Power 5 College Football Teams in a Recruiting Slump and How They Can Fix It
Much of the focus on college football's national signing day lands on the teams that won big on the biggest Wednesday of the year.
Earlier this month, Alabama stole the headlines once again when blue chip after blue chip announced their intentions to join the defending national champions, who finished with another No. 1 class.
Elsewhere, Charlie Strong's Texas program closed hard with several high-profile signings. Ole Miss and Georgia landed top-10 classes with multiple 5-star pickups. Ohio State and Michigan continued their rivalry by landing the No. 4 and 5 hauls nationally.
But for other programs, national signing day was the sign of a tough reality—a recruiting slump. By being unable to capitalize on recent momentum or failing to reach the high standards of a recruiting powerhouse, several schools ended the 2016 cycle with a bad taste in their mouths.
Here are seven Power Five programs that are currently in a recruiting slump based on their recent class rankings from the 247Sports Composite, which combines the industry's top services into one rating system.
But since there's always a chance to bounce back in the cyclical world of college football recruiting, each of the seven programs are also listed with its own individual blueprint for getting out of the slump.
Florida
1 of 7
Recent recruiting rankings
2013: Third
2014: Ninth
2015: 21st
2016: 13th
After gaining some momentum back on the recruiting trail—according to Andy Hutchins of SB Nation, "Florida jumped 40 to 50 spots" in nearly every recruiting ranking in just a few hours on national signing day 2015—the 2016 class was supposed to be Florida's return to its familiar territory of the top 10.
That didn't happen in head coach Jim McElwain's first full class since taking over for Will Muschamp, as the Gators finished 13th in 247Sports' Composite Rankings. They didn't sign a single consensus 5-star recruit and pulled only nine 4-stars in a class that had 25 signees. It wasn't the blue-chip-heavy class fans had been accustomed to seeing from Florida.
"McElwain simply was not able to get highly rated recruits to sign with Florida like Urban Meyer, and, for a while, Muschamp were able to do," David Wunderlich of Team Speed Kills wrote. "His blue chip rate is not up to par with those of FSU, Georgia, and LSU either. It's one thing to have an iffy transitional class... It's another to follow it up with a second class with fewer than 40% of the players getting a premium grade."
How to fix it
The 2016 season will be crucial both on and off the field for Florida. If the Gators can fix their woes on offense and continue to play top-level defense, they'll be in contention for another SEC East title and a major bowl game.
Sustaining momentum on the field is vital to McElwain's staff making a charge back into the top 10 in recruiting. As simple as it sounds, the Gators need to land a higher percentage of these blue-chip players from their own backyard—ones who can help bring Florida back into the national title picture.
As Blake Alderman of Rivals wrote, Florida opened and closed the 2016 cycle on weak notes by taking mostly unknown 3-stars early on and then missing on almost every major recruiting battle ahead of signing day. Florida can't afford to repeat that pattern if it wants to get back to where it belongs on the recruiting trail.
Miami
2 of 7
Recent recruiting rankings
2013: 14th
2014: 12th
2015: 26th
2016: 31st
Miami is located in perhaps the best area for high school football talent in the entire country. During their national championship-winning glory days, the Hurricanes made sure to lock down what former head coach Howard Schnellenberger called "the state of Miami"—the area from Orlando all the way down to South Beach.
That didn't happen as much during the end of Al Golden's tenure at The U. After signing back-to-back classes in 2013 and 2014—the two most successful years of his underwhelming tenure—the Hurricanes slipped outside the top 25 as more schools around the country started to get the bulk of Miami's local talent.
Recruiting slipped along with the on-field product, and Golden was fired with a sub-.500 ACC record midway through the 2016 season. Golden went 10-10 in his last year-plus as Miami's head coach as the Hurricanes failed to keep hold of a 2016 recruiting class that had a mind-boggling 25 decommitments in all, according to Kevin Trahan of SB Nation.
How to fix it
The Hurricanes desperately needed stability after the hot-seat era of Golden, and they got just that with new head coach Mark Richt. The Miami alumnus, who was one of the coaches who frequently raided South Florida for Miami recruits during his time at Georgia, is a proven commodity in the Power Five conferences.
Richt's coaching and recruiting chops arrive at a perfect time for Miami, which closed 2015 with a 4-2 record under interim head coach Larry Scott. With the amount of talent coming back to the Hurricanes this fall—especially on offense—Richt could have a solid Top 25 team on his hands in season No. 1.
The Hurricanes' new coaching staff will be focused on sealing off the state of Miami again and expanding the team's reach into other national hotbeds with its connections from past stops. Some schools on here are winning and still slumping in recruiting. Miami just needs to win, and the foundation in there with Richt.
