CFB Recruiting 2013: 12 Head Coaches with a Position Recruiting Advantage

One thing that I always try to stress in recruiting is player evaluation. Just because a prospect is rated 5 stars doesn't mean he's great and you should offer him, while just because a prospect is 2 or 3 stars doesn't mean you should overlook him.

Evaluating is imperative in recruiting, as it is in the NFL draft. With certain head coaches, their background comes from coaching a certain position. Because of this, they know how to evaluate and recruit that position well.

For this read, I'm going to give you 12 head coaches who have a position recruiting advantage due to their background.

12. Jim Mora, Jr. (UCLA)

Mora is a DB coach by trade. The secondary is where he made his mark as a coach coming up through the ranks and as a defensive coordinator. 

In his tenure at UCLA, look for the Bruins to develop some outstanding defensive backs to help combat the pass-happy Pac-12 offenses. 

Leading the recruiting efforts, Mora knows what to look for in a good DB and how to coach 'em up and get 'em ready to play good football on the back end.

11. Doug Marrone (Syracuse)

Marrone comes from New Orleans, where he worked as Sean Payton's lead offensive assistant and specialized in the OL.

He knows that Syracuse isn't a sexy pick for a 5-star hot-shot OL prospect, yet Marrone goes after OL's that he knows can fit into what he wants to do and be coached by him and his staff.

If you're an OL prospect, going to upstate New York to get coached by a former NFL OL coach like Marrone is a great option to have.

10. Al Golden (Miami)

Golden is a defensive-minded coach and, to be more specific, he's a linebacker's guy. He knows that Miami needs to have a great offense to win in the ACC, but I look for him to hang his hat on defense in Coral Gables.

Golden knows what a good linebacker looks like, and even though he may not go after big-name prospects who are highly ranked, he signs 'backers that he knows can fit what he wants to do.

Second-level defenders, what's not to like? It's Miami, and your head coach knows how to personally coach you up.

9. Jeff Tedford (Cal)

Tedford is so knowledgeable of a QB guru that Cal QB recruits head to Berkley to get schooled on the position.

Teford knows how to evaluate QBs. He looked at one play and offered a little-known JC QB a scholarship.

Today, that JC QB is rated the No. 1 player in the NFL and is a Super Bowl MVP.

Other NFL QBs Tedford has coached include: David Carr, Joey Harrington, Kyle Boller, Trent Dilfer, Akili Smith and Billy Volek.

All of those players weren't great in the NFL, but Tedford had them perform extremely well in college.

8. Bob Stoops (Oklahoma)

Stoops is a defensive guy who really gets the gist of what it takes for a DB to be great.

The Oklahoma defense is always among the nation's best. Somehow, someway, Stoops and his staff get the secondary ready to play against some big-time spread offenses in the Big 12.

From Roy Williams to Tony Jefferson, Stoops knows how to find that hybrid SS-type to play the pass and battle in the box.

7. Steve Spurrier (South Carolina)

The Ol' Ball coach hasn't really signed an elite signal-caller recently, but he's still revered around the country as a great QB tutor.

He's hard on his QBs and will get on them for not playing smart. Yet, Spurrier's offense can really exploit a QB's strengths and have him produce big numbers.

The Fun 'N' Gun offense won a ton of games against Florida and made WBs like Rex Grossman and Danny Weurffel into stars. 

6. Steve Sarkisian (Washington)

Sark may not have the tenure as a head coach that some of the others on this list do, but his resume is a solid one.

He made his mark as a QB coach and offensive chief at USC. He coached up Matt Leinart, Carson Palmer, John David Booty and Mark Sanchez and recruited Matt Barkley.

So far, at Washington, he's helped develop Jake Locker, turned Keith Price into a star and lured Jeff Lindquist, Cyler Miles and Troy Williams to Seattle.

Not bad at all.

5. Brady Hoke (Michigan)

One thing has stuck out to me over the past two recruiting cycles at Michigan: they're really stocking up on OL prospects.

This is because Brady Hoke is not an OL coach by trade, but as a DL coach at heart, he knows what a great OL looks like. Plus, Big Blue has netted themselves some fabulous DL recruits since Hoke-a-Mania has run wild in Ann Arbor.

Expect Michigan's trenches to be littered with talent and productive on the field while Hoke is in charge at the The Big House.

4. Frank Beamer (Virginia Tech)

Virginia Tech does sign some good talent, but they're not the sexiest school on the recruiting trail. The Hokies win games by playing sound football, which includes great special teams.

When Frank Beamer recruits prospects, he always makes sure to evaluate what role they can play on special teams.

Whether it be recruiting a linebacker to also cover kicks, a DL to hold up the front on the punt-return unit or a running back to also return kicks, Beamer Ball is surely factored in each Hoke recruit's prospective.

3. Charlie Weis (Kansas)

Weis is at Kansas now, so it'll be tougher to lure great QBs there than at Notre Dame or Florida. However, he's already struck gold twice as the Jayhawks' chief.

Weis has gotten Dayne Crist and Jake Heaps to transfer to Kansas, which are coups. 

He's a renowned QB coach who convinced both Jeff Driskel and Jacoby Brisset to both sign with Florida, lured Crist to Notre Dame and made Jimmy Clausen one of the better QBs in Irish history.

Oh, yeah, then there's the work he did with that No. 12 guy with the Patriots, too.

2. Krik Ferentz (Iowa)

Ferentz is a known OL coach who is said to have probably been a better NFL head coach than a college one. However, he knows how to recruit OLs to come and play for the Hawkeyes.

Even a few years back, Cyrus Kouandjio seriously considered Iowa for a good portion of his recruitment. 

Ferentz comes from the NFL as a OL chief and has coached up offensive linemen like Marshal Yanda, Robert Gallery, Bruce Nelson, Eric Steinbach and Bryan Bulaga among others.

He also takes little-known OL recruits, develops them and gets them to be productive players along the Iowa offensive front.

1. Nick Saban (Alabama)

The Crimson Tide hang their hat on defense, and that's because Saban is a defensive-minded coach with NFL influences.

To go even more in depth, Saban is a DB coach at heart. That's why you've seen him both land top-notch DBs and make them better—like Mark Barron or Dre Kirkpatrick—and land little-known DBs and make them productive—like Robert Lester. 

The Alabama secondary is always loaded with talented and smart players. That's due to Saban taking a hands-on interest in keeping this unit in tip-top shape.

Edwin Weathersby has worked in scouting/player personnel departments for three professional football teams, including the New York Giants, Cleveland Browns and the Las Vegas Gladiators of the Arena League. He spent a year evaluating prep prospects & writing specific recruiting and scouting content articles for Student Sports Football (now ESPN Rise-HS). A syndicated scout and writer, he's also contributed to WeAreSC.com, GatorBait.net and Diamonds in the Rough Inc., a College Football and NFL Draft magazine.