Recruiting Show: The Race for No. 1 HEATS UP! Texas A&M, Oregon, Miami + Signing Day Predictions

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Season is really kind of winding down, I guess, a little bit. Big games on deck. But, you know, the talent acquisition. The talent acquisition will be in the forefront here very, very soon, and I'm excited to talk about it. Dude, I want to talk about this race for number one, man. There are some serious contenders. There's actual, like, real intrigue and drama this year. You know, some years we get that, and some years we kind of don't, because somebody just runs away and hides it in the offseason, and they have a good season to go with it. You know, this year, the team that has the number one class has not had the best season on the field. That's the Texas A&M Aggies. I wanted to kind of get into this, and obviously, can they hold on? They have some serious. Serious, you know, players in this class at premium spots, but, you know, can they hold on to them? What are we thinking here? Yeah, bud. So, you're right. Texas A&M is sitting number one right now in the 24-7 sports team rankings. I think kind of working through the class calculator, and you can go on 247sports.com, and you can plug in different names. I think right now there's really four teams that have a shot, an inside track for this number one spot. And Texas A&M, right, they are out in front. But as you brought up. It has not been the season many had hoped for there under Mike Elko. And I think the big question for them is, can they play some defense here down the stretch? And what's different maybe about, you know, if we went back five years ago, ten years ago, right, there was obviously a lot of flips. But there wasn't, you know, as much movement as we're seeing, or I should say there was more movement than we're going to see right now. And that's because of the nationals. The name, image, and likeness, the revenue share, and some of these contracts, and some of the language. I know, Bud, you have the law degree. You're going to maybe explain that a little bit different or better than I can. But sometimes kids can't move. But there's other times where kids can move. And agents are leveraging, and schools are leveraging. So I think the big question right now with Texas A&M, given what has happened on the field and, you know, some staff changes could take place, you know, can they hold on? Can they hold on to these guys? And really, I wrote down three names here. The big one, the number three player in the country, Mark Matthews, five-star offensive tackle out of South Florida. He announced on the CBS Sports YouTube channel for the Aggies. A lot of people thought Miami had the inside track from Mark Matthews, but he put on the cowboy hat. And that hasn't stopped the Hurricanes, number one overall, from trying to remain involved in this recruitment. Now, let's think about it. Mario Cristobal. What is he known for? Well, he's known as a really good recruiter. He's also known for his offensive line play. And ever since he arrived at Miami, they've gotten one of these five-star big bodies up front. They don't have that in this class. And Mark Matthews is the guy that they have targeted. But I've said it in the past. This guy reminds me a little bit of Tristan Wirfs. Just exceptional physical features. The bend. The lateral mobility. All that. All that stuff. So, he's the one that I think everyone's tracking. Tom Loy, Zach Glowstein. You know, there was talk of him showing up to Hard Rock Stadium for that Florida State game. That didn't happen. But, hey, what does this look like two, three weeks from now? Because Mark Matthews is a guy that has visited a lot of places. I think early on in the recruitment, a lot of schools felt good. So, I wouldn't be surprised if Mark Matthews, there was some drama. The other name I want to bring up, Caden Henderson. Top 100 linebacker. To me, Bud, this is a guy that, you know, he's got three down potential. That's because he is a contact enforcer. He's got that mentality. You know, you can play him on the edge. He can cover a ton of ground. He is set to visit Notre Dame, right? And you're going to notice the theme here. We're kind of talking about the same four schools. He's going to be in South Bend this upcoming weekend for that Miami game. Notre Dame, I think, probably finished second in this recruitment. Talked with someone back during the summer months about Caden Henderson. And I kind of brought up that question. Okay, do you guys see him as an edge? Do you see him as a linebacker? The response I got was it doesn't matter. He's a guy that can make plays and do it at an extremely high level. So, that's the other one I'm keeping an eye on here. Number three linebacker for us right now. I just audited that position. I mean, this dude can play out of Tampa Jesuits. So, those are the two. And they're going to have to play defense here, Texas A&M. So, something to monitor over the next four weeks. You've been in this game a long time. You notice the states where these guys are from who we're worried about them holding on to, right? Even though there's NIL involved and whatnot, I do think it's still easier to hold on to guys who are your home state guys. And both Matthews and Henderson are Florida guys committed to Texas A&M, right? It's not like there's a whole lot of Texas A&M fans in Tampa and in