Recruiting Rankings Cont.

USC is currently ranked No. 4 by Rivals and no one will be surprised if the Trojans are No. 1 by Signing Day. UCLA is No. 20. So here is the question: How much an adjustment gets made when you factor in coaching? Does Jim Mora’s track record bump up the class a few spots? Probably. But is it enough to overcome a No. 1-ranked class?

46 thoughts on “Recruiting Rankings Cont.

  1. No one will be surprised????? How about Alabama? FSU?…Number 1 would be nice, but having a top 5 recruiting class is nothing to be ashamed of, Scott……

  2. Having the aptitude is one thing, and so is coaching, but how about factoring in what’s between their ears?…..Need I remind anyone of Dillon Baxter, and a myriad of other players?

    • Yeah, just like over at 8 Crap U as well. The only difference was that at 8 Crap U, they did not stay on the lines when drawing for their final. HAR HAR HAR. LMAO

  3. little gutties never win football championships, regardless of their coach. That should answer your question.

    • USC’s entrenchment in So. Cal. has surprised me a little. Mora appears to have made the natural counter-move: focus even harder on out-of-area players. He has Westwood to sell. For a number of reasons, what he’s doing makes sense.

      Mora seems to getting some results there. He has UCLA in it for some national prospects.

      If the coaching at USC rises to the level of its recruiting, the environment for UCLA will become materially more problematic.

      • Ben, it has been suggested that the only 2-games that crosstown football program ever cares about is playing CAL & USC and it doesn’t matter about any other game. Which maybe explains why they always underachieve year after year. and more times than not when they have won a league championship, they usually have 3/4 losses. Yes they will beat USC from time to time as no program is always at its best due to player & coach turnover. The fact their fans come over here to voice their opinion on USC’s fan website as they do tells me they have an inferiority complex that needs counselling!

        • We don’t disagree at all about the negative contribution of UCLA fans to this blog, nor can I empathize with why they choose to be here.

  4. Jim Mora’s track record?
    Zero Pac12 championships.
    Zero Rose Bowl victories.
    Zero National Championships.

    When all the chips were on the table against Stanford, where was the track record? Oh, losing again.

    Anyone can look good with Neuheisel’s stellar QB recruit. Mora’s track record starts next year.

  5. Is it possible to briefly sum up what is meant by a blue shirt, a grey shirt and a red shirt?

    • A blueshirt is a player who arrived on campus as a “preferred” or “recruited” walk-on and goes on to earn a football scholarship. The NCAA doesn’t allow for schools to produce written promises of scholarships to walk-ons, but that doesn’t stop a school from telling a prospect who walks on that an offer is coming after a certain point.

      “There are a couple of different ways you can award a blueshirt scholarship,” one Big 12 coach said. “We’ll have some cases of a player arriving for the start of fall practices, and we’ll then immediately put them on scholarship after the end of fall camp, then count the scholarship forward – against the 2015 class, for example – and announce them on the following signing day.

      “The other way is if there’s a player, and we know we’ll have a scholarship coming open at a certain position. We tell them if you come as a freshman, pay your own way, a scholarship will come open at this point in time, and it’s yours.”

      There is one advantage of encouraging a kid to be a blueshirt as opposed to a grayshirt. Unlike grayshirts, who aren’t allowed to practice or be around the program for the first semester out of high school, a blueshirt can practice and play immediately, as long as he pays his own way. The only catch is the prospect may not have been recruited, meaning he can’t have taken a paid official visit to the school or signed any kind of financial-aid agreement.

      • A comprehensive post for a change.
        Very refreshing!
        Unfortunately it is wasted on the majority of posters on this site.

        • Thanks!…. here’s some additional information:

          What are the rules/contingency plans for schools that receive more than 25 commitments on signing day? USC has a possibility of landing commitments from 26 or 27 players
          on Feb. 4, plus one blue-shirt from last year. Are they forced to withdraw offers to players who committed?

          It is complicated, but there are options.

          USC can blue-shirt recruits or grey-shirt
          them.

          A blue-shirt is a non-recruited player who can
          be awarded a scholarship on the first day of practice, with the scholarship counting toward next year’s class (in this case, blue-shirts will count against 2016).

          A non-recruited player is one who did not make an official visit or play host to coaches for an in-home visit.

          Among the list of 15 verbally committed players, there are a couple who could qualify as blue-shirt recruits.

          A grey-shirt is a player who delays enrollment until the second semester of the school year.

          USC can sign 19 players on Feb. 4 because five
          recruits – quarterback Ricky Town, linebacker Cameron Smith, receiver Isaac Whitney and offensive linemen Chuma Edoga and Roy Hemsley – have already enrolled. Kicker Matt Boermeester was on the team this season and counted against 2015 as a blue-shirt recruit.

    • A red shirt is a player who sits out for the year and cannot participate in any games. A blue shirt is a player who comes in after the semester and can practice with the team. A grey shirt is a player who was not recruited and can be considered a walk on.

