College Football Recruiting 2012: The 15 Best Recruiting Schools This Decade
Over the past 10 years, we have seen recruiting really pick up, mainly due to the boom of the Internet. Recruiting coverage has picked up dramatically over the past decade, and prep players have seen their spotlight grow increasingly bigger.
As a result, the play in college football has become better and more scrutinized. Recruiting is the life blood of a program, and some teams have done it better than others.
While there are many teams that have recruited well, but don't find themselves among the sexy names in recruiting rankings, this list is full of teams that have dominated the recruiting trail.
15. Nebraska
1 of 15
The Cornhuskers don't boast a desirable location or a sexy city to entice recruits, but they have done well on the trail over the past decade. They even had a commitment for awhile from Blaine Gabbert, before he switched to Missouri.
From the likes of Ndamukong Suh, Taylor Martinez, Marlon Lucky, Prince Amukamara and Alfonzo Dennard, the Cornhuskers have gobbled up their share of solid prospects.
14. North Carolina
2 of 15
The Tar Heels got the decade started off right in signing Darian Durant. Durant is considered by many to be the greatest QB in UNC history. Known as a hoops school, the football squad has seen some elite talent walk down the football halls.
From Marvin Austin, Hakeem Nicks, Dante Paige-Moss, Bruce Carter, Greg Little, Robert Quinn and Quinton Coples among others, UNC has been a solid stop for prep players over the years.
13. Michigan
3 of 15
Big Blue has turned back to its traditional ways with the hiring of Brady Hoke, but even in the Rich Rodriguez era, the Wolverines had a solid presence on the trail. Rich Rod's biggest find was a dual-threat QB from Florida named Denard Robinson.
But even in the middle part of the decade, Michigan still flexed muscle nationally, plucking Ryan Mallett from Texas, Jonas Mouton and Donovan Warren from California and beating out USC and Michigan State for LaMarr Woodley.
Toss in players like Jake Long, Chad Henne, Mario Manningham and Mike Hart among more.
Soon enough, Michigan will be back to its old ways—on the field and on the recruiting trail.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
12. Oregon
4 of 15
Oregon has a lot to offer a recruit, especially right now. The Ducks are fresh off a Pac-10 title and BCS title-game appearance. They've got the coolest uniforms in the country and their facilities are ridiculous.
The Ducks have landed top-level players such as Jonathan Stewart, Haloti Ngata, Darron Thomas, Cliff Harris, Lache Seastrunk and LaMichael James.
11. Georgia
5 of 15
Georgia has been a solid SEC program for years. The Bulldogs are usually annual contenders in the SEC East and for the conference title. They've also held their own on the recruiting trail as well.
The Boys in Athens have plucked Knowshon Moreno from New Jersey, Matthew Stafford from Texas, A.J. Green from South Carolina and other players like Thomas Davis, Justin Dent, Clint Boling and Ben Watson.
10. Alabama
6 of 15
If this was a list geared toward the end of the decade, then Alabama would be higher. But Crimson Tide fans, let's face it—you guys were not the recruiting juggernaut that you are now before Nick Saban was there.
However, the classes of the decade's back end are so strong that Alabama still makes it here. Just a few recruits to mention are Julio Jones, Kareem Jackson, Marcell Dareus, Rolando McClain, Andre Smith, Mark Ingram, Courtney Upshaw, Mark Barron, DeMeco Ryans and Brodie Croyle.
9. Oklahoma
7 of 15
Bob Stoops has done a remarkable job of making OU a flagship school in the Big 12, Midwest and ultimately college football. One of the ways Stoops has gotten it done is through recruiting great talent.
Stoops has signed elite players like Tommie Harris, Sam Bradford, Gerald McCoy, Mark Clayton, Jamaal Brown, Teddy Lehman, Landry Jones, Brodney Pool, Trent Williams and DeMarco Murray among others.
8. Notre Dame
8 of 15
Notre Dame has not had much of its old-time success on the field in recent memory, but during the Charlie Weis era of the middle-to-late portion of the decade, the Irish had some top-level pull on the trail.
