The 2018 recruiting class is nearing its end, so that means college coaches will start turning their focus to the 2019 class. Some schools already have a leg up on the competition while others are lagging behind. Take a look at how 2019 recruiting classes are shaping up and which teams are in the best position right now.
By the numbers
The first official 2019 team rankings will be released with the next rankings update, but if it were around today Georgia would be listed at No. 1 followed by Oklahoma, LSU, Florida and Florida State. The SEC would have eight teams in the top 20 while the Big Ten and ACC would have four apiece, the Pac-12 would have two and the lone Big 12 team would be Oklahoma. Notre Dame would also be in the top 20.
Six teams already have at least five commitments with Florida leading the way with eight juniors currently committed. Georgia, LSU and Miami all have seven while Oklahoma has six and Florida State has five. The Hurricanes, tied for the second-most commitments, would be ranked at No. 8 if the official rankings were released today.
SEC leading the way
Three teams from the SEC would be in the top five of the official 2019 rankings. Georgia is on a roll right now in the 2018 class and it is doing a great job in the 2019 class as well. Five-star Jadon Haselwood is the crown jewel of Georgia’s 2019 recruiting class so far, but it also holds commitments from five four-stars and one three-star.
Big-time offensive linemen Kardell Thomas and Kenyon Green anchor a very strong LSU recruiting class but four-stars Tyrion Davis and Thomas Perry are also important pieces for the Bayou Bengals.
John Dunmore and Jaquaze Sorrells are Florida’s only two four-star commitments. The rest of the Gators’ recruiting class is made up of three-stars such as Cameron Williams, Wardrick Wilson, Marcus Tillman, Andrew Coker and Trent Whittemore.
Can new coaches hit the ground running?
The coaching carousel was intense this year and we’re still feeling the chaos left in its wake. New coaches are scrambling to patch together a good initial recruiting class but they really need to get off on the right foot with a solid first full recruiting class. Of the 12 schools that hired new head coaches in last month or so, only Florida, Florida State, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Texas A&M have recruiting classes that would be ranked inside the top 20 of the 2019 team rankings.
Most believe Nebraska, Tennessee and UCLA are sleeping giants on the recruiting trail and they will more than likely reel in some highly rated prospects. The Cornhuskers and Vols each have two 2019 commitments while UCLA still has one.
Recruiting in the Pac-12 will be fun to watch over the next few years. Along with UCLA, Oregon, Oregon State and Arizona State all hired new coaches. Arizona State has yet to receive a 2019 commitment but, just like UCLA, Oregon and Oregon State have one commitment each.
Aiming for consistency
One of the signs that a program is on the right track is that it brings in highly rated recruiting classes year after year. The 2018 team rankings were updated last week and half of the teams in the top 20 of those rankings would not be in the top 20 of the 2019 team rankings today.
Ohio State, Texas and Penn State have top five 2018 recruiting classes but would be outside of the top 20 of the 2019 team rankings. Auburn nearly made it to the College Football Playoff this season but it hasn’t seen much success in the 2019 class just yet. Oregon currently has a top 10 2018 recruiting class but it isn't even close to seeing the same success in the 2019 recruiting class yet. West Virginia, Kentucky, TCU, Virginia Tech and Maryland are also off to sluggish starts in the 2019 class despite having highly rated 2018 recruiting classes.
There is plenty of time for these teams to step up their recruiting efforts but they are already playing from behind.
