Al Golden: Friend ... or foe?

First off, let me say I have a lot of respect for the type of coach and CEO Al Golden is. He revived a moribund program at Temple to phenomenal results. So much so, that you could his tenure in Philadelphia likely spurred two head coaching promotions (himself and Steve Addazio) into the ranks of the ACC.

And, hey ... if Andrew Dice Clay is a fan of your work, what's not to like?

However, I've found his recruiting methods quite curious at Miami. SB Nation team site State Of The U took an interesting look at Golden's first full recruiting class following their first year on campus. The results of that 33-man recruiting class, as many pundits projected in February of 2012, have been predictably mixed.

Golden assembled a group that was headlined by a few South Florida stars (DB Deon Bush, DL Jelani Hamilton, DB Tracy Howard and RB Duke Johnson) along with one from Georgia (Raphael Kirby). Golden's staff also showed some savvy scouting by nabbing several other diamonds in the rough from around the state (notably OL Ereck Flowers, OL Danny Isidora, DB Rayshawn Jenkins and WR Herb Waters).

But then, the Jekell and Hyde nature of Miami's recruiting under Golden rears its ugly head. Already, nine members of the 33-man recruiting class have left the program. In just a year. That's more than a quarter of the guys they signed in February of 2012, gone within 18 months. And there appear to be a handful of other players (at least five, by my count) who probably aren't too far from hitting the door as well.

So, here's my question. What's the future of Miami going to be like if Golden is going to continue bringing in classes like this? If he takes the Nick Saban approach, and signs 30 guys every year, I'd say Miami is probably in good hands, personnel-wise (even if they probably could use a few tweaks on the coaching staff). However, if Miami's largely disappointing showing in the Class of 2013 is any indication (just 19 signees, only 16 of which made it to campus), then Hurricanes fans are going to be in for a roller coaster ride during the tenure of Al Golden.

For those who will counter with the Nevin Shaprio stuff ... yes , I get that Miami has the pall of NCAA sanctions hanging over their heads. Surely, that is not helping matters on the recruiting trail any, I get that. But with the feast-or-famine duality of Al Golden's recruiting methods, I still think the jury is out on whether or not he will be able to really turn the Miami program around. Regardless of what the NCAA decides on the future fate of the 'Canes.

8/24 UPDATE: Not even 48 hours after I posted this, the announcement that WR Jontavious Carter is transferring was made public by the SID. That's now 10 players out of 33 (nearly one-third of the class) who are not a part of the roster just over 18 months after signing with Miami. And, as I wrote on Thursday, there are still a few other guys who very likely will not be a part of this program by the time year three begins next fall. Here's a list of the players, and the reasons they are no longer a part of the 'Canes, listed below:

DT Jacoby Briscoe (transfer)
WR Jontavious Carter (transfer)
DB Vernon Davis (transfer)
RB Danny Dillard (transfer)
DT Dequan Ivery (transfer)
WR Angelo Jean-Louis (failed to qualify)
WR Robert Lockhart (transfer)
DE Gabriel Terry (dismissed from team in April)
QB David Thompson (baseball)
LB Josh Witt (concussions)

The Big 10 is falling even further behind Ohio State

Do you happen to remember that challenge which Urban Meyer issued to the other member institutions of the Big Ten back in February?

It went something like ... "quit making us look bad compared to the SEC, and let's start recruiting better as a conference."

Well, the other coaches around the Midwest don't seem to have gotten the memo, quite yet.

After looking over the roster of prospects who attended Nike's elite prospect camp – "The Opening" – it's clear that Ohio State has lapped the field on the recruiting trail in the Big Ten. They've also put together one of the more impressive classes in the country for 2014.

11 players who headed out to the Nike Campus in Beaverton, Ore. last month can count themselves as pledges to the Buckeyes. That's MORE THAN THE REST OF THE ENTIRE BIG TEN COMBINED. At the time this post goes live, there will be a grand total of eight prospects* from The Opening which are committed to the other 11 schools in the conference. Incredible.

Of course, Ohio State has surged out to a very strong start. They are only in on a handful of other prospects at this point. Other Big Ten programs will very likely close out with strong classes and land a few more top prospects to make those numbers look a little less lopsided. It should also be noted that not every top blue-chip prospect from around the country attends The Opening (five-star Michigan pledge Jabrill Peppers being a prime example). Many elect not to, and more than a few players get bids by impressing on stopwatches at regional Nike SPARQ combines across the country. This is not the end-all, be-all measure of how good a recruiting class (or particular) is.

