Top Recruiting Programs in the Nation

[Redhawk]

Scout.com: Top recruiting programs in the nation
(free)

College football recruiting is a sport all its own in this day and age, and it's a sport that consumes 365 days a year for college football coaches and Scouts alike. While all men were created equally, college football programs were not. Some schools have an inherent advantage over others including market size, proximity of players and past tradition.
College football players have a host of reasons to choose a school, but common themes include winning championships, path to the NFL and proximity to home. With that in mind, who are some of the recruiting powerhouses and who are some of the toughest teams to recruit against in the entire country?

Ohio State
In the heart of Big Ten country, Ohio State has been the conference's marquee program this decade. Ohio State sits in the state that produces the most college football signees north of Georgia. The states of Ohio and Georgia have the fourth and fifth most college signees, trading spots depending on the year. The Buckeyes have historically gotten little in-state opposition for football players. The biggest rivals for Ohio recruits have been Michigan, Notre Dame and Penn State. College football is finding out that Cincinnati can build itself a very good team by just keeping the players Ohio State doesn't have room for from leaving the state.

 

[leroyjenkins]

For the lazy out there, we are number 5 on that list.....:)

 

[Redhawk]

For the lazy out there, we are number 5 on that list.....:)

Here ya go :)

Florida
USC
Texas
LSU
Ohio State
Oklahoma
Georgia
Alabama
Notre Dame
Miami

"Just Missed": Florida State, North Carolina
"Sleepers": Stanford, UCLA, Tennessee

 

[BuckTwenty]

The absense of the other 10 teams in our conference in that top 16 list is embarressing.

 

[sepia5]

For the lazy out there, we are number 5 on that list.....:)

Is there actually a hierarchy to that list? It isn't numbered and, as well as Florida has recruited, I don't see how USC could be beaten out by anyone . . . .

EDIT:

With two BCS championships under his belt, the most talent in a centralized location in Florida, and a work ethic exceeded by no one, Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators are the most prolific recruiting force in the nation.

I disagree. I don't think anyone has matched USC, personally.

 

[LordJeffBuck]

Here ya go :)

Florida
USC
Texas
LSU
Ohio State
Oklahoma
Georgia
Alabama
Notre Dame
Miami

"Just Missed": Florida State, North Carolina
"Sleepers": Stanford, UCLA, Tennessee

Put Ole Miss on that "sleeper" list - lots of good talent in the home state, plus plenty of opportunity to get LSU's leftovers, and close enough to Florida and Texas to be in the mix for certain prospects. Great campus, good tradition.

 

[scott91575]

hmmm, and the last 11 national champions are on that list. Yeah, recruiting might have some correlation to winning.

Who is not...

Michigan and Nebraska (the 12th national champions). Although Michigan has had some top classes, and if Notre Dame is on that list it has nothing to do with winning.

 

[mb7015a]

Put Ole Miss on that "sleeper" list - lots of good talent in the home state, plus plenty of opportunity to get LSU's leftovers, and close enough to Florida and Texas to be in the mix for certain prospects. Great campus, good tradition.

Plus I think the state has the most NFL players per capita in the nation.

 

[xcrunner]

Pretty good list IMO. I'll be interested to see how it changes in the next few years.

I'd think Georgia will fall and Georgia Tech rise to maybe an "almost".
I think Da U will rise a little and Florida will fall a little as a result.
NoD will start falling unless things get fixed soon. TSUN could climb up there, maybe even high, but that's unclear as of yet.

I like that they put Stanford as a sleeper- they really have been quietly recruiting pretty well.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

Is there actually a hierarchy to that list? It isn't numbered and, as well as Florida has recruited, I don't see how USC could be beaten out by anyone . . . .

EDIT: I disagree. I don't think anyone has matched USC, personally.

Totally agree. I don't think anyone has come even close to what USC has done recruiting-wise over the last 6-7 years.

Since the 2003 recruiting class (per Rivals):

..... -------- USC --------- .... -------- Fla ---------
..... Overall ... Avg * Rank .... Overall ... Avg * Rank
2009: .. 4 ......... (#2) .......... 9 ......... (#3)
2008: .. 8 ......... (#2) .......... 3 ......... (#4)
2007: .. 2 ......... (#1) .......... 1 ......... (#2)
2006: .. 1 ......... (#1) .......... 2 ......... (#2)
2005: .. 1 ......... (#1) ......... 15 ........ (#11)
2004: .. 1 ......... (#1) ......... UR .......... UR
2003: .. 3 ......... (T3) .......... 2 ..........(#1)

Florida has finished ahead of USC overall only three times, and two of those years USC had higher star-ratings. USC had that stunning run of classes from 2003-2007, finishing 3, 1, 1, 1, and 2, with four straight years of having the highest star-ratings of all teams. Even the "down" class of 2008 which finished #8 still had the second best star-rating and was ahead of Florida in that regard despite finishing five places below Florida in overall points. And their current class is ahead of Florida and has a higher star-rating.

Meyer has brought Florida up into the elite of recruiting, but still no one touches USC.

 

[DaytonBuck]

Put Ole Miss on that "sleeper" list - lots of good talent in the home state, plus plenty of opportunity to get LSU's leftovers, and close enough to Florida and Texas to be in the mix for certain prospects. Great campus, good tradition.

I think Arkansas with Petrino is a sleeper. Arkansas is close enough to Texas to get players out of there. Petrino found a ton of under the rader the gems out of Georgia, Alabama and Florida in his Louisville days. He managed to get Peanut Whitehead out of Alabama who was a 5 star DE to leave the SEC for the charms of the Derby city.

 

[ScriptOhio]

Another good story on recruiting

The State of Recruiting


One day in late December, dry-erase boards stood staggered a few yards apart on the track surrounding the field at the University of North Florida. A Nebraska assistant coach was posted in front of each board, and around each coach huddled a clutch of Jacksonville-area high school coaches. The Cornhuskers had come to the Sunshine State to face Clemson in the Gator Bowl, but first-year coach Bo Pelini and his staff figured that while they were there, they should lay the foundation for a recruiting pipeline into the state that, from 2004-08, produced more BCS-conference football players (981) than any other.
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An SI study of 2004-08 recruiting data for the 65 BCS-conference schools and Notre Dame revealed that programs which draw at least 50 percent of their players from within 200 miles or from within their home state stand a far better chance of winning consistently than those that did not. Of the nine schools that won 50 or more games from 2004-08, seven signed more than half their recruits during that span from within their state or from within 200 miles of campus: Texas (93.2% from in-state, 71.8 percent from within 200 miles), USC (72.0, 61.0), Georgia (63.6, 70.1), Florida (62.3, 47.9), Ohio State (55.8, 66.3), Virginia Tech (54.3, 44.0) and LSU (50.4, 56.5). Oklahoma barely missed the cut, with 49.1 percent from within 200 miles.
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Entire article: Analyzing college football recruiting data from 2004-2008 - Andy Staples - SI.com