Rivals national recruiting analyst Sam Spiegelman is joined by national recruiting director Adam Gorney, DevilsIllustrated.com's Conor O'Neill and Jeremy Birmingham of Dottingtheeyes.com to tackle three topics and determine whether they believe each statement is FACT or FICTION.
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1. Manny Diaz and this Duke regime will recruit at a higher clip than the previous coaching staffs in Durham.
O'Neill: FACT. As early as it is, yeah, this will happen. You could see the groundwork being laid as Manny Diaz picked off each hire of his staff – he turned 50 earlier this year and only one member of his staff, Gabe Infante, is older than him (at 51). It's a young, energetic staff that's geared toward getting on the road and building relationships.
All of that didn't just pay off with the flip of Bryce Davis, who's the crown jewel of the class. Duke's 25 commits come from 13 states, including California and Arizona.
The other factor that makes this an immediate "fact" is the low bar of recruiting at a higher level than previous staffs. The average team rank of the last eight classes is 53.8 – so, that's what Mike Elko was able to do and what David Cutcliffe was doing for the last six years of his 14-year tenure.
Spiegelman: FACT. Mike Elko was an outstanding recruiter during his time in Durham and made a rather seamless transition to Texas A&M, where of course he has the entire state of Texas at his disposal as well. Manny Diaz has already made the biggest splash in Duke recruiting history – at least in recent memory – by flipping Bryce Davis away from conference rival Clemson.
Davis, the No. 53 prospect in the Rivals250 for this cycle, is an extremely high-upside blue-chipper at a premium position. He loved Diaz's track record at Penn State and prior, as well as the energy of this staff. North Carolina has been fantastic keeping in-state talent home, and Diaz is aspiring to do the same at Duke. With NIL being a real part of the fabric in Durham, that's becoming a probability.
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2. With Zyntreacs Otey reclassifying and Jahkeem Stewart likely following suit, more and more reclassifications are going to surface in this era of college football recruiting.
Gorney: FICTION. There seem to be a few recruits in recent cycles who have pushed up their reclassification but I'm not entirely sure it's because of NIL. That could partly have something to do with it but recruiting has moved up so much that players are regularly being contacted late in middle school or early in high school. Others are dominating so much (does Julian Lewis really need two more full years of high school?) that staying there seems like a waste of their time. For others, being young for your grade when it comes to NFL projection is a major bonus that they want to take advantage of. NIL money could be playing a real factor here but I don't see a mad rush to the exits for dollar bills. Here and there some prospects will do it but I don't think it's really a new trend that we'll see more and more of moving forward.
Spiegelman: FACT. When Quinn Ewers reclassified to be a senior at Southlake Carroll to get to Ohio State early, that was the early indicator that this was going to be the wave of the future. Ewers' decision was largely NIL motivated back then – a different time and age. While the majority of states across the country have opened the door for high school athletes to benefit off of their name, image and likeness, it remains a hurdle in certain places. By reclassifying and getting on campus earlier, it organically alleviates any roadblocks in student-athlete's ways in high school and also allows athletes an opportunity to get on campus earlier, get acclimated to the new setting and compete to get on the field earlier. In the NIL era, it seems inevitable that this will only continue. JuJu Lewis reclassified this time last year. Zyntreacs Otey just made a similar move, and there's buzz that Jahkeem Stewart will follow suit soon.
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3. Larry Johnson is still the best defensive line recruiter in the country.
Birmingham: FICTION. I am saying fiction here not because Larry Johnson isn’t doing a great job for Ohio State – he is – but simply because I believe that there are some younger defensive line coaches who have adapted to today’s technology-driven recruiting world a bit easier than Johnson has and have done as good a job developing NFL prospects in the last few years.
That said, when Johnson gets a chance to connect with a young person in Columbus, it’s clear that his style is still resonating in a major way. Yes, it’s an old-school approach but it’s also so different than what most are doing that it stands out to recruits.
Johnson is a teacher in the best sense of the word and his ability to break down film, technique and to provide instant feedback for recruits on their game is a differentiator when players are on campus. He’s a legend in the recruiting world for a reason and is still unequivocally one of the best in the country.
It does feel as though there’s been a reinvigoration recently and some of that credit goes to assistant LaAllan Clark and of course, NIL opportunities which have untied his hands in recruitments that used to be unfair fights.
Spiegelman: FICTION. Larry Johnson has as good or better of a track record than most, if not all, of college football's defensive line coaches. Johnson's resume paired with NFL draftees he helped mold and the current 2025 commitments as well as the elite DL that are already leaning toward the Buckeyes because of Johnson -- speaks for itself.
Georgia has been producing NFL defensive linemen under Tray Scott for years, and no team is recruiting in the trenches better right now than the Dawgs. Bo Davis has been sculpting DL to play on Sundays at Alabama, Texas and now LSU, and he's been attracting big talent to Baton Rouge. Likewise, Clemson's Nick Eason and Oklahoma's Todd Bates have resumes as good as any position coach nationwide.
Freddie Roach has helped assemble elite defensive fronts in Tuscaloosa and Oxford, and is considered one of the best young DL coaches in America. The same goes for Randall Joyner, a Texas native, now overseeing the Ole Miss defensive front, which is expected to be one of the best in the nation this fall.
