Looking at the rookies......Let’s look at the first year coaches' recruiting efforts. Below is a list of newly hired coaches and their current standings in the Rivals Recruiting Team Rankings (RTR) and the Coaches Hot Seat Rankings (CHSR). Does anyone fire first year coaches BEFORE the season starts?
So, how did these coaches really do?
Most of these schools already had commitments from the previous coaches so the new coaching staffs had to hang on to the ones they wanted plus gather up some new commitments.
Butch Jones, Tennessee (Hired 12/7/12) (RTR #20); (CHSR #99)
Tennessee signed 21 players. Jones brought in an additional 11 players to go along with Dooley’s 10. The average rating for those new commitments brought in by Jones was 3.00 compared to Dooley’s 3.30 average rating. Tennessee ranks #20 with an average 3.19 star rating.
Mark Helfrich, Oregon (Hired 1/20/13 ) (RTR #21 );(CHSR #114)
Oregon signed 19. Helfrich brought in 6 after Chip Kelly left. The average star rating for his new recruits is 3.00. Oregon is ranked # 21 with an average rating of 3.26.
Bret Bulimia Bielema, Arkansas (Hired 12/4/12) (RTR #26); (CHSR #78)
Arkansas signed 23 players, 9 of which were committed before he was hired. So, he brought in 13 new players. The average star rating of those 13 is 2.85. Arkansas is ranked #26 by Rivals with an average rating of 2.96.
Mark Stoops, Kentucky (Hired 11/27/12) (RTR #28);(CHSR #52)
Kentucky signed 22 players. Nine of the previous staff’s commitments were retained and UK signed another 13. Result: An average Rivals star rating of 3.05 and a Rivals Team Ranking of 28, both the highest since Rivals began with the 2002 Class. When Stoops was hired, UK was #62 in the Rivals Team Rankings and had 15 commitments with an average star rating of 2.93. Six recruits were advised that they should de-commit and look elsewhere. That brought the remaining players’ average up to 3.00. The new players that Stoops signed had an average Rivals star rating of 3.08
Sonny Dykes, California (RTR #30); (CHSR #93) Average Star Rating: 2.96
Kliff Kingsbury,Texas Tech (RTR #51 ); (CHSR #56) Average Star Rating: 2.61
Darrell Hazell, Purdue (RTR #55); (CHSR #88) Average Star Rating: 2.74
Gary Anderson, Wisconsin (RTR #56); (CHSR #120) Average Star Rating: 3.00
Mike MacInyre, Colorado (RTR #67); (CHSR #45) Average Star Rating: 2.68
Tommy Tuberville, Cincinnati (RTR #71); (CHSR #51) Average Star Rating: 2.60
Todd Monken, Southern Mississippi (RTR #t-73); (CHSR #46) Average Star Rating: 2.29
Scott Schafer, Syracuse (RTR #t-73); (CHSR #63) Average Star Rating: 2.58
Skip Holtz, Louisiana Tech (RTR #79); (CHSR #57) Average Star Rating: 2.35
Matt Rhule, Temple (RTR #84); (CHSR #61) Average Star Rating: 2.33
Steve Addazio, Boston College (RTR #87); (CHSR #49) Average Star Rating: 2.53
Bobby Petrino, Western Kentucky (RTR #90); (CHSR #47) Average Star Rating: 2.09
Brian Polian, Nevada (RTR #92); (CHSR #50) Average Star Rating: 2.23
P. J. Fleck, Western Michigan (RTR #101); (CHSR #58) Average Star Rating: 2.12
Matt Wells, Utah State (RTR #t-104); (CHSR #55) Average Star Rating: 2.13
Paul Haynes, Kent State (RTR #t-104); (CHSR #60) Average Star Rating: 2.10
Bryan Harsin, Arkansas State (RTR #107); (CHSR #59) Average Star Rating: 2.05
Rod Carey, Northern Illinois (RTR #109); (CHSR #53) Average Star Rating: 2.08
Ron Turner, Florida International (RTR #111); (CHSR #48) Average Star Rating: 2.12
Doug Martin, New Mexico State (RTR #116); (CHSR #34) Average Star Rating: 2.11
Sean Kugler, UTEP (RTR #120); (CHSR #54) Average Star Rating: 2.06
Paul Petrino, Idaho (RTR #121); (CHSR #64) Average Star Rating: 2.05
Ron Caragher, San Jose State (RTR #122); (CHSR #62) Average Star Rating: 2.00
No matter which way you cut it, Mark Stoops had a top 4 class for the first year coaches. If you break it down as to which coach brought in the largest numbers of recruits, Stoops and Bielema brought in 13, Jones 11 and Helfrich 6. If you go by average star rating Stoops is the best of the bunch with 3.08 rating, followed by Helfrich and Jones with 3.00 ratings and then Bielema with 2.96.
Bottom line for me is that Stoops is the best of the bunch.
Thanks for reading and let the basketball comments commence.
