Team breakdown: New coaches in the SEC and ACC

There were 28 coaching changes in FBS football this year, the most since 2011. Several of those changes figure to have a major impact on recruiting. Here is a look at the new head men in the SEC and ACC and how they are faring in their opening months.

Biggest commit: OL Navaughn Donaldson

A standout at traditional power Miami Central High School, Donaldson is Miami’s top-rated commit. His combination of size and athleticism is rare, making his commitment a nice victory for a staff hoping to keep local talent close to home.

Overview: It didn’t take Richt long to tap into the wealth of talent that surrounds Miami’s campus. The new coaching regime in Coral Gables has yet to coach its first game but already has 14 verbal commitments in the 2017 class. Of the Hurricanes’ 14 pledges, 13 come from players from inside the state of Florida and nine attend high school in Miami or nearby Ft. Lauderdale. The work the new ‘Canes staff has done on the recruiting trail has been done with truly impressive quickness and intensity.

Richt and company will need to show improvement on the field before they start to land the state’s biggest recruiting fish, but Donaldson’s commitment represents a big win. The larger points, however, are that the focus seems to be in the right area and inroads are being made with haste. It’s impossible to judge a coaching staff before it coaches a game, but things seem to be pointing in the right direction when it comes to the Richt Era in Miami. – Cassidy

Biggest commit: QB Jake Fromm

One of Smart’s biggest recruiting victories came earlier this month when he flipped Fromm from Alabama.

Overview: Smart is off to a hot start in recruiting, already landing three Rivals100 commitments and four four-stars in total. All six of the Bulldogs commitments are from the state of Georgia, a clear early priority for the new staff in Athens. By the time it’s all said and done, I fully expect Georgia to be at the top of this list, especially considering the school is in great shape for several highly ranked targets, including five-star linebacker Nate McBride. – Wommack

Biggest commit: QB Jake Bentley

The Rivals250 quarterback represents a big recruiting win for Muschamp and company, especially considering they beat out Alabama and others to land his commitment earlier this month.

Overview: The Gamecocks are coming off one of their worst seasons in years, but it hasn’t slowed things on the recruiting trail so far. Much like Smart and company at Georgia, Muschamp is focused on keeping local talent close to home. Bentley is joined in the class by a pair of JUCO commits as well as four-star tight end Will Register, a holdover from the previous staff. The key for getting the program back on track will be a return to fertile Atlanta, an area that is always loaded with talent. – Wommack

Biggest commit: DE TyJuan Garbutt

The Rivals250 defensive end marked the first major win for Fuente in the 2017 class as he choose the Hokies over several other ACC and Big Ten programs.

Overview: Fuente made a name for himself at Memphis by recruiting under-the-radar prospects and turning them into stars. While he’ll be asked to do some of the same with the Hokies, he also has the luxury of targeting big fish like Garbutt. So far things are off to a good start as the school has five commitments, including three-star quarterback Hendon Hooker. The Hokies will continue to try to nab prospects out of the Southeast and already have in three-star Jacksonville, Fla. linebacker Aundre Ricardo-Kearney. – Wommack

Biggest commit: ATH DaRon Davis

Davis is Mizzou’s highest-rated commit. And while he committed to Missouri a few weeks before Odom took over as head coach, his standing as a solid Tiger commit is notable.

Overview: Odom, who played at Missouri, served MU in an assistant role for two separate stints before taking over as the program’s head coach, so he knows the lay of the land in Columbia as well as anyone. Still, with just two verbal commits in the fold for the 2017 class, it’s hard to guess how first full cycle as the program’s head coach will shape up. That said, Missouri will continue recruiting Texas and Florida in addition to its own region.

There’s no reason to think the Tigers will land a top 25 class in 2017, as Odom will have to build to such a thing through on-field success and the relationships he’s still in the process of building. It may be a year or two before the tone for the Odom Era in Missouri is set. - Cassidy

Biggest commit: LB Isaiah McDuffie

McDuffie, a Buffalo-based three-star prospect, is Babers’ first commit. He chose Syracuse over a handful of other Power Five conference programs. His pledge has to be seen as a recruiting win.

Overview: Babers has been on the job for less than five months, so there’s no way to tell what the future may hold for the former Bowling Green head coach at Syracuse. Babers has just two commitments to his name as things stand now, one of which, Florida-based receiver Daewood Davis, was committed long before he took over. Babers did, however, beat out such schools as Pitt and Maryland to land McDuffie.

The fact that Babers has spent significant chunks of time coaching in both Texas and California should help him on the recruiting trail, but he does not seem to be ignoring the northeast or Florida, a state in which the program has recently found some recruiting success. There are plenty of reasons to believe Babers will be a solid recruiter at Syracuse, but he hasn’t had enough time to prove it just yet. – Cassidy