Fort Lauderdale. So, I do think like, hey, man, when things are running good, that recruiting nationally works great. When things are a little bit more rocky, you know, it's kind of easier for Miami people to be in your ear down there in Lauderdale than it is for A&M people. But obviously, if you're an A&M fan, you're happy he didn't take that visit to Hard Rock. Maybe you feel better about that situation than some Miami fans would hope that you feel. I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you about one more guy here in A&M's class. And that's Myles Smith. Defensive lineman. Looks like maybe some instant impact help on the way. Yeah, bud. And I think that's kind of the theme of this recruiting class for Texas A&M. And they have finished number one overall in the past back in 2022. And it feels like every time I'm, you know, scrolling through Instagram on the X Everything app, you always see that 2022 recruiting class reference and how it didn't meet expectations on the field when it comes to the wins and losses and what they were able to do. I will put my hand up and say, hey, that recruiting class has already produced a pair of first round picks in Walter Nolan and Jamar Stewart. LT Overton's in the league. Anthony Lucas is in the league. Cam Dewberry's in the league. And I think all these guys are going to get drafted. Evan Stewart, Connor Wegman, Chris Marshall, Mark Nabu. All those guys could get drafted this year. So I'm just saying there was some talent in that 2022 group. But that being said, when I look at this recruiting class for the Aggies as it stands right now. Four weeks to go feels a little bit different. And I think these are guys that fit what Mike Elko wants to do specifically on the defensive side of the ball. Myles Smith, one of my favorite senior season evaluations, defensive lineman out of the Los Angeles area. This dude is a true tone setter up front. I think he is someone that is going to be in the rotation year one. Texas A&M this time last year made the move for Myles Smith. I think that was a smart play. I don't think a lot of schools realized how good he was. And the other guy I want to highlight in this recruiting class is on the other side of the ball. Jaden Upshaw, wide receiver out of the state of Georgia. The more I watch this kid, the more I just like him. Self-assertive, attacks the football, really good testing metrics. I think he's another one where, you know, I don't know who's going to be throwing passes in College Station next season. But I do think Jaden Upshaw is a guy that will be part of the mix on offense. No doubt about it. And, dude, Myles Smith's numbers are in like 90 tackles and 30 TFLs for a 300-pounder as a junior. That does not stink. Yeah, and, Bud, we call it an evaluation. process because you know you you kind of grow with these prospects you watch the sophomores and juniors you like this you don't like that and then you get into the senior tape and it's oh okay he just went 40 yards across the field and drilled the guy out of bounds and he's 290 pounds doing it so yes no i i agree he is he is he is someone that i think has some alignment flex up front as well and the more i kind of do this and study the guys that are playing year one as true freshmen at that point of attack where can you line up can you do it you know inside outside i think myles smith offers some of that flex so wait ivans are you saying you you use like additional data performance ability to update your projection of the player as put like as opposed to sticking to the one that you had when the kid was 14 years old like that that's almost like a smart approach yeah yeah yeah bud the senior season of owls are are are quite important the ones with the arrows pointing up right those are the ones that usually yeah usually what you want man yeah they keep ascending all right uh from texas to another team having a bit of a disappointing year although certainly a chance uh this weekend to uh to really wreck ohio state season that is the oregon ducks sitting there at number two feel pretty good about how they finish probably but uh you know certainly some defense to be played here and also some targets uh you know maybe remaining for them let's talk about tay walden athlete and safety samaj stanford right and and i didn't want to go all right what's the big question with oregon hey can they play defense but i think it's more how do they finish not only on the field with dan lanning but on the recruiting trail i mean bud me and you have done signing day shows for you know the past five years and you know the night before i'm always wondering okay what is dan lanning gonna do it you know that night is he lighting up a cigar because he flips someone and talking with tom loy talking with blair and gulo it doesn't really sound like right now i don't know i don't know i don't know how oregon has you know some some coals in the fire for some of these these big you know high profile recruits that doesn't mean it won't happen but i do think all the changes that have taken place there you know i think the losses have certainly you know kind of tied their hands behind the back and now they're in a position where okay we're gonna have to play a little defense as well you brought up tay walden two-way athlete out of the state of tennessee dad has actually uh played in the nfl uh a legend coming out of mtsu miami's involved