National Signing Day 2011: Who Are The Best Recruiters?
National Signing Day has come and gone. If you took a breath you missed young high school seniors picking their next four years by putting on a simple baseball cap.
Or if you are prized running back, Isaiah Crowell, you picked up a puppy bulldog just to drive home the point that you are going to Georgia. Side note, how funny would it have been if that dog just went number one or two on poor Isaiah. Would that have made you feel any better Alabama fans?
So now, much like the diehard fans of NFL teams that dissect every draft pick their team makes in April's National Football League draft, you, the college football fan, will take time out of your days from here until the opening day of the college football year picking apart the new recruits.
Who did it the best today? Give a click through to see who was the best in persuading these young men to attend their universities.
For every story concerning today's National Signing Day, please click on these links:
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Dabo Swinney, Clemson
1 of 10
This was a great way to bounce back for a Clemson team that had a very disappointing 2010 season.
They started out the day outside of the top 10 on the ESPNU 150 board. Then at 1:00 pm, Dabo and Clemson nailed one of the best inside linebackers in Tony Steward. Steward was the first signing and, shortly after he signed, outside linebacker Stephone Anthony.
Both of these recruits were leaning towards other ACC schools like Florida State, North Carolina and Virginia Tech.
To end the day, Clemson ended with two 5-star commitments, five 4-star commits, 15 3-star, and three others.
Bob Stoops, Oklahoma
2 of 10
It was a bit of a quiet day for Bob Stoops and Oklahoma. They did not land the big 5-star recruit that they have had in past years, but that did not mean they had a bad day.
Stoops and Oklahoma's 2011 class is highlighted by Trey Metoyer, who is ranked as the 12th-best player in the country, Brandon Williams, who ranks 14th, and defensive lineman Jordan Phillips.
On the day, ESPNU has Stoops and Oklahoma ranked ninth with nine 4-star recruits and nine more 3-star recruits.
Will Muschamp, Florida
3 of 10
This class was Muschamp's first after coming over from the University of Texas as the new head coach for the Florida Gators. Most of this class was already recruited by former Florida head coach Urban Meyer, but it was on Muschamp to keep these recruits on the books once he took over.
Muschamp landed Florida's prize recruit in Jeff Driksel. The 6'4" quarterback may not have to sit out a year as a redshirt freshman, as the Gator offense is in dire need of a jump start after last year's bad performance.
As for the rest of the day, Muschamp landed one 5-star recruit, nine 4-star recruits, and another five 3-star recruits.
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Jim Tressell, Ohio State
4 of 10
In Tressel's 10th year at Ohio State in his 10th recruiting class (yes it has been 10 years) he had not his best one ever, but he kept the program at Ohio State at the elite level that he has had it at in the last decade.
Tressel was able to sign Ohio State's top recruit Steve Miller and an impressive 12 other 4-star recruits.
This big day for the Buckeyes landed them the top spot out of the rest of the new Big Ten conference. Let's hope that the sweater vest has another 10 years of great recruiting left for the fans of Ohio State.
Mark Richt, Georgia
5 of 10
Another coach who was hired in 2001 celebrating his 10th National Signing Day with the same school is Georgia's head coach Mark Richt. His day was made when the top running back in the country, Isaiah Crowell, picked Georgia over Alabama.
That was not the only big signing for UGA, as they were able to nail down one other 5-star recruit, plus 14 4-star recruits, and another seven 3-star recruits.
For Bulldog fans, this big class may start a revival of the Georgia program to compete with the teams in the SEC West.
Mack Brown, Texas
6 of 10
Mack started this 2011 year off on the wrong side of the coaching pillow (if there is such a thing.)
He lost both his defensive and offensive coordinators. He went for a complete overhaul of the rest of his coaching staff, going for a youth movement. Critics thought this was maybe Mack's last year as the head of the Texas football program. Critics thought that with the loss of these prized coaches Texas would be losing a lot of their recruits.
Well, Mack proved them all wrong as he landed the top recruiting class in the new Big 12 Conference. The class was highlighted by top running back Malcolm Brown. Brown will be looked at to fix a Texas running game that did little to nothing in taking pressure off quarterback Garrett Gilbert.
On the day Texas landed one 5-star recruit, 13 4-star recruits, and eight 3-star recruits.
Lane Kiffin, USC
7 of 10
How does this guy do it? How did he get these kids to buy into a USC program that is under probation, suspensions, NCAA investigations and the fear of the "death penalty" from the NCAA?
How?!?!?!
On the day, USC signed their top recruit in 5-star athlete George Farmer. To go along with Farmer, USC landed eight 4-star recruits and another 10 3-star recruits.
Still how Lane landed anything higher than a 3-star player is baffling.
Nick Saban, Alabama
8 of 10
Saban is a great recruiter. He knows how to get the best players from the states of Alabama, Georgia and Florida. So before you go right ahead and start up the Frankenstein mob with your pitch forks and torches, just know that this piece for best recruiters is for this year!
OK, back to the slideshow.
Saban and his people at Alabama had a good day—not great, but good. They were able to land 13 4-star recruits and another seven 3-star recruits.
The big knock on Saban today was losing out to Georgia on the race for Isaiah Crowell.
Gene Chizik, Auburn
9 of 10
To the victor goes the spoils for this year's 2011 National Signing Day. Well, not the full spoils, but No. 2 is better than three through 10 right?
Plus it helps when you are the defending BCS national champion.
On the day, Auburn landed two 5-star recruits, one of them being Christian Westerman. Auburn continued their big day by signing a SEC-high 14 4-star recruits and another nine 3-star recruits.
It seems as if this Auburn Tigers team is not about to slow down anytime soon.
Jimbo Fisher, Florida State
10 of 10
In his second year as the Florida State head coach, Jimbo landed the No. 1 recruiting class according to ESPNU.
Florida State was only able to land one 5-star commitment in Karlos Williams. However, where Jimbo and the Florida State program made up for it is the astonishing 16 4-star recruits. That is tops among all of the college football programs in Division-I football.
Florida State ended the day with six 3-star recruits to finish tops in the ACC as well.
It seems as if the Seminole program is back. However, one good recruiting class will not bring them back to the days of Bobby Bowden and the 1990s. But for the fans of FSU, hopefully this one great class will spring a number of great classes in the years to come.
Thanks for reading the top coaches for this year's National Signing Day. If you want more sports then follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/tjmcaloon and at the T.J. and The Sports Half Hour http://web.me.com/newhomesarah/T.J.s_Sports_Half_Hour/Podcast/Podcast.html
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