Ask Farrell: Which SEC coaches have impressed?

There is no conference more competitive and cutthroat in recruiting than the SEC and now it’s been transformed into something never seen before where prospects cannot visit schools and college coaches have no spring evaluation period.

The coronavirus global pandemic has placed the country in a holding pattern and the same can be said about recruiting in many ways.

FaceTime and Zoom video meetings have taken the place of sitting down with coaches in their offices. Virtual tours have replaced actually walking around a specific campus and figuring out whether it works or not.

Maybe, that’s a benefit to established SEC programs because prospects know the coaches well, know the history and tradition well and already have established beliefs about the top teams recruiting them.

MORE ASK FARRELL: Which Big Ten coaches have impressed?

CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State

CLASS OF 2022: Top 100

But the SEC is ultra-competitive when it comes to landing top recruits and not being able to meet these players in person, or go to their high schools, or really do everything that normally goes into the recruiting process has made things more challenging.

At the top of the SEC, Florida has already landed 13 pledges including five-star defensive end Tyreak Sapp although a lot of the Gators’ work was completed before the coronavirus pandemic really took hold in March.

In second place in the team rankings is Georgia with six commitments. Five-star QB Brock Vandagriff is the Bulldogs' highest-rated commit, and the program has added four-star pledges from ATH Lovasea Carroll and OL Micah Morris in April.

Rounding out the top five in the SEC team rankings are Tennessee, LSU and Texas A&M. In a surprise - although it’s still incredibly early and undoubtedly the virus has slowed things down from a commitment standpoint - Alabama currently finds itself in last place in the SEC with only one pledge total.

We ask Rivals National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell to name one or two coaches in the SEC who have been most impressive recruiting during this challenging time, and which coach might excel the most in this current recruiting climate?

"I like the job that Florida is doing under Dan Mullen and the addition of assistant coach Tim Brewster has been a big one. This could be the best Gators class in a few years as they are involved with many top prospects and are off to a strong start in a tough year.

"Georgia is doing well as expected but I like what Jeremy Pruitt and his Tennessee staff continue to do on the recruiting trail. The Vols will be back sooner than later if he can develop players."