Weis plucked players like Jimmy Clausen, Michael Floyd, Ethan Johnson, Manti Te'o, Sam Young and Kyle Rudolph.
Even before Weis, the Irish signed recruits by the names of Brady Quinn, Tom Zbikowski, Derek Landri, Justin Tuck and Maurice Stovall.
7. Ohio State
9 of 15
One notable element Ohio State doesn't get enough credit for in my opinion is their ability to recruit in Florida. There seems to be a solid avenue from the Sunshine State to Columbus.
Yet, Jim Tressel has cleaned up around the Midwest and on a national level. Notable recruits signed this past decade include Terrelle Pryor, Mike Adams, Beanie Wells, Mike Brewster, Dante Whitner, Ted Ginn, Santonio Holmes, Nick Mangold and A.J. Hawk.
6. Florida State
10 of 15
The Seminoles may be one of the greatest recruiting schools of all-time, let alone this past decade. Nobody closed like Bobby Bowden and FSU was the dream school for many of the nation's top high-school prospects during the 1990s and early 2000s.
From players like Lorenzo Booker, Fred Rouse, Myron Role, Lawrence Timmons, Darnell Dockett, Cro Thorpe, Bryant McFadden, Travis Johnson, Ernie Sims and Antonio Cromartie, you see why FSU is here at this spot.
5. LSU
11 of 15
The Tigers sit in a plush and fertile region where they can pluck top recruits all around the South. They love to bring in recruits during the season for official visits, as their game-day atmosphere is perhaps the most electric in the country on Saturdays.
The Tigers have been a force on the trail under the direction of both Nick Saban and Les Miles. Notable signees this past decade include Marcus Spears, Patrick Peterson, LaRon Landry, Early Doucet, Glen Dorsey, JaMarcus Russell, Terrance Tolliver and Tyson Jackson.
4. Miami
12 of 15
Just as Alabama mainly made its mark toward the back end of the 2000s, the Hurricanes made their mark at the start of the decade. The U has seen some of the most elite and talented players and recruits come to Coral Gables.
Names for the past decade include Andre Johnson, Willis McGahee, Sean Taylor, Frank Gore, Antrel Rolle, DJ Williams, Kellen Winslow II, Jonathan Vilma and Vince Wilfork.
I'm just going to stop there. The only thing keeping Miami from being moved up are the sub-par classes towards the end of the decade. The 2008 class was solid, but those players have not been developed to their potential.
3. Texas
13 of 15
Texas has revolutionized the way programs recruit. Mack Brown was one of the first coaches to really start using junior days as a huge recruiting tool, and really used them to fuel some elite classes of the past decade.
Texas rarely goes out of the state borders to recruit a player, choosing to take full advantage of the wealth of talent that sits in its backyard.
Brown has signed some elite players this decade, such as Roy Williams, Vince Young, Michael Huff, Aaron Ross, Sergio Kindle, Earl Thomas, Justin Blalock and Derrick Johnson.
2. Florida
14 of 15
Recently, Florida has been the dominant school of the big three in the state. Urban Meyer chose to go to Gainesville over South Bend mainly because Florida has a better ability to attract and recruit talent.
He signed numerous No.1 classes in his tenure with the Gators, with players like Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin, Ronald Powell, the Pouncey twins, Joe Haden, Carlos Dunlap and Aaron Hernandez.
Toss in pre-Meyer players like Chad Jackson, DeShawn Wynn, Ciatrick Fason, Keiwan Ratliff, Ben Troupe and Chris Leak among many, many, many more and you see why the Gators are at this clip.
1. USC
15 of 15
Many observers point to USC landing Shaun Cody as the key recruit to open the floodgates into Troy. It seemed once Pete Carroll got Cody to commit right before signing day in 2001, elite talent, not just from California, but from all over the country, wound up at USC.
Carroll filled the Trojan roster with a plethora of 5-star and 4-star recruits, including Reggie Bush, Keith Rivers, Matt Leinart, LenDale White, Sam Baker, Mike Williams, Dwayne Jarrett, Steve Smith, Rey Maualuga and Fred Davis.
Many USC players in the middle portion of the decade would often state that they faced better talent and competition at practice than on game days.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
