also added depth this year. But this was much more than just a numbers game.

Arkansas is a great example of a numbers class. They added 27 kids as well, but they're mostly three stars or less.

As for Texas, I said elsewhere Herman did a good job of coming in late and putting a decent class together. I have no doubt that next year, with a full year to recruit and more success on the field, the Longhorns will be back to being the lead recruiter in the state of Texas.

 

[TexExSpur]

Not really wanting to turn this into an OU thread, but OU had 18 4* kids, the most of any program in the country. They're a top ten team on those recruits alone. If you add in the five star kids, OU still has the second most 4 and 5* kids combined, behind only Alabama. We also added eight three stars and a two star, so yes, we also added depth this year. But this was much more than just a numbers game.

Arkansas is a great example of a numbers class. They added 27 kids as well, but they're mostly three stars or less.

As for Texas, I said elsewhere Herman did a good job of coming in late and putting a decent class together. I have no doubt that next year, with a full year to recruit and more success on the field, the Longhorns will be back to being the lead recruiter in the state of Texas.

It's still a numbers game, OU couldn't climb into the top 5 with the highest rated class they have ever taken per rivals (and the average is 3.6). It's a nice class Micco. The yearly number is 25, rivals only accounts for the top 20 (2551 is the highest they have ever finished) in the rating so I use the composite. Per composite, OU finished 8th with (27) signees and an average of 89.88. Again, it's a nice class and will keep them on top of the trash heap that is the Big 12.

Michigan, Georgia and Bama all took 18 four star kids plus the addition of five star kids. I don't use Rivals as a stand alone service, too many flaws and even if you do...Bama took 18 four star kids. The composite is more telling.

 

[LongfellowDrew]

I grade it as a C+/B- I didn't go in expecting 5* everything so my expectations are not to high.

 

[ASURAM2010]

I think one of the things I that I know I forgot is the kids that redshirted last year and the ones that we picked up from Baylor. If you put those kids in this class, I think it is a good class. The OL depth that we wanted in this class is eased a bit because of the numbers that were included in last year's class.

 

[MiccoMacey]

It's still a numbers game, OU couldn't climb into the top 5 with the highest rated class they have ever taken per rivals (and the average is 3.6). It's a nice class Micco. The yearly number is 25, rivals only accounts for the top 20 (2551 is the highest they have ever finished) in the rating so I use the composite. Per composite, OU finished 8th with (27) signees and an average of 89.88. Again, it's a nice class and will keep them on top of the trash heap that is the Big 12.

Michigan, Georgia and Bama all took 18 four star kids plus the addition of five star kids. I don't use Rivals as a stand alone service, too many flaws and even if you do...Bama took 18 four star kids. The composite is more telling.

1) We agree, the Big Twelve is a trash heap.
2) It's all good. We won't know how close these "experts" are for a couple of years.
3) I might try and post the Rivals top ten teams for the last seven years. It might surprise you how few teams there actually are that recruit consistently well.

 

[MiccoMacey]

There are only 20 teams that were given a top 10 ranking under Rivals. That's not a lot of teams. Clearly, the rankings are seeing the same seven or so teams being ranked year in and year out, with a sprinkling of other teams being added in every year or so. Using the best data analysis used at all the prestigious scientific and mathematic institutes everywhere (ok, I ranked them myself), this is how I ranked those twenty teams in terms of those seven years of rankings. Feel free to quibble amongst yourself if you think one team should be ranked ahead of another team. I listed all seven years of rankings, from zero to 10, zero obviously being a year they were not ranked in the top ten.

Rivals Recruiting Rankings, 2010-2016
1. Alabama.......5,1,1,1,1,2,1
2. FSU.............10,2,6,10,4,3,2
3. LSU..............6,6,0,6,2,8,5
4. Auburn.........4,7,10,9,9,7,9
5. USC.............1,4,8,0,10,1,0
6. Oh St...........0,0,4,2,3,9,3
7. Mich.............0,0,7,5,0,5,4
8. Texas...........3,3,2,0,0,0,7
9. Florida..........2,0,3,4,8,0,0
10. Georgia.......0,5,0,0,7,6,0
11. Clemson.....0,8,0,0,0,4,6
12. A&M...........0,0,0,0,6,10,0
13. UCLA..........8,0,0,8,0,0,10
14. ND.............0,10,0,3,0,0,0
15. OU.............7,0,0,0,0,0,0
16. Tenn..........9,0,0,0,5,0,0
17. Miss...........0,0,0,7,0,0,8
18. Stanford.....0,0,5,0,0,0,0
19. Oregon.......0,9,0,0,0,0,0
20. Miami.........0,0,9,0,0,0,0

 

[TexExSpur]

I think one of the things I that I know I forgot is the kids that redshirted last year and the ones that we picked up from Baylor. If you put those kids in this class, I think it is a good class. The OL depth that we wanted in this class is eased a bit because of the numbers that were included in last year's class.

