Early Signing Day
Recruiting Wars
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
I am handing out grades to the following teams’ recruiting classes following the early Signing Period for the class of 2021.
Considering the challenges all coaches have to deal with while recruiting during the pandemic, there is plenty of praise and blame to go around for Miami, UCF and Florida State.
Recruiting has three periods: Early Signing, National Signing Day, and Transfer Portal. I’ll be looking at the Early Signing Period and Transfer Portal.
Grading any recruiting class is a subjective venture. I determine grades based on the balance of talent level that is brought in, alongside with how the class addresses needs on the roster.
Miami: The Hurricanes earned the signatures of 21 players during the first day of the Early Signing Period. When the dust settled, the Hurricanes had the 11th class in the nation and 2nd class in the ACC.
Miami put a big emphasis on locking down the best players from South Florida (15 of the 21 signees are from Miami-Dade and Broward County).
The keystones of this Hurricane class are five-star defensive tackle Leonard Taylor and safety James Williams.
Miami also flipped four-star quarterback Jake Garcia from USC. The Hurricanes still need to add a couple more offensive linemen and cornerbacks. I’m giving Miami an A-.
UCF: The Knights had 19 players sign and one transfer. The Knights rank 61st Nationally and 4th in the AAC.
UCF focused on the defensive side of the ball with 11 defensive players signing.
Anthony Hundley signed with the Knights after decommitting from LSU. The Miami native had offers from Florida State, Michigan and Ole’ Miss.
Mikey Keene became the third quarterback to sign with the Knights since Josh Heupel took over. The Arizona native passed for 5,089 yards and 47 touchdowns during his time at Chandler High School.
Former Virginia quarterback RJ Harvey transferred to the Knights; however, he will play at running back.
UCF is a program unlike the others in this article, their recruiting budget is 1/10th that of the other schools. The Knights will add a few more pieces in February and use the Transfer Portal to fill out their class, but the grade for the Knights is C+.
Florida State: The Seminole fans hoping that the football program was going to take a dramatic, positive turn in the first year under new head coach Mike Norvell were in for a rude reality check.
The prized newcomer for the Seminoles won’t be a freshman, but rather, former UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton. If Milton is healthy, this is a talented game changer for Florida State.
This is the first class in modern day FSU history that has not included a five-star player.
In addition, the Seminoles only have one player ranked inside the top 250.
Norvell is very clearly trying to revamp the FSU defense with 10 of their 16 commits on that side of the ball.
Hunter Washington is the Seminole’s highest ranked recruit, and he is a bit undersized at 5 foot 11 and 175 pounds. Hunter Washington, Malik McClain, Shambre Jackson, Omarion Cooper, Rod Orr and Patrick Payton anchor Novell’s second class.
Florida State ranks 22nd Nationally and 4th in the ACC.
The Seminoles have a lot of work ahead of them to raise the talent level of their roster. Norvell must utilize the Transfer Portal. My grade for Florida State would be a D- but the arrival of McKenzie Milton alone raises it to a B-.
The New Recruits
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The 2020 early signing period started this week with most of the nation’s top prospects signing their letters of intent for the school of their choosing. Let’s take a look at early grades for teams in our geographical region.
Clemson: A+. The Tigers on paper have the best signing class in the country. Dabo dipped into the state of Georgia and signed 6 players.
Clemson restocked along the offensive and defensive lines with 10 of their 23 signees coming into those position groups.
Headliner: Bryan Bresee: The DT from Maryland is the top-rated player in the country and comes into a position group at Clemson that has become an NFL pipeline.
Sleeper: Sergio Allen LB Fort Valley, GA: Allen is a baller and will be an All ACC player at Clemson. Great pickup by the Tigers.
Alabama: A. Another top 3 class by Nick Saban. Alabama just continues to reload year after year. Alabama restocked at defensive line by signing 6 players.
Headliner: Bryce Young: Young is the number one rated dual threat QB in the country and looks to be in line to replace Tua at QB.
Sleeper: Brian Branch S from Sandy Creek, GA looks to be another in the long line of great Alabama players at the safety position.
Auburn: A-. Gus recruited like a rock star during this cycle building off the momentum of the huge Iron Bowl victory.
Headliner: Tank Bigsby RB. Tank was the best running back in the state of Georgia this past season and when AU can run the football, championships follow close behind.
Sleeper: Marco Domio CB: AU needed help at corner and dipped into the JUCO ranks and found their man.
Georgia: B+. Kirby restocked the receiver room at UGA with some much-needed playmakers at the position by signing four, including flipping Jermaine Burton from LSU on signing day and dipped into Lakeland, Florida for burner Arian Smith.
If Kelee Ringo and Darnell Washington end up at UGA then this class becomes an A+.
Headliner: Kendall Milton the big RB from California is expected to come in and be the man if Swift goes pro.
Sleeper: Marcus Rosemy WR: This kid can take over games and just makes plays. That was something UGA was missing during key times in 2019.
Florida: C. The Gators should be a top 5 class every season due to being the flagship school in talent rich Florida.
Lakeland used to be a Florida stronghold but Clemson pulled 5-star RB Demarkus Bowman and UGA pulled 4-star burner Arian Smith right out of Florida’s backyard. The Gators did not address the RB position, which was much needed.
Headliner: Gervon Dexter DT: The Gators lost two key contributors on the DL and Dexter was a huge get for UF.
Sleeper: Joshua Braun OT: Huge pickup for UF flipping Braun from UGA after Sam Pittman took the Arkansas job. Braun will be a 3-4 year starter for Florida.
FSU: I for Incomplete. The Seminoles got a late jump into the pond after hiring Mike Norvell from Memphis to continue to fix the mess Jimbo left that gets blamed on Willie Taggart.
Norvell will get it done in Tallahassee but needs a couple of cycles to get FSU back on track.
Headliner: Demorie Tate CB: Tate is a cover corner at the place that produced Primetime and T-Buck. Tate will be a solid CB for FSU.
Sleeper: Lawrance Toafili RB: The Largo product will be a solid RB for FSU in the next three years. FSU has to get back to being more physical on offense.
Georgia Tech: B: The Jackets continue the process of rebuilding the roster away from the Paul Johnson dinosaur offense. It is still going to take time, but give Geoff Collins credit for pulling in a top 25 class.
Headliner: Jeff Simms QB. Simms is a dual threat QB from Sandalwood in Jacksonville and is just what the doctor ordered for GT. You can’t win without a good QB and GT found their man.
Sleeper: Bryce Gowdy WR. The Jackets signed 5 WR’s and Gowdy looks to be the leader of the position group that needs to transition the most while GT completes the roster overhaul.
