Pipeline areas are crucial to every college football program, no matter their size or location. The ACC's pipeline areas are spread out across the East Coast. See where each team has had the most success between the classes of 2014 and 2016.
RELATED: Big Ten pipelines | Unvarnished thoughts on Miami, FSU, Florida
BOSTON COLLEGE
Top Region: Massachusetts
Number of commits: 18
Breakdown: Massachusetts isn’t known nationally as a fertile recruiting ground, but the Eagles have picked up more players from their home state than any other state in the country. In the past few years, Rivals250 linebacker Connor Strachan was the highest-rated signee from Massachusetts for Boston College. He pulled the trigger about 10 months from Signing Day and never wavered. The entire Northeast has been good to Boston College, as it has signed 10 prospects from New Jersey and New York.
CLEMSON
Top Region: South Carolina
Number of commits: 21
Breakdown: South Carolina, being Clemson’s home state, is where the Tigers have amassed the most commitments over the past few recruiting classes. Rivals100 defensive tackle Albert Huggins and Rivals250 running back Tavien Feaster highlight Clemson’s recent list of in-state signees. Clemson’s neighboring state, Georgia, has been very important to Clemson as well, home to 14 recent Clemson signees. Former five-stars Deshaun Watson and Tre Lamar as well as high four-stars Korie Rogers and Mitch Hyatt hail from the Peach State.
DUKE
Top Region: Georgia
Number of commits: 16
Breakdown: Duke can’t recruit every highly-rated prospect, so they have to recruit all over their region. David Cutcliffe and his staff have found a lot of recruits in Georgia with Rivals250 offensive tackle Robert Kraeling being the highest-rated. The Blue Devils also found some gems, such as 2015 signee Marquies Price.
FLORIDA STATE
Top Region: South Florida
Number of commits: 25
Breakdown: Florida State has been the most successful team in Florida over the past few years and a huge chunk of its commitments hail from the Sunshine State. Of Florida State’s 39 in-state commitments from the 2014 class to the 2016 class, 25 were from the I-4 corridor and south. Six of the seven five-stars to sign with the Seminoles during this time period were from South Florida, including major contributors like Dalvin Cook, Derwin James, Travis Rudolph, Ermon Lane and a few others.
GEORGIA TECH
Top Region: Georgia
Number of commits: 38
Breakdown: It’s not shocking that Georgia Tech makes a living off signing players from Georgia, but 38 is an overwhelming percentage of their total commitments over this span. Class of 2014 prospects Andrew Marshall and C.J. Leggett are two of the higher rated signees and GT brought in an impresive haul in 2015 as well with Will Bryan, A.J. Gray, Tyler Cooksey and Andree Saint-Amour. Look for many of these players to be major contributors soon.
LOUISVILLE
Top Region: Georgia
Number of commits: 14
Breakdown: This was a pretty close one, but Louisville seems to have a good hold in Georgia. Four-star Jawon Pass is the headliner and there are many other potential playmakers heading north from Georgia. Florida came in a close second with 11 commitments from players such as quarterback Lamar Jackson, and wide receivers Devante Peete and Emonee Spence.
MIAMI
Top Region: South Florida
Number of commits: 40
Breakdown: Just like Florida State, Miami places a huge emphasis on South Florida. Over the past few years, the Hurricanes have signed 46 players from Florida and 40 of them come from south of the I-4 corridor. Five-star Chad Thomas, Rivals100 running backs Mark Walton and Joseph Yearby and Rivals100 wide receiver Sam Bruce top the list of highly-rated South Florida prospects that have signed with the Hurricanes. Look for players like Joseph Jackson and Ahmmon Richards to be major contributors early in their careers.
N.C. STATE
Top Region: North Carolina
Number of commits: 37
Breakdown: North Carolina is known as fertile recruiting ground and the Wolfpack coaches have taken advantage of their location as much as possible. Getting 37 commitments from their home state is no accident. Rivals100 defensive linemen Kentavius Street and Darian Roseboro provided a huge boost to the N.C. State front seven and Rivals100 running back Nyheim Hines made a major impact during his freshman year. Rivals250 prospect Germaine Pratt has become a leader on the defense and Rivals250 offensive lineman Emanuel McGirt will be relied upon early in his career.
NORTH CAROLINA
Top Region: North Carolina
Number of commits: 21
Breakdown: Calling North Carolina a pipeline for the Tar Heels isn’t flashy but there is no way around it. The Tar Heels signed 21 players from North Carolina over the past few seasons, nine more than second place Georgia. The two biggest recruits were five-star running back Elijah Hood and Rivals100 defensive end Jalen Dalton. Big things are expected for the eight homegrown four- or five-star players that have signed with North Carolina since 2014.
PITTSBURGH
Top Region: Western Pennsylvania
Number of commits: 20
Breakdown: Pittsburgh has been at its best when they’ve signed the top players from Western Pennsylvania and Pat Narduzzi is working on righting the ship. Rivals100 cornerback Jordan Whitehead was sensational during his freshman year and the addition of Rivals250 safety Damar Hamlin should make for an excellent duo in the secondary. Four-star Kaezon Pugh will give coach Narduzzi a versatile weapon to throw at opposing offenses.
SYRACUSE
Top Region: South Florida
Number of commits: 15
Breakdown: Upstate New York isn’t a fertile recruiting ground, so Syracuse has to branch out to find impact players and what is a better place to do that than South Florida? The Orange have signed 15 players from the southern half of Florida including players like wide receiver Steve Ishmael, quarterback Alin Edouard, linebacker Kenneth Ruff and defensive back Cordell Hudson. Ishmael, Ruff, and Hudson have a good chance of starting this season as Dino Babers and his staff look to turn the program around.
VIRGINIA
Top Region: Virginia
Number of commits: 18
Breakdown: The Cavaliers have made their living recruiting in their home state and went on a nice run with commitments from five-stars Quin Blanding and Andrew Brown. Rivals250 linebacker Jahvoni Simmons has had a good start to his career in Charlottesville. These three players and a few others are from the Virginia Beach area but most of Virginia’s commitments have come from elsewhere in the state, from Roanoke to Ashburn and from Arlington to Lynchburg.
VIRGINIA TECH
Top Region: Virginia
Number of commits: 35
Breakdown: The Hokies have maintained a more consistent presence in the Hampton Roads/Virginia Beach area of the state than their in-state rivals. About 13 of the 35 Virginians that have signed with Virginia Tech come from that area but the rest are spread throughout the state. Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, one of the highest-rated in-state signees, is from Danville and defensive tackle Tim Settle is from Manassas.
WAKE FOREST
Top Region: North Carolina
Number of commits: 13
Breakdown: The difference in the success that Wake Forest has had recruiting in North Carolina and Florida is razor thin. The Demon Deacons have picked up 13 in-state commitments compared to 12 from Florida over the past few recruiting classes. Some of the standouts are running back Rocky Reid, offensive lineman Taleni Suhren, quarterback Jamie Newman and wide receiver Jaylan Barbour.
