Urban Meyer had phenomenal recruiting classes at Florida and Ohio State that helped lead those programs to national championships, but surprisingly, Meyer's only team recruiting title came in 2007.
He was close many times. In 2006, the Gators’ recruiting class finished second. After winning the team recruiting championship in 2007, Florida finished third in 2008 and then second again in 2010. At Ohio State, Meyer had classes that finished second three times, third twice and fourth once.
Maybe Meyer’s best recruiting victory came over the weekend since the first three overall picks – LSU’s Joe Burrow and Ohio State’s Chase Young and Jeffrey Okudah – were all recruited and signed by Meyer's staff, as Burrow used to play for the Buckeyes before transferring. That’s another unbelievable notch on Meyer’s recruiting belt.
He’s definitely one of the top recruiters of all time.
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NFL DRAFT: What We Learned | Biggest winners of the weekend | Five storylines | Did we hit or miss on HS rankings of 32 first-rounders? | First-round grades | Why did Rivals miss on Burrow's, Herbert's rankings? | Day Two thoughts | Looking ahead to top 10 players for 2021 draft
CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2022: Top 100
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But then there is Alabama’s Nick Saban. During Saban’s tenure, the Crimson Tide have won eight team recruiting titles including four in a row from 2011-14. During that stretch, it was almost shocking if Alabama didn’t win the team title.
However, the last three cycles have not met Alabama’s extremely high standards, either, as Georgia has won three recruiting championships in a row. The Crimson Tide have finished seventh, second and third in the team rankings.
While Meyer can claim the top three picks in the 2020 draft, Saban can boast nine players drafted, including first-rounders Tua Tagovailoa, Jedrick Wills, Henry Ruggs and Jerry Jeudy.
We ask Rivals National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell a simple question with perhaps an impossible answer: Has Meyer or Saban been the best recruiter in the Rivals era?
FARRELL'S TAKE
"The numbers suggest the answer is Nick Saban, but I’ve always said that Urban Meyer is the best head coach recruiter I’ve ever seen. His ability to find and evaluate talent at Utah was excellent, he took Florida recruiting to a new level and what he did at Ohio State was outstanding.
"Going into the Southeast to pull players like the Bosa brothers, Raekwon McMillan and others has always impressed me. He killed it in Texas and California as well and always kept the top prospects in Ohio home.
"Saban has more recruiting titles for sure but if you give me a choice of Meyer or Saban, I’ll take Meyer."