with him heavily a few other schools you know some some programs like him on offense i think he's a corner all the way one of these new age guys that you know can press man go get the football just with how he moves so he's one to track and then samaj stanford safety out of oklahoma one of my favorite watches just the split safety that gets all around the yard he's he's he's another one where i've heard some sec programs kind of kicking the tires on him and it's easy to see why i mean i think we kind of sometimes overlook that safety position and when you get a guy that can be a backstop and an impact player i mean they change a lot for your defense and then the other thing i have written down here with oregon i know they're sitting number two overall and this is going to sound so weird to say i actually think as opposed to previous cycles the strength of the defense is going to be a lot better than the strength of the defense this class is actually the back end of of the recruiting class i think when you kind of get into that three-star range there's a lot of guys with traits there's a lot of guys where i think there's some developmental upside so i get more excited kind of about the tail end of oregon's recruiting class than i do maybe the top half of it that's kind of because maybe some of these guys haven't lived up to expectations as seniors but you see avery michael up there on the screen you know athletic offensive tackle uh another guy i love and i know you you do as well but josh christiansen in state defensive lineman i mean listed 6-6-2-50 you can play him up and down there uh hello t nahada's kid sam nagata out of utah so i think for the first time in a while it's like man i think oregon kind of you know playing some money ball here but a lot of guys that i like on that on that when you scroll down the commit list that that's a really good point yeah i mean we we pulled up christiansen there what in the lobby at 11 or was it the opening it was the opening finals because we were in right like lake oswego and i'm like i think this kid goes to school like five minutes from the hotel i wanted to measure him out there uh that did not happen there were some really big time programs starting to kind of like look around there and then oregon kind of swooped in and was like ah we're not gonna lose a kid of this of this uh you know potential uh in our own backyard they locked him down there in in june for sure all right let's talk notre dame huge game this week in for the irish you know that their whole their whole theme this year is leave no doubt and if you beat miami i think you pretty much leave no doubt that you are in the playoff uh but you know as far as doubt for them on signing day what would you say their biggest question remaining is can they make a splash right that that's the question with notre dame and and the irish you know since i've been doing this since you've been doing this bud normally it's like you get to the weeks before signing day and everything's set there isn't you know a lot of people that are going to be a lot of fireworks there's not a ton of surprises you know i was kind of trying to go through and find like the last late huge ad they have and that's a testament to marcus freeman and how he has set up that operation now obviously you have to identify a different type of kid to go to notre dame and i think the irish do an excellent job of doing that around the country finding the guys that are going to fit our culture and then getting them committed so we touched on it on the front end kate and henderson that's the thing that's the thing that's the thing that's the thing that's the is the guy to keep an eye on you know i don't know if they're going to have the ammo we'll see what happens as these rankings finalize and i'm talking about the players rankings to finish number one but man i i think they got some absolute difference makers in this recruiting class and a lot of the times the question is okay how does notre dame break through how do they win a national championship and to me i've always thought they got to get the guys at those premium positions that are just a tiered you know a little bit above what they've gotten and to me i look at that commit list two names abraham c say edge rusher out of pennsylvania uh i i think this guy is is awesome he just chokes quarterback escape paths you know measurement wise very similar to jordan ross who we're seeing kind of come alive there at lsu um testing all that very similar uh and then oluwasa milrow olavolo offensive tackle out of new jersey and he's got a lot of guys that are going to be but i've watched multiple edge rushers like studying them and all of a sudden they're playing saint peter's prep and it's like whoa who's this dude at left tackle he has come along and you think about the irish and what they've been able to do how they've developed offensive linemen you know over the past decade this might be the guy that has the highest ceiling of all of them so to me notre dame number three i don't know if they can get to number one but still this is a really really strong haul for marcus freeman and i think they're going to win a national it starts with those two five stars so somebody sent me his clips i'm like oh this kid's learning to finish yes you know like really just the the kind of like the little like last 10 of the rep that the nastiness