Positive Recruiting Trend - Top 3 recruits in each class since 2010

[MNVCGUY]

247 puts what they have as the teams highest ranked recruits all time (or at least since the rankings started) at the bottom of the page. Looking at that for Minnesota is pretty sad and it really does illustrate the crap shoot that recruiting is. But it got me curious to take a look back and see how we have fared with our top rated recruits in recent years compared to the past.

Using 247 composite rankings I went back and looked at our classes since 2010. One definite trend I have noticed is that we are seeing much more success with our highest rated recruits over the past few seasons. Here are the solid players from the top 3 ranked recruits in each class. Might not be superstars but made or are making strong contributions to the team.

2010 - None (Gjere might have been but had to retire early in career)
2011 - 1 - Tommy Olson
2012 - 1 - Jonah Pirsig
2013 - 1 - Campbell
2014 - None
2015 - None
2016 - 3 - Coughlin, Green, TJ
2017 - 2 - Andries, Douglas
2018 - 3 - Dunlap, Faalele, Bateman
2019 & 2020 - Too soon to tell but 2019 guys seem promising.

How much this does or does not mean over the long haul is impossible to say but it is definitely a positive trend. This time of year many get hung up on the stars and rankings but in the end it comes down to what happens after the kid gets on campus and has a chance to prove themselves.

Anyway, just thought this would make for a fun look back on signing day as the newest crop of players sign on for our favorite team.

 

[Gold Rush]

Interestingly enough, one of the recruiting sites mentioned that the top end level athletes have remained fairly constant the last few years but it's the BOTTOM end of the class that has radically improved. So we are kind of getting improvement from each end!

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

Interestingly enough, one of the recruiting sites mentioned that the top end level athletes have remained fairly constant the last few years but it's the BOTTOM end of the class that has radically improved. So we are kind of getting improvement from each end!

Nice.

Having said that, it make sense as far as what I felt like I saw in the Mason era when we'd play OOC games and simply physically would just push the OOC teams around to win.

These days we play OOC games and those other teams look a hell of a lot better as a team. They may not have any superstars but as a group they play well / way better than I think we saw 20 years ago.

 

[BeerFueledFF]

Nice.

Having said that, it make sense as far as what I felt like I saw in the Mason era when we'd play OOC games and simply physically would just push the OOC teams around to win.

These days we play OOC games and those other teams look a hell of a lot better as a team. They may not have any superstars but as a group they play well / way better than I think we saw 20 years ago.

I think there are a lot more good coaches now at the G5/FCS levels, which can help bridge the gap between the second tier and below P5 teams like Minnesota and well run G5/FCS schools.