Oklahoma
3 of 7
Recent recruiting rankings
2013: 16th
2014: 14th
2015: 14th
2016: 20th
Oklahoma's recruiting rankings haven't taken a large nosedive in the last few years, but take a look at the overall trend with an expanded range of classes. In 2011 and 2012, OU had the No. 13 and 12 classes, respectively, in the country. In 2010, the Sooners inked a No. 4 class.
The Sooners' finish at 20th in the 2016 cycle was somewhat surprising given their Big 12 championship run and berth in the College Football Playoff. And Oklahoma had to close strong just to get that top-20 class—landing 5-star linebacker Caleb Kelly was a huge boost on signing day.
"The Sooners actually lost traction with some and couldn’t make a dent with others when it really looked like they would," recruiting analyst Bob Przybylo told Eric Bailey of the Tulsa World. "OU’s class is going to be solid. It always is, but it’s not the knock-it-out-of-the-park class this really looked like it could have been in the first couple of weeks of December."
How to fix it
Another year of Big 12 and College Football Playoff contention would play a big part in a recruiting renaissance for the Sooners. As Rivals analyst Eddie Radosevich told the Dallas Morning News, Oklahoma's success from the playoff run is "setting themselves up for in 2017 and 2018... [by] getting in to places earlier" in the recruiting cycle.
Getting off to a quicker start in the 2017 class is important, and the Sooners are already rolling with five 4-star commitments so far for the nation's No. 8 class. Craig Haubert and Billy Tucker of ESPN.com wrote that OU has had one of the 10 fastest starts in 2017 recruiting.
One major way Oklahoma can rise up in the recruiting rankings in the next few classes is by focusing on signing more recruits from talent-rich Texas. The Sooners only signed three Texans in their class of 20 in 2016, but four out of their five current 2017 commitments hail from the Lone Star State.
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Oklahoma State
4 of 7
Recent recruiting rankings
2013: 30th
2014: 28th
2015: 39th
2016: 44th
Oklahoma State hasn't traditionally been a recruiting powerhouse in the Big 12 compared to the likes of blue bloods Texas and Oklahoma. But as Baylor and TCU have surged forward in the recruiting landscape with their newfound success, the Cowboys have regressed—even after great seasons on the field.
"Two years ago, Oklahoma State inked a signing class that finished 14th in the country, per Scout.com," Zac Ellis of Sports Illustrated wrote. "This season? The Cowboys closed Signing Day with the 43rd-ranked group of prospects, which limps to seventh among Big 12 teams."
What's surprising is that Oklahoma State took a major step back in recruiting after competing for a College Football Playoff spot for most of the season and landing a New Year's Six bowl berth. The Cowboys only signed one blue-chip recruit in its class of 2016, 4-star offensive tackle Tramonda Moore. Although Moore was the No. 1 player in Oklahoma, the class as a whole was a disappointment.
How to fix it
If Oklahoma State has another highly successful season in 2016 and still can't manage to capitalize on that momentum for recruiting, it might be time for Mike Gundy to shake up his staff of assistants. You can't say winning or publicity has been a problem for Gundy's program.
"When our logo was up there for that four weeks, that was as big a marketing tool for this football team and this school as there can be," Gundy said, per Brandon Chatmon of ESPN.com. "Everybody watches that show (the College Football Playoff rankings show)... That’s what I’m talking about. That’s huge."
As David Beall of Heartland College Sports noted, Gundy's past staffs at Oklahoma State had good closers on the recruiting trail such as Joe Deforest and Joe Wickline. Oklahoma State has the talent right now to keep up in the growing Big 12 arms race, and recruiting like it used to do will sustain that success.
Oregon
5 of 7
Recent recruiting rankings
2013: 19th
2014: 21st
2015: 16th
2016: 28th
Oregon was riding high both on the field and on the recruiting trail after making a run to the national championship game in the 2014 season. According to Andrew Nemec of the Oregonian, the Ducks were ranked as high as seventh nationally for the class of 2016 this summer.
But as Oregon slid down to its first season with fewer than 10 wins since 2007, its place in the recruiting rankings went all the way outside of the top 25. The Ducks lost commitments from a handful of blue-chips—most notably UCLA signee Theo Howard and Alabama pickup Jared Mayden—and struck out on almost every major uncommitted target it had left on the board on signing day.
In the end, the new-school recruiting power out of the Pac-12 had its worst class ranking since the 2009 cycle. USC, UCLA, Stanford and Arizona State all finished with better recruiting classes than Oregon, and rival Washington signed more blue-chip prospects at a spot just behind the Ducks in the final national rankings.
