Winners, Losers from College Football Recruiting Trail for Month of October
October featured its fair share of ebbs and flows in the college football recruiting spectrum. Pledges, decommitments and flips further shuffled national 2015 class rankings, building positive momentum for some teams while others dealt with a rough road in recent weeks.
We’re now less than 100 days away from national signing day, making prospect decisions increasingly impactful as programs aim to assemble strong foundations for the future. Here’s a look back at recruiting departments that flourished and floundered this month.
Winner: Notre Dame
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The Fighting Irish lost 5-star quarterback Blake Barnett in early June and remained in search of his replacement more than a month into the 2014 season. Barnett, who flipped to Alabama, earned Elite 11 MVP honors this summer, while Notre Dame whiffed on potential targets Travis Waller (Oregon) and Deondre Francois (Florida State).
Head coach Brian Kelly swiftly remedied the situation in October by swiping New Jersey standout Brandon Wimbush away from Penn State. The 6’2”, 205-pound passer initially pledged to the Nittany Lions near the end of his junior year but underwent a change of heart days after visiting South Bend.
Wimbush, rated fourth nationally among dual-threat quarterbacks, is currently enjoying a career-best campaign. The St. Peter’s Prep standout completed 74 percent of pass attempts for 1,312 yards and 16 touchdowns through his first five games, per MaxPreps, adding 252 yards and four scores on the ground.
Notre Dame also addressed key positional needs across the defensive front seven this month, securing commitments from coveted linebackers Asmar Bilal (Indianapolis) and Tevon Coney (Florida). The pair of impressive playmakers create quite a trio with fellow 4-star linebacker Josh Barajas, who flipped from Penn State earlier this year.
The Fighting Irish also reached into SEC country for defensive end Bo Wallace, a high-ceiling prospect from New Orleans. Notre Dame used a strong October to break into the national top 10 in 247Sports’ composite class rankings and will now look to target top prospects at offensive skill positions.
Loser: Florida
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Things have gone from bad to worse for Gators head coach Will Muschamp, and the struggles extend beyond game action. Florida, now 2-8 in its past 10 conference matchups, suffered several recruiting setbacks during the second half of October.
The team lost a commitment from 4-star athlete Jerome Baker, who bolted to stay in his home state as an Ohio State Buckeye. Just days later, 4-star Georgia prospect Adonis Thomas decided to reopen his recruitment process.
Both players were expected to line up at linebacker in Gainesville, leaving Muschamp searching for other options at a position many figured Florida would stockpile talent at during this cycle. The team was confident enough in its ability to sign Baker and Thomas, along with 4-star Jacksonville product Jeffery Holland, that it took a slow-paced approach to recruiting in-state linebacker Tevon Coney.
Coney kept the Gators in his final mix but ultimately committed to Notre Dame this month. Holland, once considered a consensus lock for Florida, continues to take a hard look at Auburn.
He’s hardly alone as an in-state target who seems to be gravitating away from the program. Longtime Florida leans CeCe Jefferson and Byron Cowart are now trending toward Ole Miss and Alabama, respectively, while top-rated offensive tackle Martez Ivey is expected to take multiple official visits elsewhere after spending a recent weekend with the Gators.
Muschamp could only watch this week as top in-state running back Jacques Patrick picked up a Florida State hat at his announcement ceremony, leaving an untouched Gators cap on the table. Patrick will join former 5-star Florida commit Dalvin Cook in Tallahassee to create one of the country’s top offensive backfields.
The team is down to just nine commitments, plummeting to 60th nationally in 247Sports’ composite class rankings. Programs currently listed higher on that list include Cincinnati, Purdue and San Jose State.
Winner: Texas Tech
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Texas Tech was just 1-3 in October, punctuated by a 55-point loss to TCU, but those defeats failed to derail recruiting momentum that has head coach Kliff Kingsbury’s team continuously rising in national class rankings. The Red Raiders are rated 26th overall and fourth in the Big-12 Conference after securing key commitments on both sides of the ball this month.
Carlos Strickland gave Texas Tech fans something to celebrate days removed from the disheartening defeat at TCU. He announced his intentions to play in Lubbock less than three weeks after spending an official visit on campus.
The 6’5”, 194-pound wide receiver is considered a 4-star talent and also holds offers from Alabama, LSU and Clemson. Strickland ultimately chose the Red Raiders over fellow finalists UCLA, TCU and Cal.
