The 10 Biggest Surprises of the 2011 College Football Recruiting Season

A traditional power lags on the trail, bleeding blue-chip would-be commits. Another, broken by sanctions, is fighting on. New coaches are making their impact felt, while the old guard shows why it's lasted this long.

It's a sportswriter's job to make the mundane look (and sound) interesting. To do that, he or she must know the events, and the context of those events, backwards and forwards.

I'm confident enough in the attention I've paid to the 2011 recruiting season to say it's been full of surprises, and that they're worth charting a third of the way through.

What follows are the 10 biggest surprises of the 2011 recruiting season...but as with all surprises, each one makes perfect sense in retrospect.

Read on.

No. 10: Stanford Setting the Pac-10 on Fire

Anyone who thought Jim Harbaugh would emerge from the 2010 recruiting season fatigued from all those decommitments will be surprised to see Stanford with the second-most verbals in the country, some from truly elite players.

Yes, the Cardinal have already gained 15 commits, among them five four-star players (TE/DE Charlie Hopkins, RB Amir Carlisle, OL Brendon Austin, LB Anthony Sarao and RB Kelsey Young) and at least one under-the-radar QB (Evan Crower).

What's more, the Cardinal are pushing the thumbtacks in all over the map. Hopkins is from Spokane, WA; Austin is from Colorado; Sarao is from New Jersey; Young and Carlisle are from California, and the Cardinal have verbals from players in Pennsylvania (Kevin Reihner), Oklahoma (Garrett Gladd) and Minnesota (Anthony Hayes).

Without intending offense to the academics in Palo Alto, that national recruiting is a luxury normally reserved for elite BCS football schools...like USC, which, with its sanctions pending, could gift Stanford at least one or two in-state recruits they would normally have in the fold.

Harbaugh is making the fight for the Pac-10 crown a year-round commitment. That effort could turn the conference into an SEC-lite for recruiting followers...if either one still exists in two years.

No. 9: JaDeveon Clowney Naming UNC His Favorite

2011's top prospect to both Rivals and ESPN, Rock Pointe, SC defensive end Jadeveon Clowney began the 2011 recruiting season looking like he wouldn't need to travel outside the state of South Carolina to find the best school. Most had South Carolina pegged his slight leader over Clemson.

Then Clowney attended UNC's spring game (with all those great defensive linemen on display), and named the Tar Heels his leader. Promises of a visit to Alabama followed.

Once a recruit starts talking schools outside the normal jurisdiction, it's open season for him in SEC country. The battle for 2011's top prospect has just begun. Blame UNC defensive line coach John Blake for being so dang charismatic.

No. 8: DT Kris Harley to Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech isn't a bad or even so-so recruiting school, but they typically make bold statements on the recruiting trail once every three or four years.

It looks like 2011 will be one of those years. The Hokies kicked off 2011's class by landing big fish defensive tackle Kris Harley, a four-star out of Warren Central in Indianapolis.

Harley, Rivals' No. 202 player, chose the Hokies over offers from Oklahoma, Nebraska and USC, and was getting interest from Ohio State and Notre Dame.

A verbal from Harley puts VT in good shape with his teammate, fringe five-star offensive tackle Kiaro Holts.

I've also seen VT in the conversation for top dual-threat QB Marquise Williams, five-star outside linebacker Curtis Grant and blue-chip offensive tackle Cyrus Kouandio.

If Virginia Tech is to make a run at another ACC title, it will be on the strength of classes like the one they're about to put together. Even in the ACC, you have to keep up with the Joneses every once in a while.

No. 7: Mike London's Immediate Impact on UVA Recruiting

Many were expecting Mike London to improve Virginia's recruiting, but probably not as quickly as he has.

The former head coach of FBS-level Richmond has the Cavaliers at 12 commitments and counting.

Among them are sought-after defensive tackle Vincent Croce, who chose UVa over offers from Pitt, Louisville, Michigan, Stanford and Wisconsin; ATH Clifton Richardson out of Newport News, VA, a Rivals 250 player with offers from Miami; and MLB Caleb Taylor out of Hampton, VA, a three star and Scout's 20th best overall.

More importantly, he has the Cavaliers in the conversation for elite prospects. Top offensive tackle Cyrus Kouandjio dropped in for a surprise visit earlier this year.

London understands Virginia's dual problems—dwindling roster size and poor competition at every position—and is using his recruiting prowess to address both. The Cavaliers will be suffering this fall, but they should be trending upward instead of hanging on for dear life.

No. 6: Notre Dame's Spring Game Success

With no record to judge him on, Notre Dame's fanbase looked to pick apart head coach Brian Kelly's less than stellar efforts on the recruiting trail and in the 2010 class—his first as Irish head coach.

