Bryan Jones was a 4* and committed well after Applewhite took over. Of course, he never made it in, but he was part of that initial class.
Kelan Walker was a 4* when he committed; rating dropped due to injuries and others passing him by on the sites.
There was the receiver from Louisiana last year that we were in the running for that was a 4*.
I mean, we’re a G5 school…this is pretty much what happens to G5 schools. There’s been one 5* ever that signed with a G5 school and that was Big Ed. Otherwise, we might get a couple of 4s every once in awhile, but mostly have to develop the 3s and less that end up here.
Too many think what Herman did was the norm; it isn’t. Lot of moving pieces that year (Big 12 expansion and it looking like we were in the lead being a huge one) and he was the right ringleader at the time. That 2017 class wasn’t going to be nearly as good even if he stuck around (which he had no plans on doing so from the beginning); it was a paper tiger in that he landed a bunch of early commitments to keep his star high.
Is Applewhite the answer? I don’t know…jury is still out for me as it has only been one year so far, but I think getting upset at him for not pulling in multiple 4s or a 5 may be reaching a bit.
WR A.J. Green (Cincinnati)
WR Julio Jones (Atlanta)
RB DeMarco Murray (Tennessee)
DE Jadeveon Clowney (Houston)
DB Eric Berry (Kansas City)
TE Greg Olsen (Carolina)
DE Everson Griffen (Minnesota)
DT Gerald McCoy (Tampa Bay)
DB Patrick Peterson (Arizona)
DB HaHa Clinton-Dix (Green Bay)
DB Landon Collins (New York Giants)
4-star (24)
RB LeSean McCoy (Buffalo)
WR Tyreek Hill (Kansas City)
OL Joe Thomas (Cleveland)
WR Amari Cooper (Oakland)
OL Taylor Lewan (Tennessee)
OL Maurkice Pouncey (Pittsburgh)
QB Derek Carr (Oakland)
DT Ndamukong Suh (Miami)
LB Dont’a Hightower (New England)
LB C.J. Mosley (Baltimore)
DB Reggie Nelson (Oakland)
DE Cameron Wake (Miami)
OL Tyron Smith (Dallas)
WR Odell Beckham (New York Giants)
WR Larry Fitzgerald (Arizona)
RB Ezekiel Elliott (Dallas)
RB Devonta Freeman (Atlanta)
DT Fletcher Cox (Philadelphia)
DB Janoris Jenkins (New York Giants)
DB Harrison Smith (Minnesota)
OL Zack Martin (Dallas)
TE Jordan Reed (Washington)
OL Jason Peters (Philadelphia)
WR Cordarrelle Patterson (Minnesota)
3-star (26)
OL David DeCastro (Pittsburgh)
LB Von Miller (Denver)
TE Travis Kelce (Kansas City)
DT Geno Atkins (Cincinnati)
DE Jurrell Casey (Tennessee)
LB Brian Orakpo (Tennessee)
DB Marcus Peters (Kansas City)
OL Marshal Yanda (Baltimore)
OL Kelechi Osemele (Oakland)
RB Le’Veon Bell (Pittsburgh)
DB Casey Hayward (San Diego)
DB Devin McCourty (New England)
PK Justin Tucker (Baltimore)
QB Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay)
DT Aaron Donald (Los Angeles)
WR Mike Evans (Tampa Bay)
OL Trent Williams (Washington)
OL Brandon Scherff (Washington)
QB Matt Ryan (Atlanta)
QB Dak Prescott (Dallas)
LB Vic Beasley (Atlanta)
LB Ryan Kerrigan (Washington)
LB Luke Kuechly (Carolina)
DB Richard Sherman (Seattle)
OL Travis Frederick (Dallas)
DE Cliff Avril (Seattle)
2-star (6)
LB Khalil Mack (Oakland)
WR T.Y. Hilton (Indianapolis)
CB Aqib Talib (Denver)
P Pat McAfee (Indianapolis)
LB Bobby Wagner (Seattle)
OL T.J. Lang (Green Bay)
Not rated (13)
TE Delanie Walker (Tennessee)
CB Chris Harris (Denver)
WR Antonio Brown (Pittsburgh)
OL Donald Penn (Oakland)
QB Tom Brady (New England)
QB Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh)
FB Kyle Juszczyk (Baltimore)
LB Lorenzo Alexander (Buffalo)
RS Matthew Slater (New England)
RB David Johnson (Arizona)
FB Mike Tolbert (Carolina)
DE Michael Bennett (Seattle)
LB Thomas Davis (Carolina)
More interesting 35 of the 80 players named to the Pro Bowl (43.8 percent) were rated as either 5-star or 4-star players coming out of high school per the 247Sports Composite, which is an incredibly high hit percentage considering the aforementioned limited number of players that receive such distinctions.