there is it's fun man like he could be he could be a real obviously you know you haven't rated crazily high and then well justifiably high but like very very high i that might be like a hit hit for sure it kind of reminds me of uh michael passusi who's at oklahoma and i know he's been dealing with some injuries but you know these guys that are great gods and then by the time their end of their senior seasons it's like man these guys are really good run blockers when in reality they should be really good pass protectors because they're so long they can extend that arc they can match and mirror with their agility although olu he's shown it in the run game and i think that's so encouraging and bud you know we we are always studying and like looking back at all right what's playing now in in college football i think i've added it up 10 offensive linemen inside the top 247 from last year or starting as true freshmen i don't know if olu is gonna need to be in action right away for notre dame but uh you know this is one of those guys where you can see him you know getting the feet wet early uh and kind of growing into a being an impact player up front man the the bust rate on these guys who are highly rated offensive linemen is very low like i know they're expensive but from a program standpoint these are largely good investments you know like they may not always be first round nfl guys but a lot more often than not you're getting like multi-year level starter at a top level program so it's it did money well spent for sure in this new era all right finally speaking of money well spent obviously a program that you emphasize is like recruiting and relationships quite a bit but also has played the nil excuse me in the nil game about as well as anybody that's miami sitting in the nil game and i think that's a good thing i think that's a good number four currently obviously they're playing notre dame this weekend they're in it for a bunch of flips we already ran over you know mark matthews how about bryson right the 2028 how about dj jacobs like that was kind of the talk of the uh recruiting symposium is like hey can somebody flip dj jacobs what what's it going to take to flip ohio state's dj jacobs is miami in the pole position there to if a flip occurs or are they that school but my money would be on miami to finish number one and um biggest question remaining how many five stars are they gonna sign uh they got five committed right now Now, you mentioned DJ Jacobs committed to Ohio State, the number one player in the country. We talked about Mark Matthews, the number one ranked offensive tackle. They have guys committed. They got targets out there. You brought up the name Bryson Wright. He is the number three wide receiver, number 10 overall prospect in the class of 2028. He is set to announce a commitment on Thursday. The finalists are Miami, Florida, and Texas, Zach Blostein, Gabby Arrutia, Tom Loy. They're all hinting at the Hurricanes being the pick, and they also believe there's a chance that Bryson Wright could reclassify and jump into the class of 2027. Now, is he going to finish as a five-star prospect? I think we're trying to figure that out right now. This wide receiver board, six months ago, I loved it. Now, a lot of injuries, multiple ACLs to some of these guys near the top. We're trying to sort these guys. I think he is in a neighborhood of about eight wide receivers that can finish anywhere from 20 to 50 in the rankings. Regardless, you take a guy that is a top 50 prospect and you shoot him into this class, you're going to go up in the rankings. Then for Miami, all they're going to have to do, and I know it sounds, it's not easy. They're just going to have to flip one of these other guys, and they're going to have the chance to finish number one overall. I can say that with some conviction because we have dug through a lot of these guys in their senior seasons. Jaden Bryant, the edge rusher, they got out of South Carolina, but this is the closest thing in the class, in my opinion, to Reuben Bain. It kind of reminds me of Gabe Akas, who was at Illinois, now at the New England Patriots. This guy is violent. This guy is a power. He's a base edge rusher. You can play him on the inside. You can play him on the outside. I was at Miami over the summer kind of talking with one of their personnel guys, and I made note of the different edge rushers walking around the facility. They turned to me and they said, yeah, Jason Taylor's got a type. Well, Jaden Bryant would be that type. They got a five-star quarterback in Israel Abrams. They got multiple other playmakers, Amir Sears, Nick Lanier. We've talked so much about these individuals. Bud, it could be the first time since 2008 that Miami finished with the number one ranked recruiting class. If you remember back in 2008, it was Sean Spence, Ja'Cory Harris, Brandon Harris. They're the one I think has the most ammunition up there to get to number one. I also think it's notable, Bud, because remember last year, USC finished number one. That was the first time since. I need to make sure. Since 2008, when Miami finished with the number one ranked recruiting class, that a non-SEC program won a recruiting national championship, if you want to call it that. Miami, to me, they're the one I have circled here, especially with what they're doing on the field. Mario Cristobal, he eats, sleeps, and all that when