How to fix it
Continuity on the coaching staff should help Oregon for the 2017 cycle after the Ducks changed both coordinators. Mark Helfrich stayed in-house by promoting Matt Lubick to replace Scott Frost on offense, and former Michigan head coach Brady Hoke as defensive coordinator should be a tremendous boost in recruiting for the future.
"[Hoke] also recruited well at Michigan and should bring some of those same chops to a program that hasn't turned its recent success into top-10 recruiting classes like some expected," Bleacher Report's Bryan Fischer wrote. "It certainly can't hurt to reshape the Ducks staff to include somebody with 12 years' experience as an FBS head coach—and who has been on the big stage at a place like Michigan to boot."
If Hoke can improve Oregon's defense just enough for the offense to lead the charge in another Pac-12 title hunt, then Ducks fans can expect a quick turnaround in recruiting. Hoke is an ace recruiter at a place that already draws in prospects from all around the country with its unique style and state-of-the-art facilities.
Texas A&M
6 of 7
Recent recruiting rankings
2013: Ninth
2014: Fifth
2015: 11th
2016: 18th
Texas A&M's early success in the SEC with head coach Kevin Sumlin and Heisman-winning quarterback Johnny Manziel made the Aggies a hot name on the recruiting trail. The team had lagged behind some Big 12 powers during its final days in the conference, but Sumlin's first two complete cycles ended with top-10 classes.
The Aggies' 2015 class fell just outside of the top 10 nationally, but it still boasted 5-stars Daylon Mack, Christian Kirk and Kyler Murray. Less than a year later, though, and Murray had already transferred from A&M, joining fellow former 5-star quarterback Kyle Allen. Even with all the talent they had stockpiled in College Station, the Aggies went 8-5 in both 2014 and 2015.
The slight decline in on-field results, combined with the growing heat under the seat of Sumlin after Murray and Allen's transfers, led to Texas A&M finishing with the SEC's eighth-best recruiting class two years after landing the nation's fifth-best. The Aggies didn't sign a single 5-star and only picked up eight 4-stars.
How to fix it
Texas A&M was able to capitalize on a down period in Texas recruiting when it joined the SEC, offering high-level recruits the chance to make an instant impact in a new era for the program. As SB Nation's Good Bull Hunting eloquently put it, the Aggies are now "just not good enough to recruit elite players for depth... and too talented to sell immediate playing time."
And while the Aggies lost Murray and Allen, the majority of that blue-chip talent is still leading the way on the depth chart. In order to become an attractive destination again to top recruits, Texas A&M needs to become a legitimate contender for titles, and that starts with a bounce-back season in 2016.
This upcoming season needs to bring some much-needed stability for Sumlin himself and his coaching staff, which has lost some ace recruiters in recent seasons. If Noel Mazzone can be the home run hire A&M needed to reignite what was once one of the nation's most feared offenses, then more top talent should be headed to College Station.
Virginia
7 of 7
Recent recruiting rankings
2013: 29th
2014: 32nd
2015: 50th
2016: 61st
Some college football fans will get here and scratch their heads at Virginia's inclusion. But at one point under Mike London, the Cavaliers were simply killing it on the recruiting trail. London signed back-to-back top-25 classes in 2011 and 2012, and his classes were strong by ACC Coastal standards in 2013 and 2014, the latter of which had a pair of 5-stars.
But when Virginia's good recruiting classes didn't turn into winning teams on the field—London only went to one bowl game in his six years with the program—the area blue chips that the Cavaliers once landed largely ignored them.
Virginia only signed one 4-star in 2015 and didn't get one in the makeshift 2016 class that was started by London and finished by new head coach Bronco Mendenhall.
How to fix it
It will be tough for Virginia to reach the heights it once had in recruiting under London, but Mendenhall took on the unique challenges of recruiting at Mormon school BYU and still produced strong teams. One of Mendenhall's major selling points to recruits in the 2017 cycle and beyond will be early playing time.
"I don’t plan to redshirt," Mendenhall said, per Doug Doughty of the Roanoke Times. "We’re going to play freshmen as they come in. By the way, we played the most freshmen in all of college football last year at BYU... I like players that come in, from the beginning [who are] expecting to play [and] competing to play and having the mindset to contribute."
Getting instant-impact talent early in the rebuild process at Virginia will be vital for Mendenhall, and now he has access to a larger base of talent than the one he could recruit from for BYU. Those early successes will breed even more recruiting victories for the Cavaliers.
Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.
Justin Ferguson is a college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.
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