Kelly didn't give them a chance. The Irish landed five elite players at Notre Dame's spring game: five-star tackle Matt Hegarty, four-star tackle Tony Springmann, four-star guard Conor Hanratty, four-star outside linebacker Jarrett Grace and five-star tight end Ben Koyack, rocketing their 2011 class into top 10 contention.

With the recruiting monkey off his back, Kelly can now focus on actually winning games...which is still the best way to judge the head coach, as Charlie Weis found out.

No. 5: Ohio State's Domination on the Trail

Ohio State hasn't signed a down class since Jim Tressel has taken over, but for a Rose Bowl-winning program coming off five straight Big Ten championships, 2010's jewelless class was disappointing to many observers.

The Buckeyes have responded by ripping off 14 commitments loaded with blue-chip players at QB and along the offensive and defensive lines.

DEs Steve Miller, Kenny Hayes and Joel Hale and DTs Chase Farris and Michael Bennett comprise an elite recruiting class on the line, and the Buckeyes have agreed to keep a spot open for four-star DT Kevin McReynolds.

The offensive linemen are all beasts, led by 2011's best center, Brian Bobek and anchored by 295 lb guard Antonio Underwood, 332 lb guard Tommy Brown and 325 lb guard Cris Carter.

For a crown jewel, the Buckeyes secured the commitment of 2011's most dynamic QB, Braxton Miller, who will compete to be Pryor's backup and eventual successor. Despite looking like a lock for the Buckeyes as Ohio's best in-state player for 2011, Miller's was a fought-for verbal with the Alabama Crimson Tide as worthy foes on the trail.

Take their success as the logical result of the Rose Bowl win and Big Ten domination, albeit a year later than some were expecting.

No. 4: QB Kiehl Frazier to Auburn

Springdale, AR quarterback Kiehl Frazier would have probably signed with Auburn eventually—Tigers OC Gus Malzahn was a former coach at Shiloh Christian, Frazier's high school.

But everything from the QB's glossy official website to his busy summer plans to a loaded offer sheet suggested he would be slow and methodical in his approach.

Instead, in shockingly short time, the Auburn Tigers gained his verbal, courtesy of their Big Cat Weekend event (the same event that eventually yielded the commitments of five-star OT Shon Coleman and OG Eric Mack, and got RB Lache Seastrunk talking Auburn last year).

If Frazier's commitment is any indication, Auburn will be getting who they target and send the big guns after.

No. 3: Christian Westerman Picks Texas

Like Frazier, five-star tackle Christian Westerman looked like he'd be a fought-over prospect for most of the 2010/2011 season.

Westerman had plans to attend Nebraska and/or Michigan's spring games and was getting interest from Oklahoma and Florida. He was on the phone with most of the top BCS programs.

Not to mention he hailed from Arizona, one of the best states to cherry-pick blue-chip recruits who aren't easy sells to the in-state programs.

Then, without warning, Westerman fired off his verbal to Texas a few days after Easter, shutting down the visit wagon and sending a clear message to text-happy coaches: not interested.

The family atmosphere at Texas sold the five-star tackle, but to observers, it looked like he didn't want to fall for more than one program.

No. 2: Florida's Struggles on the Trail

Granted, four commitments, three of them blue-chips, is hardly a poor effort. But I expected much more from the Gators' 2011 class so far.

Even with Urban Meyer sidelined, Florida was supposed to be cashing in on players the Gators had been in the ear of for four years. RB/OLB James Wilder, DT Tim Jernigan, RB Mike Bellamy and WR Sammy Watkins were among the blue-chip recruits who only had eyes for Florida throughout their junior seasons.

As of now, Wilder is weighing four other schools; Jernigan will take five visits; Watkins is narrowing his list to 10 and Bellamy is a Clemson commitment.

Three of the four players could still be slam dunks for Florida, but at the pace recruiting is moving, Florida's hesitations could prove costly. I'm sure most Gator fans just wish Meyer would dunk them already.

No. 1: Recruits' Reactions to USC Sanctions

When the news broke on Wednesday, I predicted USC's bowl ban, its scholarship reductions and its general loss of lustre would set off a chain reaction of decommitments, transfers and bad feelings towards the program on the trail.

Instead, many Trojan recruits seem unaffected. Most have reaffirmed their verbals to USC, and many USC targets have said that the sanctions either don't affect their decision because of the timeframe, or are actually a good thing since there will be less competition.

Indeed, USC actually gained a commitment this weekend in monster offensive lineman Marcus Martin , which is more than Alabama, Florida or Texas can say.

When I said there were no three men I trusted more than Kiffin, Orgeron and Kiffin to right the ship vis a vis USC's recruiting, this is exactly what I meant. There are no three men more capable of spinning such dastardly sanctions into a positive. Live and learn.