Which Coaches Did The Best Work On Signing Day?

 Send This Story To A Friend

So what grades are we handing out to the coaching staffs across the SEC today?  Well, we could just give our thoughts based on the final team rankings provided by the major scouting services.

But what fun would that be?  Plus, not all of the SEC’s coaches were playing on an even field.  So taking into consideration “degree of difficulty,” here’s how we ranked the work of the league’s coaches:

Florida / Rivals rank: 2 / Urban Meyer = A
Meyer signed an unbelievable class and did so despite rumors swirling about his future.  But he’s already got one of the nation’s best programs and he’s based in a talent-laden state.

Auburn / Rivals rank: 4 / Gene Chizik = A+
Chizik’s hire drew laughs a year ago.  Not now.  With a staff built for the recruiting game, Chizik has Auburn competing with the big boys across the country… and most importantly with the monster across the state.  Chizik’s crew also Tiger Prowl’ed their way into just about every SEC state to steal someone of note.  A stellar, stellar job.

Alabama / Rivals rank: 5 / Nick Saban = A
Saban has the Tide — like Florida — rolling.  He’s also in a talent-rich state.  This year he could simply pick and choose and target areas of need.  Saban doesn’t get an A+, but I’m guessing he could have gotten one if he needed it.

LSU / Rivals rank: 6 / Les Miles = A
Miles needed this one.  He needed the last-minute converts from other programs.  As Saban has risen, LSU’s fortunes have fallen off.  Getting a better than expected class should keep the wolves from howling… at least until fall.  The best news for Miles is that he owns the state of Louisiana and 2011 looks to be a great year for in-state prospects.

Tennessee / Rivals rank: 9 / Derek Dooley = A+
Dooley gets a top mark because of degree of difficulty.  He got the UT job less than three weeks before signing day.  He didn’t have a full coaching staff.  Lane Kiffin (and the rest of the SEC) were trying to sway Vol commitments.  And his state’s recruiting base is weak.  Still Dooley pulled a Top 10 class and swiped the #1 player from the state of Georgia.  There’s no other grade but A+ to give.

Georgia / Rivals rank: 16 / Mark Richt = C
Based on the type of athlete Georgia brought in, Richt deserves an A.  But he didn’t bring in many.  And those he did land lack the kind of star power that make recruiting analysts go ga-ga.  A bigger concern — as we pointed out yesterday — is the fact that that other schools (Auburn, Tennessee) are finding it easier to raid the Peach State for four- and five-star players.  Miles got a boost from recruiting… Richt did not.

Ole Miss / Rivals Rank: 17 / Houston Nutt = B+
Nutt closed with a flurry as he often does.  He’s not a guy that believes in early commitments.  He also made a comeback inside his home state to nab most of the top in-state talent.  A good day for Nutt.

South Carolina / Rivals rank: 25 / Steve Spurrier = C
Spurrier hit a home run in landing Marcus Lattimore.  But overall, Clemson still grabbed more of the top guns from inside the state.  Also, take Lattimore away from this class and tell me what you have.  Spurrier says the class will feel needs.  Maybe so.  But on paper, it’s not great.

Mississippi State / Rivals rank: 38 / Dan Mullen = B+
Dan Mullen talks a good game and he backed it up with his recruiting haul.  Oh, there are few true stars in the bunch, but again, Mullen faces a higher degree of difficulty than the school to his north.  He came close to equaling UM’s pull among the state’s Top 25 players.  That’s a positive for a guy leading one of only two SEC schools to not reach a bowl last year.

Arkansas / Rivals rank: 48 / Bobby Petrino = C
The Razorbacks targeted defense and they landed a pair of four-star defensive tackles.  Petrino fight an uphill battle in the state of Arkansas, but there is some talent that he allowed to escape — Michael Dyer for example.

Kentucky / Rivals Rank: 49 / Joker Phillips = C-
Phillips did edge past Charlie Strong at Louisville, but Kentucky should have had a better year.  They had some stability, the Cardinals did not.  UK was coming off another bowl game, Louisville was coming off another bowl loss.  The Cats landed just one four-star recruit.  The Bluegrass State doesn’t have a lot of talent — but as we wrote yesterday — Phillips needs to start drawing the best in-state players to Lexington.

Vanderbilt / Rivals Rank: 61 / Bobby Johnson = B+
How can I give Johnson such a good grade?  For one, he just signed the best class Vandy’s landed in years.  For another, we’re talking about Vandy.  Johnson is the anti-Nutt, locking up commitments early and often.  Credit to him for holding on to most of them.

Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts