Analyst Roundtable: Favorite star to cover, first-year coaches, more

The Rivals analyst roundtable returns as our team of experts gives their takes on the upcoming college and high school football season.

Well, an appearance in the college football playoff certainly didn't hurt Oklahoma. The Sooners are always near the top of the Big 12 rankings, but Bob Stoops and company are making a mark nationally this cycle. OU's reputation with recruits outside the midwest is skyrocketing and that is becoming more and more clear with each passing month. - Southeast analyst Rob Cassidy

I’ll say Oklahoma. You can make a case for Clemson, but I think the Tigers have been consistently recruiting at a high level for years and finally broke through on the field. The Sooners made the playoffs last year and it’s no coincidence that they are off to one of their best recruiting starts in years and are in the mix for so much talent. Oklahoma knocked it out of the park last season on the field and are doing it off the field this year and already have a great start on 2018. - National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell

There are a handful of teams in the Mid-Atlantic that are set up for impressive 2018 recruiting classes if they can perform well this season. Penn State is already off to a great start with their 2018 recruiting class but rumors of James Franklin being on the hot seat have put some pressure on the Nittany Lions this season. A coaching change could derail the progress Franklin and his staff have already made. Maryland, Virginia Tech, Virginia and Rutgers all have new coaching staffs so posting good records this season will go a long way to helping those programs improve their recruiting efforts. - Mid-Atlantic analyst, Adam Friedman

Clemson always recruits pretty well but the class the Tigers are putting together in 2017 is phenomenal and they could be loading up in 2018, too, especially if Deshaun Watson makes a run at the Heisman and 2018 No. 1 prospect quarterback Trevor Lawrence picks Clemson over Georgia. Players love Dabo Swinney and Clemson making the national title game last year was a big deal as the Tigers have beaten many SEC powers for top prospects this recruiting cycle. Clemson also went and basically flipped five-star quarterback Hunter Johnson from Tennessee so the Tigers are cruising and could be lining up for a big run in 2017 and 2018 which only feeds success on the field. - National recruiting analyst Adam Gorney

Of all the college head coaches I have met, Penn State's James Franklin may be the most impressive as I imagine him in a living room pitching recruits and their families. He is an easily likable guy, possesses the necessary charisma and is an outstanding communicator. Not surprisingly he has recruited well at Penn State, but the on-field results have not yet followed. 2016 is put up or shut up time in State College. -Midwest analyst Josh Helmholdt

Clemson has been recruiting at a high level over the past few years but I feel like last season's trip to the national championship game took things up a notch. Now the Tigers are having an easier time recruiting nationally and while they're currently No. 11 in the country, I see them adding several big names and having a chance to finish top five overall. - Southeast analyst Woody Wommack

Kirby Smart is really making waves at UGA. I'm not sure that surprised many, but the work he's done is impressive when you consider the season the Bulldogs had a year ago. His hire breathed life back into a program that saw some gusto sucked out of it last season. Smart could realistically build one of the best classes in the SEC in his first season, which is no easy task. - Cassidy

Kirby Smart should probably be the answer everyone gives here. Beating his mentor Nick Saban head-to-head for numerous recruits and setting himself up for a top five run in 2017 and into 2018 has been beyond impressive. - Farrell

Mark Richt has been making wholesale changes at Miami and they have been on a roll since mid-July. Don't expect them to slow down any time soon. D.J. Durkin and his new staff at Maryland have the second-highest team ranking out of any school with a new head coach. Big time commitments from five-star Josh Kaindoh and Rivals250 quarterback Kasim Hill have caught everybody's eye. Will Muschamp and South Carolina have been rattling off commitments mid-July and went on a runs in May and June. The Gamecocks are in good shape to add another commitment from four-star Jamyest Williams. - Friedman

Kirby Smart at Georgia is the easy answer here because he has gone head-to-head with Alabama's Nick Saban and won some key battles by flipping quarterback Jake Fromm and offensive lineman Netori Johnson. My pick is going to be Miami's Mark Richt. He has a difficult turn-around there because the Hurricanes have been pretty average for a while but it's such a proud program with high expectations that it's not an easy job. Richt and his staff have been super aggressive on the recruiting trail landing four-star cornerback Trajan Bandy, a former Oklahoma commit, getting four-star defensive end Deonte Johnson out of Northern California and it seems like Miami is involved with a ton of top guys once again. It won't be easy to make Miami a national player again but Richt has started off well. - Gorney

Lovie Smith was dealt a difficult recruiting hand in Illinois, taking over the program in March after most staffs were well into their class of 2017 recruiting strategy. What has impressed me most about Smith's early recruiting is that he is building the base of his class with in-state and local talent. National recruiting is fickle and success comes and goes, but your local recruiting base will always be critically important to recruiting success and Lovie is setting a strong, early precedent with the state of Illinois and Midwest high school coaches and players. - Helmholdt

The new staff at Memphis has done a tremendous job of adding talent and improving on what the previous staff built on the field last year. The Tigers already have two four-star commitments, including offensive lineman Obinna Eze, who spurned several SEC powers to commit to Memphis. As long as things go well on the field this fall, the school will have a great shot to win the conference recruiting title. - Wommack

UCLA's Josh Rosen was non-stop entertainment. The confidence he showed as a high school student was notable and, at times, hilarious. Rosen made a habit of letting reporters know how much better he was than other highly-rated quarterbacks and once famously leaned over to me and said "I thought he'd be better" in reference to another, five-star quarterback we were watching throw at a national camp. - Cassidy

Jabrill Peppers at Michigan for me because I got to see him grow from a cocky freshman cornerback at Bosco to a mature team leader and two-way star at Paramus Catholic by his senior season. I didn’t talk to him that much as he was a private kid but in the few in-person interviews I did with him and in talking to his mentor throughout the process as well as his teammates, he was a smart, level-headed kid despite all the attention and watching him play was awesome. - Farrell

Two guys that would always give their honest opinions on schools and players were Jalen Tabor and Jabrill Peppers. That always led to great conversations but, more than that, they continuously made ridiculous plays on both sides of the ball. They had fearless attitudes, were always working to get better, never backed down from a challenge or one-on-one rep, and were great trash-talkers on the field. Both were just really fun to cover. - Friedman

UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen was always a cool kid and still is. We talked at length this summer at the Steve Clarkson Quarterback Camp and he's just a nice guy with a sharp sense of humor who says what he thinks and that's why he gets a bad rap sometimes. But I'm going to go with Adoree' Jackson. I always looked forward going to his games because the Serra people are so welcoming and it's just an easy Friday night. Plus, Jackson was always exciting to watch and after the game he would talk at length with reporters which is always helpful. One time before a practice I wanted to talk with him so an assistant grabbed him for me and Jackson walked out wearing a paper Burger King crown. Just a great kid to be around. - Gorney

The quarterback competition at Notre Dame features two Ohio natives who were among my most memorable kids to cover, but for different reasons. Malik Zaire is one of my favorite people on the planet. A fun-loving kid who possesses the kind of character you hope your own children exhibit when they're that age. DeShone Kizer, meanwhile, is one of the most intelligent kids I've ever covered. One question would yield a five-minute answer from Kizer. He was very thoughtful and mature beyond his years. - Helmholdt

He wasn't the easiest guy to cover in terms of access, which often meant several four-hour car rides to Hinesville, Ga., but I always had a good relationship with former five-star and current Ohio State linebacker Raekwon McMillan. We broadcast his commitment live with our television partners at the time and when the going got tough I could always get him on the phone. As he's moved onto college we've kept in touch and I expect him to have another great season before becoming a high NFL draft pick in the spring. - Wommack