Big point to be made.

Curtis and Hemphill at WR
Aucoin at TE
Hudson, Imade and Urquidez at OL
Fitzgerald at DE
Daniels and Southall at DT
Boyd at LB
Cuffee and Duvernay at CB
Brown at Safety

13 Red shirts to work with.

 

[cwillfromdatx]

Big point to be made.

Curtis and Hemphill at WR
Aucoin at TE
Hudson, Imade and Urquidez at OL
Fitzgerald at DE
Daniels and Southall at DT
Boyd at LB
Cuffee and Duvernay at CB
Brown at Safety

13 Red shirts to work with.

We're talking about this year's class, not last year. Last year was a good class. This year wasn't except for the TE position and Juco kicker. QB was a great pick up as well

 

[mm42]

This class was small in part due to the Baylor pickups last year. Add those guys in and this class would be considered solid.

 

[Bwilk55]

I will give Herman a C. Not an upper C or low C, just a C. If he would have grab at least 1 top 10 kid of the state, it would have been a higher rating. This is the first time that UT hasn't grab one top 10 kids in the state. To me that means a lot. Sure, this is a transition class. He kept the 6 leftovers from Strong but he needed at least one boom kid. Hopefully the LB can come in and start but Juco to UT is a big difference. I know everyone here has a love crush on Herman but I'm still leary on him. U of H is cupcake to UT. Hell, Strong won in the cupcake conference but failed in a major conference.

Basically what you are saying, in terms of the top 10, is that you wish Herman had closed on either Little or Chaisson. Texas had no shot at the other 8. Little would have been an impressive get, and I truly think we had a chance. I don't blame the kid for picking Stanford though. Chaisson was a miss. Sounds like he was back and forth between us and LSU and Herman couldn't keep him swung our way.

 

[TexExSpur]

We're talking about this year's class, not last year. Last year was a good class. This year wasn't except for the TE position and Juco kicker. QB was a great pick up as well

No shit?

I'd say the QB, 2 RB's, Top JUCO LB, 2 TE's, JUCO Kicker and the WR pick ups were all significant and Graham at DE was a huge keep! You missed the boat buddy and If you loved Strong's recruiting, you should be happy about the corner and safety pickups as well.

The referenced RS's are what he has to work with that have the same amount of eligibility. He has plenty to work with and couldn't take more numbers than he did. It's part of the reason this class was small.

85 scholly limit, 70 scholly's on the roster and only 12 are seniors, add the 18 below and you're at 88. The next class will be tiny as well if we don't see significant attrition.

2017 additions:

1 QB in Ehlinger plus a prefered walk on
2 RB's in Carter and Young
2 TE's in Leitao and Brewer
2 WR's in Miller and Pouncy
2 OL in Kerstetter and Cosmi
2 DE in Cummins and Graham
1 DT in JUCO Chisholm
2 LB in Bimage and No.1 Juco ILB Johnson
2 CB in Boyce and Thompson
1 Safety in Estell
1 Kicker in Rowland

One "Boom" kid per your verbiage, doesn't make a class.

 

[bubba2023]

As far as determining how good that class was for that particular team I would say it's better two look at recruiting in two year cycles. That evens out the ebbs an flows of loading up one year and being selective the next. You can have highly ranked classes and whiff on some much needed positions. The services don't take that into account.

 

[Heisennberg]

They whiffed on players they normally would have locked up. Not sure if this is just herman not being able to recruit, or if he was late to the game. Of course, orgeron at lsu was late to the game and look at his haul. The tx brand just isnt as shiny right now as it was 7-8 years ago.

 

[TexExSpur]

They whiffed on players they normally would have locked up. Not sure if this is just herman not being able to recruit, or if he was late to the game. Of course, orgeron at lsu was late to the game and look at his haul. The tx brand just isnt as shiny right now as it was 7-8 years ago.

Ed O was already on the staff and coached the team the entire year after week four. He coached them to a blowout bowl win over Mr. Heisman, not apples to apples brah. If you're going to attempt to throw shade, do a better job of it.

Herman only had a real shot at closing on 3 kids outside of the 16 he had committed.

Pouncy he got
Chassion chose the LSU staff and is the only significant loss....................
Zabie got worked over by the Jones family