He attracted national attention with a breakout 2013 campaign at Skyline High School by averaging 22 yards per reception and catching 10 touchdowns as a junior. Rated 16th nationally among receivers in 247Sports’ composite rankings, Strickland provides 5-star quarterback commit Jarrett Stidham with a big-time target.
Texas Tech also secured an October pledge from beyond state borders, landing Louisiana defensive lineman Courtney Wallace. The 6’2”, 309-pound tackle used an official visit in Lubbock during the same weekend as Strickland but didn’t wait to commit.
Wallace, a Neville High School senior, is expected to fill the nose guard role as a Red Raider. His presence should complement dynamic interior pass-rusher Breiden Fehoko—a 4-star pledge from Hawaii—nicely for years to come and enhance Texas Tech’s defensive front.
“Coach Kingsbury gets you excited when he talks about his vision for the future at Texas Tech,” Fehoko told me this summer. “It’s a much different level of enthusiasm than you get from a lot of college coaches.”
That approach is working even when wins aren’t piling up.
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Loser: Michigan
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Another month, another major decommitment for embattled head coach Brady Hoke. The latest high school standout to detach himself from the situation is Garrett Taylor, a 4-star defensive back from Virginia.
The 6’1”, 195-pound prospect pledged to the Wolverines this summer but is opting to look elsewhere during the final stretch toward signing day. Unfortunately for Michigan, his next landing spot could be with a Big Ten rival, as official visits to Penn State and Ohio State are anticipated.
He is the second 4-star cornerback to decommit during this cycle. Shaun Crawford previously flipped to Notre Dame.
Taylor continues a troubling trend for Hoke, who lost a pledge from 4-star defensive end Darian Roseboro in late September.
Michigan, now 4-8 against conference foes since 2013, has fallen to 39th nationally in 247Sports’ composite rankings. It’s a far cry from how this team started the 2015 recruiting cycle.
Things began to move in the wrong direction this summer when the Wolverines watched top-ranked running back Damien Harris and 4-star Florida receiver George Campbell walk away from the class. Now Michigan must keep a close eye on 4-star tight end pledge Chris Clark, who is scheduled to visit Texas and USC later this season.
Michigan quarterback commit Alex Malzone, one of just nine players remaining in the class, sounded off on the situation during our conversation in early October.
“I think Coach Hoke has this team playing its heart out right now, but it’s important to win games,” he said. “The recruits know that. I know that. The coaches know that. If Michigan doesn’t start picking up some wins, they could be in trouble. That’s just the way it is.”
Malzone could also be a candidate to head elsewhere, as Penn State has intensified its pursuit of the 4-star passer since losing Brandon Wimbush.
Winner: Florida State
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The rich get richer in Tallahassee, where the future looks incredibly bright for head coach Jimbo Fisher’s offensive backfield. The Seminoles, preparing for a post-Winston era offensive attack, have assembled a crowded stockpile of quality running back prospects through the past two recruiting cycles.
Orlando phenom Jacques Patrick is the latest addition. He declared his commitment to Florida State on Oct. 27, capping off a whirlwind recruitment.
The Timber Creek High School star ranks seventh all-time on Florida’s career rushing list with more than 7,300 yards on the ground. He is likely to enter the top five on that list by the end of his senior season.
Patrick picked the Seminoles from a group of finalists that featured Florida, Alabama, Texas A&M and Ohio State. Rated third nationally among running backs in 247Sports’ composite rankings, he pairs up with fellow 4-star prospect Johnny Frasier in Florida State’s 2015 class.
Frasier, a prolific rusher from Princeton High School in North Carolina, also owns gaudy career statistics. The duo has combined to rush for nearly 12,000 yards and 168 scores since 2012.
They’ll join Seminoles freshman Dalvin Cook next season. The 5-star 2014 signee flipped from Florida last December and is beginning to carve out a key role in Tallahassee, evidenced by his recent 100-yard rushing effort against Syracuse.
The Patrick pickup would be enough to land any team on this list as a “winner,” but October could still end on an even higher note for Florida State. Tarvarus McFadden, a 5-star cornerback from Fort Lauderdale, is expected to decide between the Seminoles, LSU and Georgia on Halloween.
If he joins the party, this class could challenge Alabama for America’s top-ranked recruiting class.
Quotes obtained firsthand by Bleacher Report national recruiting analyst Tyler Donohue unless otherwise noted.
Recruit ratings courtesy of 247Sports.
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