However, the fact that Ohio State has already landed 11 prospects for 2014 who attended The Opening is impressive, nonetheless. Meyer and his staff are going out and getting big, strong, fast and skilled athletes to fill out their roster, without a doubt. The Buckeyes should be a formidable program under Urban Meyer as long as he stays in Columbus.

And for those wondering, the school with the second-most commitments to at this point to have attended The Opening? That would be Florida, of course, with seven.

*Breaking that down by team: Michigan and Penn State both had two commitments who attended The Opening. Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska and Purdue all had one representative each.

Kelleher proves to be a nice grab for UF

I don't think I'm really going out on a limb here, but I wanted to write about this anyways. Recent Florida commitment Nolan Kelleher, an offensive lineman out of the Charleston, S.C. area,  might prove to be one of the more important pledges of this class for UF as we move closer to National Signing Day.

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Touted as a three-star recruit by the many recruiting services when he committed just a couple of weeks ago, Kelleher has already been bumped up to four-star status by both Rivals and Scout in recent days (247Sports now stands as the lone holdout on moving Kelleher up, and I'm willing to bet that changes fairly soon).

Rankings aren't everything, but now that everyone is taking a closer look at Kelleher, they see what made him such a hotly-pursued recruit. The 6-foot-5, 300-pounder claimed offers from Clemson, Florida State and Georgia, among others. He had considerable interest from Stanford, as well. A versatile player who could line up at guard or possibly right tackle on the next level.

Lining up primarily as a left guard for Wando High School, Kelleher shows great mobility, which allows him to pull and get out front as a lead blocker on sweep plays. He's very athletic, and shows the ability to latch onto defenders and block them in space, which shouldn't be overlooked. And obviously, his strength and size allow him to completely overpower defenders at the high school level. That is very much apparent after watching just a few clips of him.

Here's video on Kelleher, who should prove to be one of the real gems for Florida's 2014 recruiting class:

What's up with the linebacker position?

Heading into the fall, Florida had the makings of what should be at least a pretty group at the linebacker position. My interpretation of the depth chart:

WILL

11 – Neiron Ball (6-3, 235, R-Jr.)

49 – Darrin Kitchens (6-2, 235, Sr.)

28 – Jeremi Powell (6-1, 205, R-Fr.)

MIKE

3 – Antonio Morrison (6-1, 230, So.)

51 – Mike Taylor (6-0, 231, R-Jr.)

34 – Alex Anzalone (6-3, 230, Fr.)

40 – Jarrad Davis (6-2, 225, Fr.)

SAM

7 – Ronald Powell (6-4, 240, R-Jr.) (also BUCK)

13 – Daniel McMillian (6-1, 227, Fr.)

9 – Matt Rolin (6-3, 221, Fr.) (Injured)

The Gators stand to lose one senior (Kitchens) after the season, and with anything resembling a good junior campaign, I expect Powell to move on as well, considering all he's been through at UF. While the number requirements of linebacker units have lessened with the move to a wide-open passing game by many schools, there is still a need for 10 or so players on scholarship at the position. Florida would stand at eight, with the potential loss of Kitchens and Powell.

Curiously, Florida has been rather finicky about the linebackers they've chosen to recruit so far. The board essentially stands as follows:

Clifton Garrett (6-1½ , 224, Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield South)

Raekwon McMillan (6-1½, 243, Hinesville, Ga./Liberty County)

Nyles Morgan (6-1½, 225, Crete, Ill./Crete-Monee)

Dwight Williams (6-1, 201, Gardena, Calif./Junipero Serra)

And that's really about it. And of those guys, Florida really should only feel confident about their chances of landing Williams, a West Coast native, at the moment. Garrett is high on LSU, McMillan appears to favor Clemson and Ohio State, while Morgan has been relatively quiet – but appears prefer Ole Miss and Vanderbilt right now. The Gators will likely have a shot to host all three players at least once this fall, but there is a lot to ground to make up in each scenario.

The Gators are also being mentioned in connection with a few committed players as well (most notably, FSU pledge Jacob Pugh), but we'll have to see how things play out in connection with Pugh and others.

I do believe that current pledge Justus Reed (6-2, 220, Clearwater, Fla./Central Catholic) – listed as a defensive end by all of the recruiting services – is very likely to get a look at the SAM linebacker spot. He brings a versatile skill-set to the group, not unlike former UF player Lerentee McCray – who also bounced between end and linebacker during his time at Florida.

