2012 Recruiting Classes: How Did Notre Dame's Rivals Fare?
by Eric Murtaugh on Feb 8, 2012 8:30 AM EST
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PrintWith National Signing Day come and gone, the vast majority of programs around the country have closed the book on their 2012 class and are making preparations to recruit the next crop of young football stars.
A few players still remain undeclared and unsigned (Davonte Neal---we could use you), but for the most part, what you see now is what you're going to get from our rivals.
Important note: Before we get started let's agree not to turn this into a discussion about who is and who is not a rival to Notre Dame. Save those arguments for another day. If it makes you feel better, think of these as "teams of interest" because the Irish play them so often.
Number Signed: 15
States Represented: New Jersey (x6), Massachusetts (x2), Virginia (x2), Ohio, Florida (x2), Pennsylvania, and Quebec.
Class Ranking (Scout-247): 71st & 81st
Top Players (Rivals):
LB, Steven Daniels (Unranked)
OL, Win Homer (No. 26 OT)
OL, Jim Cashman (No. 60 OT)
LB, Mark Strizak (No. 23 ILB)
OL, Frank Taylor (No. 20 OG)
Commentary:
It wasn't a very good class for Frank Spaziani and the Eagles as they finished 2012 near the bottom of the ACC and below-average across the country. In fact, only three AQ schools (Wake Forest, Iowa State, Kansas State) finished with a worse team ranking than Boston College.
The Eagles did recruit well at offensive line and linebacker---no surprise there---but didn't sign a quarterback, running back, and just one defensive linemen in a very small class.
Linebacker Steven Daniels is the top recruit (stashed away in prep school for a year to meet academic requirements) and BC will also add Iowa transfer Marcus Grant (No. 90 WR for 2011) who is not counted as part of the above class.
The arrow is not pointing up for BC or Frank Spaziani. A small class devoid of much talent is not what is needed right now in Chestnut Hill. 2012 may be Spaz's last at Boston College.
Number Signed: 25
States Represented: Ohio (x9), Missouri (x2), California, Michigan (x9), Tennessee, Iowa, Kentucky, and Utah.
Class Ranking: 4th & 8th
Top Players:
OL, Kyle Kalis (No. 4 OT)
DT, Ondre Pipkins (No. 3 DT)
OL, Erik Magnuson (No. 10 OT)
LB, Joe Bolden (No. 7 OLB)
LB, James Ross (No. 14 OLB)
Commentary:
There were two major questions facing Brady Hoke when he took over the job at Michigan and he answered them both this year. He turned around the Wolverine defense, and he recruited with the best of them. Oh yeah, and he won a lot of games in his first season.
This Michigan class is large in numbers, deep in depth, and has plenty of star power. Most of the top guys are what we'd term "power" recruits---and the "skilled" recruits aren't blowing anyone away---but you can see Hoke really wanted to bring toughness to his offensive line and front seven.
Michigan went back to dominating in Ohio and Michigan and it paid off. This is a massively successful anchor class for Brady Hoke.
Lack of difference makers at running back and wide receiver could pose problems in 2 or 3 years. There's no quarterback in the class, but 5-star Shane Morris is a verbal for 2013. Tremendous replenishment of the offensive line and linebacker corps. About as good of a class as anyone could have dreamed for Michigan.
Michigan State Spartans
Number Signed: 18
States Represented: Michigan (x4), Pennsylvania (x2), Florida (x2), Ohio (x7), Indiana, Georgia, and Oregon.
Class Ranking: 36th & 38th
Top Players:
WR, Aaron Burbridge (No. 16 WR)
DB, Demetrious Cox (No. 12 S)
DE, Jamal Lyles (No. 18 WDE)
WR, Macgarrett King Jr. (No. 86 WR)
QB, Tyler O'Connor (No. 18 Pro-Style QB)
Commentary:
If you're a Spartan fan, you have to be terribly frustrated. For a great portion of the season they showed they were the best team in the Big Ten. They even beat the Michigan team that went to (and won) the Sugar Bowl. They are 22-5 over the past two seasons, with back-to-back 11 win campaigns---and this class has little to show for it while Michigan's class is miles better.