We almost never got 4-5 star players before. The reason people jumped is because we won and fast on a rebuilding year. ALL OF US thought it was going to be permanent. If we dont keep coaches we wont get recruits especially if the fan base wants the coach out. I feel we are in a position where we are getting way more 4-5 stars as transfers that we can evaluate based on past performance and have a better “evaluation” on the guys.
Which is why I usually only compare us to other G5 schools. Where were we ranked in the AAC and G5 in the 2017 and 2018 recruiting classes according to ESPN? Because on 247, we ranked behind UCF, Memphis, FAU, Cincy, Boise State and BYU in 2017. For 2018, we ranked behind Cincy, Boise State, USF, Toledo, FIU, Tulane and UCF. For 2019, we rank behind SMU, Cincy, Toledo, Temple, ECU, North Texas, Western Michigan, Northern Illinois and Ball State. I know it’s early but wasn’t the same thing said last summer when people got worried?
Is it too much to ask that we be ranked top 3 in recruiting among the G5? Especially taking into account being in a recruiting hotbed with over $150 million invested in the football facilities the past 5 years. Is there any other school in a better position to recruit among the G5?
Perhaps the common assumption we have that being in a recruiting hotbed is a plus isn’t actually a plus.
Levine dodged my question about out of state schools playing us for recruiting purposes so I don’t think playing us, in or out of conference, helps opponents recruit.
What we do have is money spent on good facilities.
No it wasn’t. It was still a power spread with a focus on RPOs and Inside zone. CMD was also brought in to “keep things the same” like CBJ. His scheme was similar to Orlando’s but his alignment of his DBs was exposed anytime we played a team with a decent QB. We hardly attacked the football on defense, but the offense was very similar. They literally had a focus on continuity last season, it just was executed poorly.
Look, it wasn;t that long ago when we got exited about landing a 3 star recruit, now they are ALL three stars and some of the transfers are higher. Once we begin playing in the P6 Bowl, winning the AAC, and finishing ranked each year with all of our games on TV, the 4’s will begin trickling in…
Isn’t that sort of putting the cart before the horse? If we don’t have better recruiting than SMU, USF, UCF and Cincy (every year), we won’t be winning the AAC often which means we won’t be playing in NY6 bowls often.
lol he didnt sell a bunch of kids on the big 12…people need to realize how good herman is as a coach and motivator. he made me want to suit up on the team as a student. thats how much of an impact he has as a coach. he can relate to the young kids as well which is another reason why he was a good recruiter. quit saying “he sold kids to the big 12” because thats clearly false. by your logic im curious to see what sumlin sold his recruits when he got them here. herman and sumlin had the two best recruiting classes in UH history. Sumlin’s in 2010 and herman’s in 2016.
whose fault was it to give allen the reigns? i know king was hurt which delayed him a little bit but still.
we had the same offensive line issues with herman and we managed to have a good offense. oh and lest not forget applewhite was the playcaller during those 2 years too.
Fake science! Saying our offense struggled because our assistants were at odds is an excuse. Saying our offense struggled AND our assistants were at odds is a fact. Our attendance dropped as the season went on. We changed starting QBs twice. It’s not a fact to say our attendance dropped “because” we changed starting QBs twice.
There were probably many reasons. Change your in coaching staff and loss of Greg Ward as the trigger man were the main two imo. However, the offensive scheme was essentially the same.
Sorry. Memory not as good as it used to be. Were the Levine and Herman offensive schemes the same? Herman’s scheme was probably a better fit for Ward. Coach wise, I agree that Herman was the best motivator we have had in a long time. The whole motivation thing can create improved execution on the field but is hard to sustain. That is probably why the Herman and Apple schemes might look different. It is all in the right player in the right role and execution. Talent helps for sure.