Who will new dead period impact most in the ACC?
On March 13, the NCAA returned recruiting to a dead period, eliminating in-person contact between member institutions and prospective student-athletes. The cessation of recruiting visits has affected every college football program in the country, but it has affected some more than others. Today, we take a look at which ACC teams are most and least affected by the recruiting visit shutdown.
MORE: What Big Ten teams will be most affected? | SEC?
CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
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MOST IMPACTED
Florida State
With a new staff that is yet to coach a single game at the school, Florida State finds itself in a precarious position during the national crisis and ensuing recruiting dead period. Limiting face time with recruits could be devastating for a staff still attempting to build trust and sell players on a bright future in Tallahassee.
FSU has just four players in the fold for 2021, which is less than ideal with recruiting slowed to a crawl for the foreseeable future. Mike Norvell and other new coaches are experiencing unprecedented adversity on the recruiting trail, making it hard to predict how things will shake out come signing day.
FSU’s top-rated commit is Rivals100 linebacker Brandon Jennings, but just two of its four pledges are rated higher than three-stars.
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Miami
Miami’s disappointing 2019 season created some uncertainty among recruits that lingers today, so campus visits coming to a screeching halt is less than ideal for a program trying to convince prospects things will become more stable this fall.
The Hurricanes currently have 10 commits in the fold. The good news, however, is that the school’s Coral Gables campus is in close proximity to some of the county’s top talent. That should make last-minute visits more possible, should it come to that.
Syracuse
It’s hard enough recruiting at Syracuse these days, but losing a huge portion of the time the Orange can host prospects is a major blow to their efforts. Upstate New York isn’t the most fertile recruiting area, so Syracuse really benefits from this time of year when players can get out on the road and visit some schools.
Dino Babers and his staff hold just one commitment so far so they’re going to need to figure something out to try to build some sort of momentum coming off a five-win season.
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Louisville
The Scott Satterfield era got off to a great start with an eight-win season, and there was a lot of positive momentum heading into the offseason. All of that momentum seems to be stalled now that recruits can’t come visit campus and coaches can’t make the rounds to see targets.
Louisville picked up two commitments last week in the form of offensive lineman Aaron Gunn and defensive end Victoine Brown, but under normal circumstances the Cardinals probably would have been holding more commitments by now. The inability, as a new staff, to host prospects, coaches and other meetings and events is especially disrupting as they try to build long-term relationships.
LEAST IMPACTED
Clemson
Dabo Swinney and his staff mostly finished their 2020 recruiting class early so that meant they could get a jump on the 2021 class. They took full advantage of that opportunity and are now ranked No. 3 in the team rankings with a commitment from Rivals250 No. 1 overall prospect Korey Foreman.
The Tigers just picked up a commitment from Rivals250 defensive back Jordan Hancock two weeks ago and it seems like everything is still running very smoothly for Clemson. A few of Clemson’s top targets are getting closer to committing and the Tigers are the top contender for the majority of them.
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North Carolina
The mantra in Chapel Hill has been “Mack is back,” but Mack Brown isn’t the reason the Tar Heels have the No. 4 recruiting class in the nation. Sam Howell is. As one of the top returning quarterbacks in the nation, Howell is helping North Carolina dominate recruiting in-state talent.
The next two recruiting classes in North Carolina are very talented and deep, so the Tar Heels could turn into a long-term contender if they can keep this up. Flipping Rivals250 quarterback Drake Maye is huge because he could turn out to be Howell’s heir apparent and keep this recruiting momentum going.