Michigan State's class was hurt by some defections and it only has 7 defenders in total, with just 3 freshman coming in at the front seven positions. Also, there are just three 4-star players---not exactly the star power the Spartans probably expected to bring in.
MSU is losing a lot of offensive production this season so a focus on that side of the ball was probably a good idea. Still, this is a pretty disappointing (but not terrible) class for the Spartans. Looking at the success of Michigan and Ohio State in the 2012 class can't make the green and white feel too good right now.
Players Signed: 25
States Represented: Pennsylvania, Texas (x5), Wisconsin, Georgia (x2), Ohio, Arizona, Florida (x7), Maryland, Virginia, Illinois, Tennessee, Alabama, and Kentucky.
Class Ranking: 100th & 118th
Top Players:
OL, Toye Adewon (No. 7 C)
RB, Toneo Gulley (Unranked)
LB, Tyler Goble (Unranked)
DB, Zander Yost (Unranked)
OL, John Ferguson (Unranked)
Commentary:
Navy is going to be Navy when it comes to recruiting. Just a whole bunch of unranked 2 and 3-star players. Curiously, the Middies only have 1 player signed right now, so I'm assuming the Naval Academy does things a little differently then the rest of the college football world.
Typically, Navy needs to find a few difference makers on defense, a smart quarterback, and a nice collection of players who run hard with the ball in their hands. We'll see if they found any of those in this class.
Players Signed: 16
States Represented: Pennsylvania (x6), Tennessee, Ohio (x6), Washington, New York, Maryland, and Wisconsin.
Class Ranking: 40th & 45th
Top Players:
RB, Rushel Shell (No. 6 RB)
QB, Chad Voytik (No. 4 Pro-Style QB)
OL, Adam Bisnowaty (No. 19 OT)
LB, Deaysean Rippy (No. 21 OLB)
ATH, Demitrious Davis (No. 32 ATH)
Summary:
Things were not looking bright for Pitt as they lost head coach Todd Graham to Arizona State and the program needed to hire their 4th coach in such a short time span. Overall though, this class held up pretty well even if the numbers are low.
The top of the bunch is very good, led by one of the best running backs in the country Rushel Shell. The Panthers added linebacker Deaysean Rippy on signing day (as well as three other defenders) and welcome a pretty talented quarterback in Chad Voytik.
The main problem is that the numbers are low, and half of the class is unranked according to Rivals. So this is a top-heavy class with poor and untalented depth bring up the rear. Pitt is going to need their stars to pan out and very good player development in this class.
Players Signed: 25
States Represented: Indiana (x4), Ohio, Florida (x5), New York, Texas (x4), Alabama, North Carolina, Arkansas, California, Virginia, New Jersey, Arizona, Kentucky, Maryland, and Michigan.
Class Ranking: 51st & 53rd
Top Players:
ATH, Carlos Carvajal (Unranked)
DE, Ryan Watson (No. 16 SDE)
OL, Devin Smith (Unranked)
WR, B.J. Knauf (Unranked)
DB, Anthony Brown (No. 51 CB)
Commentary:
Purdue signed a very large class and the numbers have helped their overall ranking because there isn't much talent here. It's a pretty typical Boilermaker class---one in which they will have to find some diamonds in the rough and develop some unknowns---something they are pretty adept at anyway.
Notice how Purdue strays away from recruiting much in the Midwest? That's a pretty diverse collection of recruits coming from outside the middle of the country. If you include Texas, they have 15 players from the South. I think it's obvious that the Boilermakers are really concerned about speed.
Overall, this is a pretty strong class in comparison to most B1G schools, outside of the top power teams. The vast amount of bodies will allow Danny Hope & Co. to develop some underrated players.
Players Signed: 22
States Represented: California (x3), Arizona (x3), Virginia, Washington (x2), Florida (x2), Georgia, Tennessee, Minnesota, Hawaii, Oklahoma, Utah, Texas (x3), Missouri, and Illinois.