Aside from that, I'm as curious as anyone as to which prospects Florida will drum up at the linebacker position, and I do expect there will be a few new additions. Three in-state prospects whom intrigue me greatly are Xavier Preston (6-2, 220, Jensen Beach), Randy Ramsey (6-3, 205, Ft. Lauderdale/Dillard) and Sharieff Rhaheed (6-2, 205, Ft. Pierce/Central). Ramsey camped at Friday Night Lights, and would make a transition from safety to outside linebacker at the next level. Rhaheed as been mostly used as a stand-up end coming off the edge at the high school level, but would appear to have the athleticism and explosiveness to play in space at the college level. Preston is a versatile, all-around threat at the high school level, and would figure to be comfortable wherever he's asked to line up on the field.

In any case, I'm really intrigued to see what develops with this unit over the path from now until February. I expect that the group Florida signs to play linebacker on National Signing Day, will likely continue to bolster a unit that finally played up to expectations last year, and now has raised the bar heading into the fall of 2013.

Tweaking Notre Dame

There is a decent little read from Lou Somogyi of the Notre Dame affiliate for 247Sports (Blue & Gold) on their “All-De-Commit Team.” I got a chuckle out of this piece, which listed 22 players who were publicly committed to Notre Dame at one point, but subsequently signed elsewhere on National Signing Day.

Current or former Gators accounted for 5 of the 22 members of the list. No other school landed more than two players to this group (an honor shared by North Carolina, Ohio State and UCLA).

When Urban Meyer was at Florida, I imagined he got a special sense of accomplishment when he could tweak Charlie Weis on the recruiting trail. Justin Trattou (2007) and Omar Hunter (2009) were both consensus top-100 prospects and prep All-Americans on the defensive line, both were huge gets for Florida at the time they committed. Hunter and Trattou were solid players in Gainesville, although neither really lived up to the hype in Gainesville, I suppose.

Criminally under-utilized in Gainesville, wide receiver David Nelson (2005) was another prep All-American who gave a big boost to Florida's first class under Meyer when he switched his commitment just a few weeks before National Signing Day. Of course, his change-of-heart even caused none other than Regis Philbin to have a fit of indigestion on his morning talk show, "Live with Regis and Kelly."

The last steal for Florida was Clay Burton (2011), although he technically signed with Will Muschamp, not Meyer. Burton was also stolen from under the nose of Brian Kelly, and not Weis, who had since been fired by Notre Dame. His switch was not a huge shock, as the chance to play alongside his brother in Gainesville was clearly an overriding factor in his final decision. Linebacker Alex Anzalone (2013) was the last, and most recent prospect to make the flip from Notre Dame to Florida.

In the middle of swiping all of these top-rated recruits from Notre Dame, Meyer suffered just one defeat: Hialeah-Miami Lakes running back Armando Allen (2007). Allen was torn between Florida and Notre Dame, but was in line to enroll for college classes in January of what would have been the second semester of his senior year of high school. Early enrollment was not a practice typically endorsed by Notre Dame at the time, so Allen instead appeared headed to Florida. In the eleventh hour, however, Weis was able to get Allen admitted to Notre Dame, and the speedy back headed to South Bend instead.

In looking over the list, I couldn't help but notice the lack of star power on it. C.J. Leak (1999) was touted as a potential savior as Wake Forest, but never panned out there. He transferred to Tennessee, where he also struggled to get on the field, and is better known today as the older brother of former star Florida quarterback (and current graduate assistant coach) Chris Leak. Offensive lineman Jordan Prestwood (2011) has already bombed out of three schools (FSU, Notre Dame, UCF) and is now trying to re-start his career at a junior college in Arizona. Chris Martin (2010) ended up signing with Cal after dropping his Notre Dame pledge. He also had a stint at Florida before going the JUCO route. He was recently dismissed from Charlie Weis' Kansas squad following aggravated robbery charges in May. Georgia signee Chris Little (2007) is another player who didn't pan out as expected.

In fact, of all the players listed, only former UNC running back Giovani Bernard (2010) really turned into a star player at the college level, and has parlayed that success into a promising future with the Cincinnati Bengals.

While there are some young guys on the list who still have some time to establish themselves yet, the moral of the story for college football fans who freak out over a de-commitment essentially writes itself. The game of recruiting is a crap shoot, and rarely does one player ever make or break a recruiting class for a given school.