it comes to recruiting. For sure. All right, Ivins, let's hit our first break here. We've got a couple more schools to profile. Welcome back in to the recruiting episode of the Cover 3 College Football Podcast. I'm Andrew Ivins, director of scouting 24-7 sports. Ivins, let's go a little more rapid fire here. We've got four or five programs that are having or on pace to have either the best or one of the best recruiting class finishes that they've ever had. Of course, we will start with a program that is certainly still ascendant. Texas Tech sitting number 10 right now. Got a couple names here. Who's the guy you really want to spotlight from this class? Ooh. Well, this is. I saw the Brewster highlights of him running the ball the other day. That was pretty fun. Yeah. I mean, Jalen Brewster, number one defensive lineman. I'm going to go a little down the line. Jaden Nelson, linebacker out of Texas. I think this guy is an absolute freak show. But to me, when I look at this Texas Tech recruiting class, they are what the current era is, right? If you have an influence. If you have an influx of funds, I mean, you can go out and you can get the biggest and the baddest individuals. And, you know, this is not to take away from Joey McGuire and his operation. Yes, you need to identify these guys first, but then you get them committed. And with Texas Tech, a lot of the guys, Jaden Nelson, Jalen Brewster, Gideon Gash, a corner, Sir Rod Baker, Texas Tech was in on them before, you know, some of those other in-state schools. So, Texas Tech right now. This would be the highest finish ever in the 24-7 sports era for the Red Raiders, which dates back to 2010. Last year, they finished 15th. The highest ranking before that was 19th in 2011. So, hey, 2014 playoff, you know, Big 12. I mean, Texas Tech isn't going anywhere just based on these guys that they are bringing in. All right. Next up, Virginia Tech currently sitting 15th. This would be the high watermark in the 24-7 sports era in the first top 30 class since 2015. All right. This would be the high watermark in the 24-7 sports era in the first top 30 class since 2019. This class looks kind of similar to what Andy and them did at Penn State, right? Like, hey, we're going to take a lot of trade-see guys. We're going to take guys that fit what we do, and we think the upside on them is quite high. Talk to me about Amari Irvin, linebacker. Right, bud. And Virginia Tech's commit list is, you know, there's a lot of volume, 26 commits. I mean, the headliner is Peter Bork, the quarterback, Elite 11 finalist out of Massachusetts. I think he could be considered. The heir to Ethan Grunkmeier, just if you're kind of trying to piece this together, what is it, 27, 28, and beyond. You can go in a variety of different directions. The name I keep coming back to is linebacker Amari Irvin, who is at IMG Academy. Dad played at Michigan State. He's had a brother that's played college football. This guy is the voice of IMG's defense. And, you know, every year when I stop by the powerhouse, I'm trying to ask the coaches, you know, some of the people inside the building, okay, who sets the tone here? And the name I keep getting back is Amari Irvin, and it shows up on tape. I mean, this is a potential green dot type of linebacker. Now, he's not, you know, the biggest individual, probably under six feet, but he sees it so well. He's physical. I think he's got a higher floor. I think he's a guy that can come in and push for minutes in year one. So, hey, James Franklin, we all kind of said it, all right? He's hired, you know. Now he's going to recruit his team. He's going to tail off. And, Bud, to me, what's unique about Virginia Tech, where Blacksburg's located, you know, if you draw a circle, you know, five-hour radius around, you can get to a lot of different places. You can get up into Pittsburgh, obviously into D.C., down into Georgia, and Virginia Tech's executing that. And I think if you're a team not named Miami in the ACC, you should be concerned because the talent, the floor of that roster is only going to get elevated more and more. I remember talking to Jimbo. Probably 15 years ago, man. And he was like, if you play for a small school and you're a good linebacker, I better see you carrying the ball, too. Like, you know, traits are very similar. Linebacker, he's the easiest pitching scout in the world. Like, hey, who's making the tackle? Like, who's getting there before everybody else? And, like, who just – who sees it? It's just, you know, easy. And I'm like – so I pulled up Irvin, obviously. Now, at IMG, you're not going to play two ways, right? There's too much time. Former running back, though, Bud. Former running back. That's what I'm saying here. Yeah, man. And pretty decent numbers back when he ran the ball before he transferred. You know, to IMG, obviously, there as a freshman. So, excited about that, man. Yeah, and we're trying to keep it short. You know, the other thing is I've watched a lot of linebackers here in the past 24 hours. There's not many where I'm like, future green dot bearer. Yeah. You know, and that's kind of important, right? I mean, talking about, hey, Notre Dame-Miami this weekend. Notre Dame can be without their green dot. I mean, that is a key element in the game these days. No doubt about it. All right. Let's turn to another. Parker, I'm having a pretty nice year here. UCLA, obviously, big