Class Ranking: 6th & 7th
Top Players:
DE, Aziz Shittu (No. 3 SDE)
OL, Kyle Murphy (No. 3 OT)
OL, Andrus Peat (No. 6 OT)
OL, Joshua Garnett (No. 2 OG)
S, Alex Carter (No. 3 S)
Commentary:
Up until the beginning of January the Cardinal had a very solid class but it was lacking in numbers and without any true blue-chip players. However, even with a bowl loss and Andrew Luck leaving, recruits are buying what Stanford is selling.
In late January, Joshua Garnett committed. On signing day, Stanford pulled a coup while bringing in Shittu, Murphy, and Peat---three of the best linemen in the country.
The class is without a quarterback or tight end (strange giving their success at these positions over the past couple seasons) but this is a very well rounded class with 6 or 7 elite to borderline elite players, and half a dozen top notch prospects.
Southern California Trojans
Players Signed: 15
States Represented: Florida (x2), Washington, California (x12)
Class Ranking: 19th & 11th
Top Players:
OL, Zach Banner (No. 2 OT)
WR, Nelson Agholor (No. 3 WR)
OL, Jordan Simmons (No. 1 OG)
OL, Max Tuerk (No. 7 OT)
LB, Jabari Ruffin (No. 1 OLB)
Commentary:
When you take away Notre Dame's long snapper, the probation handcuffed USC Trojans signed the same amount of players as the Fighting Irish---and USC's class is very talented indeed.
13 of the 15 recruits are 4-star prospects or better, while one of the 3-stars is the nation's top fullback.
Leading up to February 1st, the Trojans received a commitment from Zach Banner, then proceeded to add Nelson Agholor, Leonard Williams, and Devian Shelton on National Signing Day.
USC might run into inevitable depth issues over the next few seasons, but they continue to recruit at the highest levels with the numbers allowed to them.
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Nice work
Of all the classes, I have to be the most impressed with Stanford. They landed some of the top offensive line talent out there to go with other nice pieces.
There were plenty of small classes across the board this year, at least in terms of traditional opponents. It will be interesting to see if some of the steps to curtail oversigning in the SEC will help with parity across the board.
I don't tweet often--but when I do, you can be sure it isn't important.
@jemiesle
It's a toss up for me between Michigan, Stanford, and USC
For whose class I was most impressed with.
UM was an elite WR or RB away from having a ridiculous class. We’ll see how much Hoke focuses on those positions in the 2013 cycle.
Stanford engineered a NSD coup, but they are also a little light in the playmaker department and will have to develop a lot of non-elite players there from this class. Losing Noor Davis so early to the Cardinal felt like a bad omen—-really wanted that kid in blue and gold.
USC’s class is phenomenal giving their sanctions. They literally didn’t reach for anybody and have one of the best small classes in recent memory.
It’s not a great feeling watching these three teams recruit like this, is it?
How much does the lack of success from Purdue, BC, Pitt, and especially Michigan State off-set that?
Probably not much I would say.
Sky rockets in flight.
by Eric Murtaugh on Feb 8, 2012 8:54 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
It all starts with the lines
especially with the way Stanford plays football. They don’t need elite QB or TE recruits yearly – they’re physical at the point of attack and play sound football.
USC will always pull in great skill players – they should be more concerned about O-line and D-line depth. I think they’ll be hurting there in 2-3 years and it will show in their record.
But overall I think Stanford has the best class.
As an aside, why aren’t rankings made primarily based on Average star rating? That doesn’t make sense to me…
Reply
They don’t need elite QB or TE recruits yearly
I’m a little skeptical. I don’t think Stanford has turned into Alabama west just yet. They need to put together a couple more seasons before they reach that status. Life without Luck could change their offense quite a bit——but they did awesome in this class.
I hear what you’re saying about USC, but I’m not banking on anything until I see it. They have good numbers on the lines, and now we need a bunch of injuries to happen for them to suffer. Possible yes, but they are not in dire straights.
Sky rockets in flight.
by Eric Murtaugh on Feb 9, 2012 8:22 AM EST up reply actions
UM does not scare me as much
Basically because their entire class is from the midwest. Not that Ohio/Michigan doesn’t produce good talent, its just not on par with what stanford and USC got I believe. I think there is a reason the B1G gets beat in BCS bowls, and its a lack of speed. the rich rod point could be made against the south, but i felt that was more bc the ignoring of Defense. USC scares me. A lot of good players in that class. Stanford scares me. Their Oline is going to be phenomenal.
