How Florida and Michigan Can Return to Recruiting Glory in 2016

Here's the positive takeaway for two of college football's blue bloods on national signing day: They avoided unmitigated disasters.

Florida and Michigan entered Wednesday with plenty of similarities: new head coaches—Jim McElwain and Jim Harbaugh, respectively—small classes and a lot of work to do. The uncertainty surrounding their predecessors—Brady Hoke and Will Muschamp—put each program behind the proverbial eight-ball on the recruiting trail. 

Still, Florida and Michigan finished the day with the No. 21 and No. 38 classes in the nation, respectively. Those represent jumps of 45 and 33 spots in one day.

Tony Ding/Associated Press

They may not have had top-10 classes, but all things considered, things could have been worse. Much worse.

Now, each program has to use whatever momentum it gained on Wednesday and put it toward a better 2016 recruiting class. That's the class with which McElwain and Harbaugh's programs will be more accurately defined.

A coach's first signing class requires a pass. Because of the recruiting dead period from Dec. 15 to Jan. 14, McElwain had about a month to recruit. Harbaugh, hired at the end of December, had just a few weeks to put his first class together.

Compare that to most other coaches around the country who have been building relationships with prospects for a year or more.

As Nick Baumgardner of MLive.com opines, Harbaugh's name only carries so much weight by itself in a short period of time:

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At the same time, though, Michigan's number of near-misses over the past three weeks proved two things:

1. Harbaugh's name does, in fact, carry a lot of weight. Otherwise, Michigan doesn't come close on a number of the head-to-head battles over recent weeks;

2. Michigan's football brand needs to be rebuilt, whether anyone wants to admit it or not.

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Harbaugh likely sold his 14-member class on the future, guaranteeing that he'll get things turned around. Unless the Wolverines immediately get back to double-digit wins and knock off Ohio State in 2015, next year's pitch shouldn't differ too much.

The primary change is that Harbaugh might promise more playing time to incoming freshmen.

It's a similar strategy to what head coach Charlie Strong is using at Texas: Hold the first class together and then put your stamp on the second class with impact freshmen.

McElwain, however, could be in a position where several members of his 2015 class, like the 5-star duo of Martez Ivey and CeCe Jefferson, see the field. 

As Chip Patterson of CBSSports.com notes, "Ivey is the most important piece of a concerted effort by Florida's staff to rebuild the offensive line with only two starters among seven scholarship players returning at the position."

"I feel like I’m the No. 1 defensive end and I know he’s the No. 1 offensive tackle," Jefferson told Edgar Thompson of the Orlando Sentinel. "So us going head-to-head in practice, once game time comes it’s going to feel easy."

Playing time is only part of the equation, though. This year is more about getting players and recruits alike to buy in and see what works.

Developing relationships is crucial, not just with 2016 recruits, but with current players. After all, they'll be hosting prospects on visits as well. Coaches can pitch a number of things, but the vibe of a program is most accurately seen through the ones playing in it.

Signing day is over. Now, the real work begins to get Michigan and Florida back among college football's elite.

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.