game this weekend at Minnesota. You know, trying to stay clean there in the loss column. They have not finished inside the top 25 since 2018. They were 62nd last year. Talk to me about Miles Baker, man. This is one I've heard a lot of good things about. Yeah, safety out of Sierra Cannon out there in California. I saw him back in August, Bud, and one of the ones where you were familiar, but you hadn't really done a full study on him. I love him. And talking with some people there in Westwood, they think this guy is going to come in and have a chance to, you know, be someone for them in the two deep. And that's notable to me because UCLA, I mean, I view them as this year's Indiana, right? Like they are not playing many homegrown individuals. Now it's a new staff. They're coming from James Madison, a lot of moving parts. And it's been impressive how they've gotten that group to gel. So I've been wondering, okay, like, are they just going to go transfer portal, transfer portal, transfer portal, or are they going to try to parlay this into some success on the recruiting front? I wrote about it before that Oregon game, you know, Dan Lanning, Ducks come down, beat USC. Dan Lanning's talking about, hey, you know, why play at USC when you can come up here to Oregon? UCLA is trying to keep some of these local kids home. They want to keep a Miles Baker home. So they're doing some nice things on the recruiting front. And I think if they are able to break into the playoffs, playoff. I think that's going to allow Bob Chesney, who on his bye week in the helicopter flying around, hitting local games. He's got some momentum. He's got some juice. And this is one to keep an eye on because I think we forget how bad it got at UCLA under Chip Kelly. And the early signs here is, okay, there's a competent scouting department. They can recruit, and they're doing some nice things. Dude, no doubt about it. All right, Kentucky, a team that I feel like we have talked about a lot on the recruiting episode of the Cover 3 Podcast. I know we talked to Sean Fox, was it last time or two times ago? Tremendous backer. Let's talk about their QB they got coming in because Will Stein, pretty good success working with quarterbacks here. What should we be excited about with Jake? But remember I brought up when we were talking to Oregon, I know they're ranked number two. It doesn't feel necessarily maybe like the number two-ranked recruiting class. And Will Stein brought some of the people he was working with at Oregon to Lexington. I love this recruiting class. And it's sitting 20th right now. You know, Kentucky's had some really good recruiting classes in the past. But last year they finished 75th. And Will Stein didn't have much time to really assemble things. Now, he did flip Kenny Darby from LSU. They've leaned on him. Big reason why they are ranked where they are. This group right here, and you're seeing it on the screen, you brought up Jake Narott. Man, I think they got some guys here. I really like what they're doing in terms of, identifying talent, finding guys that fit the SEC, guys with developmental upside. They are having to fend off a lot of other schools for these commits. Jake Narott is the headliner. He hasn't thrown an interception as a senior. Elite 11 finalist quarterback. Iowa thought they were going to get this guy. Sister Rose there. Dad played linebacker there. But Kentucky, they beat a lot of people to the punch. Jake is just going to be a two-year starter in high school, right? So he waited his turn. That is so, so rare. Complete command of his offense at the high school level. All the tools. I mean, if it all comes together, and if he is playing there for Will Stein, just wait, bud. All the NFL draft pundits, like this will be the guy where they're like, oh, Jake Narott. I don't know what year the mock draft he would be eligible for, but he's going to be an easy one to make some of those short lists. So it would be 2030, I think? Yeah, I was just at 2030. Yeah. If he absolutely kills it. Awesome, man. I'm excited. Big one for them this weekend, certainly at Tennessee. We'll see how that goes for them. But you've got to think they've got at least a shot going into Knoxville. All right, second break, and we will talk about a couple of surprises in the other direction, and discuss whether we're concerned or unconcerned about those guys next. It's an effort to capture that curiosity and to answer the question you haven't heard a satisfying answer to, or maybe haven't even heard asked. Follow and listen to Great Question with Tony DeCoppo wherever you get your podcasts. Here we go. C-block, surprise recruiting classes outside the top 25. Are we worried about them? What do we think? How does it fit into their overall strategy? Ivins, first up, and man, if we were doing this a decade ago, I'd be like, we got a typo here. Guys, producers, get on this. Number 32, Alabama. Lowest finish in the 24-7 sports recruiting era, fifth in 2018. Had signed the number one class 10 of the past 16 years. Still some names to know, but I do kind of want to zoom out a little bit. Are you concerned here? But I think I was concerned. And I mean, you talked about it a few weeks ago, and the retention there from what Alabama has been able to do under Alabama. They've kept a lot of the past two recruiting classes. Hey, Keelan Russell, I mean, you want to talk about a guy that's going