    • Mai Thai Mix, how are you? How is Johnny Cheetin’ Wooden, Jim Harrick, and Bob Toledo doing? I am sure they are cheating some place right now. I wish they would open up the letters regarding Johnny Cheetin’ Wooden. Thug U. or ugly would be on probation for like a eternity. HAR HAR HAR LMAO

  6. What does coaching have to do with ranking of recruiting classes? It is a ranking of the caliber of athletes/football players coming into your program. Sometimes you completely outdo yourself with the stupidity of your posts. You can have the number 1 ranked class, but loose all your games…..but it still was the number 1 ranked class. Unbelievable

  7. When it’s all said and done, UCLA will be in the top-8 on rivals and top-5 or top-6 on scout. And the class will be better because UCLA will have gotten the players to replace areas where depth was needed, while USC keeps getting recruits in areas where depth was not addressed, I mean, how many frickin WRs does a team need? I am laughing at USC’s ranking in this class. HILARIOUS!!!

    • Uh, ok – guess we will have to wait and see, but my guess is that ucla sees plenty players continue flipping to more substantial programs, like Saddleback College – SC clears the table of top talent, ucla gets nothing – COMPRENDE???

      Juanny! What you want to say to this vermin?

      • what exactly are you talking about? Jones flipped to Michigan, yes but only because he knows Mora is going to land Chris Clark the #1 TE in the nation 6’6″ Granklowsky protégé.
        TJ simmons did not qualify academically, he was asked to go to a JC for a year, most likely he will choose WVa.
        Unlike USC, you actually have to meet admission standards at UCLA, while at USC they just have to color inside the lines, and if they can’t, they will get someone to do that for them.

        • Incorrect…..if recruits cannot meet the admission standards to USC, then they sign with Arizona State….see Vontaze Burfict and DJ Calhoun, to name two…

        • Hey magnus annus, You guys are a joke and do not know what you are talking about regarding admissions. Tell that to Billy Joe Jackson who was illiterate and could not write going to Thug U or ugly. He actually played in the mid 70’s. for admittance to Thug U or ugly is, draw on the line. If you do that, you are in. It is harder to get into a JC than Thug U or ugly.

          • UCLA is #2 in Pac-12 FB grad rates.

            SUCC is # 11 in Pac-12 grad rate. Case in point, how many SUCC 2015 early entry NFL draftees earned a Clown U. degree – ZERO!

            Clown U. Football players doan’t need no Stinking SUCC Education.

    • I think Mora is shrewd, knows he has to contend with local traditions (cutting both ways, e.g., how many great Southern California HS basketball players should be expected to prefer USC?), and as you say, will bring in some excellent, out-of-town players.

      NSD is yet to come, but how can you, with a straight face, ridicule USC’s tentative recruiting performance in 2015? Be serious–and I’m no USC homer.

      • not ridiculing your class at all, it’s a good one, but the rankings don’t mean much if you’re filling the areas of void.

        As for tradition, don’t fool yourself, kids don’t care as much as you think, if they did, UCLA would get the best local talent in basketball. And USC would be getting the 5 star recruits in the area, not UCLA. Kids are now attractive to uniforms, flash, etc.

        • All in all, UCLA gets the best local talent in basketball, at least vs. USC. All in all, USC gets the best local talent in football, at least vs. UCLA. Sure there are exceptions…and exceptions is what they are.

          Uniforms aren’t irrelevant, but, for instance, it’s more the Oregon scheme that attracts skill players. If you’re a WR or RB, it’s fun to average 600 yards a game, score a TD in five plays that happen over 2 minutes, and leave your opponent in the dust in the 3rd and 4th quarters.

    • Haha. Right, the ruins class is better than the Trojans. The true Kings of LA are back, you can go back to choking on the basketball court, If it’s not flooded.

          • In other words no, you’re not expecting a win over a super powerful team, the mighty Bruins. Good to hear, that finally clown college has realized, you can’t beat UCLA. 🙂

  8. Nobody will be happy either, Scott – this blog should be called, “Shedding Tears for USC” – where even Pete Carroll is still “proving himself”

  9. How many FLUNK out? How many get ARRESTED? How many transfer to SMC? Other than that….the class looks stellar!
    When it comes to CLOWN Schools…You’re #1

  10. Here we go again just because ucla cannot elevate there program to the next level you come out with these idiot remarks once again.The Dominance will once again be back with this next Recruiting class. Fight On …… To ucla this pass year NO PAC12 Championship, NO Heisman Trophy, NO Final Four Championship, Or Ever a BCS Appearance. And before you say it I know already you beat us come up with some new material.

  11. Can someone explain why, with a limit of 25 Scholies, some schools show 27 or 28 on Rivals?

    • Because they didn’t use all of their scholies the year before not wanting to waste them on just having bodies.

  12. Sarkiffin’s track record! No coaching rumors! 7 Win seasons! 0 victories in the Rose Bowl! Kiffin 2.0!

  13. Ask Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder, and Michigan States Mark Dantonio about signing 3,4 and 5 star athletes. Because they hardly sign any,but they field teams that can play with anybody, because they emphasise developing their players because of recruiting disadvantages. So in my opinion, coaching up players is just as valuable as signing top ranked players, but the 4 and 5 star athletes make your job a lot easier.

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