Also....
Zach Banner is the front-runner for largest head on a 2012 recruit. Look at the size of that thing!
Sky rockets in flight.
Zach Banner will play LT
and his head will play LG.
One Foot Down
On teh Twitterz
by burger23 on Feb 8, 2012 12:12 PM EST up reply actions 2 recs
I wonder if MSU's recent success is a product of the RichRod era at UM
RichRod focused mostly on the South in his recruiting, allowing MSU to clean up in the Midwest and take kids that they normally would be fighting UM for. That led to the talent that won them 22 games in the past two seasons. But now that Hoke is at Michigan, MSU is back to battling UM, and losing. I heard somewhere MSU had something like 14 4-star players in their 2009 and 2010 classes, but only 4 4-star kids the past two years. I think we might start to see a talent drain in East Lansing, and the Spartans falling back into their perpetual 7-9 win range.
One Foot Down
On teh Twitterz
by burger23 on Feb 8, 2012 12:17 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
I think you may be right
I wonder if Dantonio is thinking about leaving after 2012?
Would he flee to Tennessee?
Somewhere else maybe? He’s in a tough spot now. MSU is a good enough program where he can’t justify leaving unless it’s clearly a step up—-and it doesn’t look like there will be many openings next season.
Sky rockets in flight.
by Eric Murtaugh on Feb 8, 2012 12:41 PM EST up reply actions
Georgia...
just because Richt is on the hot seat on an annual basis.
Also, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Lane Kiffin jump ship to the NFL if a job is offered.
I don't tweet often--but when I do, you can be sure it isn't important.
@jemiesle
I actually thought
Dantonio was a prime target for the OSU job when Tressel resigned. With Meyer in, I don’t think Dantonio’s going anywhere, but it’d be interesting to see.
by Meager Reader on Feb 10, 2012 2:41 AM EST up reply actions
Excellent point
It was surprising that RR just ignored the entire state (and region for that matter).
They did score the Arnett transfer from Tennessee and have a decent (if inexperienced) QB waiting in the wings. It will be interesting to see just what happens, but what about NFL prospects for Dantonio? Just curious to see what other’s thoughts are on the matter.
I don't tweet often--but when I do, you can be sure it isn't important.
@jemiesle
True
Nobody did more for Michigan State football than Rich Rodriguez.
by Meager Reader on Feb 10, 2012 2:39 AM EST up reply actions
Speaking of recruiting...
Alford interviewed with the Green Bay Packers yesterday. ISD has an article and notes that the interest was likely initiated by the Packers…job position unknown. They also noted that he’s likely one of many candidates being interviewed and would be surprised if he was offered and accepted.
Hoops
Another big win on the road. Grant hit a DEEP three with about a minute left. He was 3-16 at the time.
Cooley was a man tonight.
"I asked for Shaq. They gave me Shackleford."
http://whereisbenrivera.posterous.com/
Don't know if I missed it, but does anyone have an update or know what is going on with Davonte Neal?
What’s his deal? And do we even have a shot?
He is set to announce on Feb 21st...
but that doesn’t mean his mind is made up just yet. His family is dealing with the tragic loss of his 15 yr old cousin, who was involved in some kind of auto accident.
I don't tweet often--but when I do, you can be sure it isn't important.
@jemiesle
According to Neal's Father...
In an interview with BGI, ND and North Carolina are what he sees as the two of the four finalists with the most to offer. He also noted that the Tar Heels’ impending sanctions could play a role. BGI thinks ND is in a good spot with this.
Of course, we’ve been in this spot before only to not be the winner, but I would agree with their assessment that the Irish have reason to be hopeful.
don't discount Arizona
I always turn to the sports section first. The sports page records people's accomplishments; the front page has nothing but man's failures.
~Earl Warren
by lookingdeadred on Feb 10, 2012 8:40 AM EST up reply actions
Well as of this morning...
ISD had an article where they stated the following: “The plan is for Neal to leave the state, but the final destination has yet to be announced.”
They don’t say who actually told them…but it’s consistent with what BGI is saying: 3 schools are the finalists…ND, UNC and Arkansas.
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