to be on some preseason magazines heading into next year. You know, if you subscribe to the theory, my theory, that I think the model that might win out in this current landscape, this current environment, is big high school recruiting class that's going to kind of set your foundation, maybe follow it up with a second one. Then you take a year off. Hey, patch some holes with transfers or go use some funds to get the difference makers to take you where you want to go. To me, this feels like kind of that for Alabama where, all right, we're going to save some of that budget because we're going to go out and we're going to go get a Cam Coleman type of wide receiver for Keelan Russell. And I'm not, you know, they're going to go and get some of those individuals. So there's things I like in this recruiting class. I mean, two quarterbacks. Trent Seaborn, Bud, it seems like every Saturday I'm watching backup quarterbacks around the country come in and be called upon. And Trent Seaborn is going to have like close to 60 starts, been playing since he was in eighth grade. And obviously they got Elijah Haven with all the traits there. But me, man, to me, Trent Seaborn, a guy that's played in a lot of difficult situations over the years, like I think these guys are going to be a little bit more valuable. So, no, I'm not panicked. And Alabama does have some flip candidates. It's out there. But I do think it's surprising that if you went out and you go to the bar or the clubhouse and you tell your buddies, hey, Alabama's 32nd in recruiting, not a lot of people are going to believe you. What odds would you put that they land the number one portal class? Oof. Not zero. Not zero, but is it a volume thing? That's where it kind of comes into play. That's fair. Yeah. I mean, I look at what they lose. It's off this roster, right? So, you know, Keon in the secondary is gone. You lose Jamarian Latham. You lose Devin Tompkins. Just scrolling here. I think Bingley Jones, if I'm reading this right, is out of eligibility. Denny Lewis. And then you got three guys, underclassmen, who probably could go. Pierre, obviously, who would be a big loss at edge rusher. Zabian Brown, although he's been banged up, but has played really well when he's been healthy. And then Ryan Coleman-Williams, who, again, has been banged up and probably should play another year, but, like, that's up to him to decide. Like, they have so much more coming back for 27 than they had coming back for 26. And to me, like, they could go, like, absolute moonshotting to fill a lot of these vacancies if they don't like their internal options. I mean, like, you could go and add, like, six or seven guys at, like, a million a pop. And I also think they could add, you know, they could go for, like, the top three agents. But I also think they could get some mid-tiers where it's like, all right, we're creating competition with maybe some of our unproven guys that we signed and we liked a lot. I could see that playing out at positions. I think a better – I don't know if they're going to have the number one class, but, you know, if we talked about the top 32 transfers and Cooper-Potagnas transfer rankings, I wouldn't be surprised if they had three, four of them. That makes a lot of sense. If they're number 32 again next year, then I think, like, the panic meter for me goes from, like, zero to 10. But as of right now, it's kind of a zero. All right, number 50, FSU, which, you know, finally had a regime change there. I've had our notes ready to go on that for quite a while. The only reason I put this on here, bud, they have never finished outside the top 25 in the 24-7 sports era. That was mind-blowing to me. And I know last year it looked like they were going to finish outside. And then, what, did Norvell get the vote of confidence? Yeah. And they kind of strung it together there. Just surprising. Well, it's not surprising given everything that has played out. But to me, bud, and I'd love to hear your take on this, like, whoever steps in, they got to recruit the O-line better. They got to recruit locally better. I mean, there's just a lot of room for growth and improvement. And I think they're probably going to have to take a lot of transfers as well. I would take a Will Stein approach with this, man. Like, I – there's not a lot of kids in this class that I think you really care about keeping, to be honest. And I think you also have to consider, like, at what price are you keeping them, like, considering, like, what you probably had to offer them to get them to say yes to what looked like a lame-duck coaching tenure. So, you know, like, you may want to keep, you know, a couple of these top guys on talent. But are they actually good values on the deals you secured them on? Or did you have to massively overpay? To get yeses, right? I mean, if they finish with no high school commits, that's probably a little bit of hyperbole. But I wouldn't freak over it. Like, go portal. I do think that they will go a little cheaper on head coach and a lot more NIL money. And it wouldn't shock me if you nail your portal class if you're in a 2014 playoff, like, next year. You know, if you really juice the NIL up, you have, what, second or third best resources in the ACC almost immediately. And, like, it's hard to portal everything, but certainly – You know, one to look at there for sure. All right. I guess we're going to go more rapid