Five recruiting rivalries to follow over the next decade

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ASK FARRELL: Will Urban Meyer return to coaching at some point?

With Urban Meyer’s decision to leave Ohio State, his recruiting rivalry with Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh is finished. But here are five major recruiting rivalries that should last for years to come in college football.

Oklahoma has landed two of the four five-stars in the state of Texas this recruiting cycle - Texas A&M received commitments from the other two - and they’re big ones in receivers Theo Wease, the top in-state prospect, and Trejan Bridges. Allowing the Sooners to come into the state and reload with that level of talent at receiver should be worrisome in Austin.

But last recruiting cycle, Tom Herman and his staff landed five of the top six in-state players and a few of them have already helped on the defensive side. Herman is 43-years-old; Riley is only 35 and is already being courted for NFL jobs. If the two stay at their respective schools for even a decent period of time, these recruiting battles for top players in the state of Texas should be legendary.

Farrell’s take: This is the premiere matchup in college football for the foreseeable future and is fun to watch on a recruiting level and on the field. Oklahoma has had the best of it so far despite the loss this season, but Texas is currently ahead of them in recruiting and has a great geographical recruiting advantage. Texas is slowly getting ready to take over the Big 12 or at the very least make it competitive every season, which wasn’t the case under Charlie Strong. Both guys can recruit and relate to younger players.

On the field, Meyer owned Harbaugh. In recruiting, Meyer owned Harbaugh. Facts are facts and Ohio State has won every Big Ten team recruiting title since 2010. The Buckeyes have also beaten Michigan seven-straight times and 14 out of the last 15. Meyer is gone, so the recruiting battles between Harbaugh and new Ohio State coach Ryan Day could get really interesting.

Both Big Ten coaches are competing for the best Midwest prospects every year, but Meyer made his money in Florida and Texas and Harbaugh has had success in the Southeast as well along with some wins in Texas. By any measure, Harbaugh is the bigger-named coach now. Can he turn that into more recruiting wins over Day and the Buckeyes, and then transition that to victories on the field?

Farrell’s take: The gap between Ohio State and Michigan has closed with the retirement of Meyer. This is a big win for Michigan as they can now recruit on a more level field with Ohio State and can likely compete better on the field. Day is a good recruiter and an excellent young coach, but for the first time Harbaugh might have the upper hand in the Michigan-Ohio State matchup.

Taggart is edging out Mullen in their first recruiting class so far, especially with high-end, in-state prospects as Florida State has three commitments in the top 10 -- five-star cornerback Akeem Dent, four-star safety Brendan Gant and four-star offensive guard Dontae Lucas. Florida has none at this time.

But the Gators do have the No. 20 recruiting class (five spots behind Florida State) with 10 four-star commitments and more could be coming. Five-star defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux out of California visits this weekend. The knock on Taggart is that he’s an excellent recruiter, but he has a losing record as a head coach. The knock on Mullen is that he’s a solid but not phenomenal recruiter, but a great Xs and Os guy.

There could already be heat on Taggart after an awful first season but if he can stabilize things in Tallahassee then these two young, aggressive coaches should have some epic battles in the coming years.

Farrell’s take: The recruiter vs. the developer here is a good story, but it will take a few years to develop. The mess at Florida State is too big to clean up by next season, but in a couple of seasons this could be a good matchup. Florida recruiting has been down the last few years but if the Gators keep winning as they did under Mullen this year, that will likely change. Florida State always recruits well, even in down seasons, but there are serious questions about Taggart being the right fit. This is contingent on Taggart turning the Seminoles around. If he does this will be a fun rivalry to follow.

Both of these coaches have other recruiting battles to deal with as Fisher has to stave off Texas and Oklahoma among others and Orgeron has Alabama dipping into Louisiana for top talent all the time. That’s enough of a headache, but then Fisher and Orgeron have a battle royale going as well for players especially around the Houston-area and that talent-rich part of the country on the Texas/Louisiana border.

LSU has had tremendous success in Texas with K’Lavon Chaisson, Austin Deculus and many others recently. It’s crucial for Fisher to keep home five-stars like Erick Young and Kenyon Green, which he successfully did this recruiting cycle. The Houston-area is loaded every year including 2020 with five-star running back Zachary Evans leading the way. Fisher and Orgeron will butt heads on the recruiting trail over him and many others.

Farrell’s take: This would not have been a matchup to watch prior to this season as Orgeon was on the hot seat and expected to have a rough season. But here we are. LSU had a very good year, Orgeron is an excellent recruiter and Fisher is already building a talented roster for Texas A&M. Who do you give the recruiting advantage to? It’s kind of a toss up and if both programs continue to improve this could be a great matchup that might even matter if Nick Saban ever retires.

If there’s such a thing as the Holy Trinity of recruiting battles, this would be it - and it’s not even close. These are three of the best coaches in the game, all three run programs that are national title contenders every season and they’re in the Southeast where cutthroat recruiting battles are an embraced way of life.

Dabo Swinney went into Alabama last recruiting cycle and stole five-star receiver Justyn Ross from the Crimson Tide, the first time since 2012 the top player in the state didn’t go to Alabama.

En route to the team recruiting title last cycle, Georgia and Alabama butted heads on a lot of top prospects and the Bulldogs edged the Crimson Tide out.

Saban has owned the recruiting championships - and the titles on the field - in recent years. Lots of top prospects especially in the Southeast will end up at Alabama, Georgia or Clemson. Rarely are not all three programs involved at some point.

Farrell’s take: This is as much about recruiting battles as it is about on-field battles, but Clemson has played Alabama in a few important games (understatement of the year) and Georgia has now become a serious challenger to the Tide. These teams butt heads a lot in recruiting and the battles are epic. Let’s not forget that Jake Fromm was a former Alabama commit that Kirby Smart flipped to Georgia. Hopefully we will see this recruiting battle, and important games on the field, from these three for a long time.