College Football Recruiting: Top 7 Recruiting Classes in the Past 7 Years

For good fun, let's take a look back in the world of recruiting today. A lot has has happened over the years, and we've seen some great moments, players, teams and recruiting classes, especially over the past seven years.

Recruiting has only gotten bigger, and the past seven years have been huge. In this read I would like to look at the top seven recruiting classes within the past seven recruiting cycles (2006-2012). Some recruiting classes have fizzled out and been a class full of busts, while other classes have lived up to their hype.

Let's check out the top seven recruiting classes over the past seven years.

Honorable Mention

Georgia 2006

Class Headliner: Matthew Stafford, QB

Florida 2010

Class Headliner: Ronald Powell, DE

Texas 2010

Class Headliner: Jackson Jeffcoat, DE

Notre Dame 2008

Class Headliner: Michael Floyd, WR

Auburn 2011

Class Headliner: Kris Frost, LB and Kiehl Frazier, QB

USC 2006

Class Headliner: Vidal Hazelton, WR and Taylor Mays, S

2011 Texas

Class Headliner: Malcolm Brown, RB

Florida State 2011

Class Headliner: Karlos Williams, S

Other Notable Studs: DT Tim Jernigan, RB James Wilder, TE Cornellius Carradine, OL Jacob Fahrenkrug, WR Kelvin Benjamin, TE Nick O'Leary

ESPNU ranked the Seminoles No. 1 in 2011 recruiting, as 12 of their 29 commits were in the ESPNU 150. This was before the ESPNU 300 existed so one can imagine that about 75 percent of this class would been members of that list should it have existed at the time. 

Williams was a top five prospect on my board as I really like his size, instincts and athleticism. Carradine has been a good edge defender, O'Leary starts at TE, Jernigan is becoming one of team's best players and Wilder has ran well when he's played.

Jimbo Fisher will be reaping the benefits of this class for a long time. 

USC 2007

Class Headliner: RB Joe McKnight, RB Marc Tyler and LB Chris Galippo

Other Notable Studs: DE Everson Griffen, WR Ronald Johnson, C Kris O'Dowd, DL Christian Tupou, LB Malcolm Smith, TE/FB Rhett Ellison

This 2007 USC class was a great one on paper, but I think this class did not reach its full potential and was a bit overhyped. However, the Trojans signed a class that was one of the most quality assembled groups we've seen.

Scout.com shows out of the 18 recruits in this class, 12 were top 100 players and 15 were rated at least 4-stars. This class may not have completed every goal it had, but it was still was more than just solid.   

Alabama 2011

Class Headliner: Cyrus Kouandjio, OT and Jesse Williams, DT

Other Notable Studs: S HaSean Clinton-Dix, LB Trey DePriest, RB Dee Hart, LB Brent Calloway, LB Vinnie Sunseri, DL Jeoffrey Pagan, DE/OLB Xzavier Dickson

The 2011 Crimson Tide class may still be young, but it certainly deserves to be on this list. Kouandjio already is one of the best left tackles in the country, and Clinton-Dix, DePriest and Pagan have made their presence felt.

Jesse Williams was pulled from the JUCO ranks and surely will be in the NFL very soon. Nick Saban has had some great classes, but this is one of the better ones. 

Florida 2006

Class Headliner: Tim Tebow, QB and Percy Harvin, WR

Other Notable Studs: LB Brandon Spikes, WR Riley Cooper, OL Carl Johnson, OL Marcus Gilbert, OL Maurice Hurt

This class consisted of 27 commits but none bigger than one Tim Tebow. I fail to believe that Tebow is anything close to an NFL QB, but he was a once-in-a-lifetime player and figure at Florida.

The Gators have always been a great program through the modern years, but Tebow may go down as the best player in school history. Harvin isn't far behind as he was a special talent, and Spikes became the team leader on defense. 

This class served as a foundation for a BCS championship team in 2008 and two SEC East Division winners. 

Alabama 2009

Class Headliner: Trent Richardson, RB

Other Notable Studs: CB Dre Kirkpatrick, OT DJ Fluker, RB Eddie Lacy, QB AJ McCarron, DT Quinton Dial, OG Chance Warmack, OT James Carpenter, LB Nico Johnson

Scout.com gave Alabama the top honors in this year and you can see why. This team helped Alabama win a national championship, and a few members could be the leaders of this year's potential BCS title game.

Richardson, Carpenter and Kirkpatrick were first-round picks, while Fluker and Warmack could be drafted on Day one next April. McCarron has been steady at QB, Lacy is a solid back and I've always liked what Dial gives the program. 

Florida 2007

Class Headliner: Aaron Hernandez TE

Other Notable Studs: CB Joe Haden, DE Carlos Dunlap, S Major Wright, RB Chris Rainey, OL Mike Pouncey, OL Maurkice Puncey, DB Ahmad Black, DE Duke Lemmens, DL Jaye Howard, QB John Brantley

I could go on and on about how many good players this class brought to Florida. This class won its fair share of games and was extremely successful. Urban Meyer was legendary as a recruiter in Gainesville and this class got him that status.

This was the No. 1 class in the country in 2007 with 27 commits. The Pouncey twins, Haden, Wright, Hernandez and Dunlap are all NFL starters today. 

Alabama 2008

Class Headliner: Julio Jones, WR

Other Notable Studs: DT Marcell Dareus, S Mark Barron, OLB Courtney Upshaw, LB Dont'a Hightower, OT Tyler Love, LB Jerrell Harris, OC Barrett Jones, DT Terrence Cody, RB Mark Ingram, DB Robert Lester

This is the best recruiting class of the past seven years. Period.

This class may be the best class of the 2000s as it was the class that got the Crimson Tide the past two of three national championships and even now, with Jones and Lester still in Tuscaloosa, could help get a third BCS title. 

Mark Ingram wasn't even highly rated but came in and won a Heisman, Julio Jones is now one of the best WRs in the NFL, Dareus and Barron were top 10 picks, and Cody and Hightower are starting-caliber players for their NFL teams now too. 

This class won a ton of football games and crowned it with two national titles and an SEC title along with many players either in or who will be in the NFL.

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.