fire here. Carolina at 53. Amari Patterson, receiver, is a highlight. Obviously, 53 is not, I think, where they want to be. But they do have some hits in last year's recruiting class who are playing for them this year or so. You know, a decent number of guys coming back from that 40-man class they took last year. What do you like about Patterson? Man, I think he's a rack monster. And to me, I mean, just kind of watching. North Carolina like pencil this guy into the depth chart uh always been a playmaker but what stood out to me is he went down to like south florida for a random showcase event and he took over and to me a kid from the carolinas coming down and inserting himself i think that says a lot about that individual north carolina is interesting to me and i think this is a nugget as we approach signing day but you mentioned that 40 man recruiting class for north carolina west virginia also took i think i don't even know what the final number was i felt like we were in may and they're like hey you still need to grade this 2026 recruit i think they were they finished with 50 so far there is none of these monster monster monster recruiting classes out there yet interested to see if there's any programs that do take that approach because talking with some personnel people over the summer let's say you are a cash strapped program what is stopping you from going out and taking 40 guys that have very high ceilings maybe now maybe they have lower floors having them on the roster for six months and being like yep not where we need you to be and you just get that number back i it's it's certainly i'm not saying i agree with it but that that is a strategy that you can implement right now welcome to jacksonville state right exactly so awesome man all right here we will get out of here on that and no no we have iowa left sorry i i'll replace today uh iowa trending for their lowest finish ever in in the era um they're 68 this is a very short on numbers class though which i i do think speaks to how much iowa has coming back for next year man like they have almost nobody who's out of eligibility they have a couple guys who i think are you know potential uh early nfl draft guys but not that many either like they return a bunch off this core and just because iowa how they're playing bud and and they're you know 2014 playoff this is this is a program that's going to be in in the mix a lot it's just to me again so many different ways to build out a roster and and you know we could go through all 13 of these commits and i can tell you why i think all 13 of them have a chance to make the nfl and yeah they aren't the highest ranked guys but all 13 of them uh are are big bone individuals all 13 of them are highly intelligent football players so just interesting to me that this would could be their their lowest ranked recruiting class at of all time but i don't think there's any really reason to panic iowa is one of the best at taking a three-star prospect turning them into an nfl draft pick and making me and the rest of the recruiting industry look bad so um just one where you scroll down right and you get to after 50 you're like whoa okay i was right here so um they do it with with certainly with less no doubt about it all right man final break here on the flip side a massive matchup this weekend we got a player everybody needs to have their eyes on next there's the guy that you 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tuesdays for a deep dive into that episode with post-mortem he said quote if they're gonna die i'm gonna see them die plus hear episodes from the 48 hours archive wednesdays and thursdays follow and listen to 48 hours wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to 48 hours plus on apple podcast or add free listening and welcome back here to the cover three podcast recruiting episode south bend indiana miami's justin scott kid from obviously chicago area returns played the team that was pretty heavily involved in his recruitment as well when he picked the hurricanes defensive lineman man i'll tell you what he he had some nice plays i know miami's defense overall was was a little bit disappointing against carolina they do get the win up there in chapel hill he had some pretty pretty critical plays down the stretch in that game as miami scored on every single drive they had uh in in the second half he was pretty crucial in getting some of the stops that miami did get down the stretch it's a big test though like you've not seen a whole lot of great offensive lines so far in miami's schedule and notre dame conversely has not seen a lot of great defensive lines so man a real matchup of good on good it is bud and and and you know these big point of attack guys sometimes it takes them some time to kind of find their feet and i would agree with you i think we're seeing it from justin scott when these two teams met last year i think justin scott played 20 snaps or so you know i'm not an x and o's guy and i know you guys touched a lot about about it on on big big game breakdown but i think notre dame's gonna want to try to run the ball on on saturday night and i think justin scott you know in the single digit number you know i think there's an opportunity here for him to have a signature type game and but you know obviously you're in the state of florida just like myself it seems like every time florida miami or fsu faces you know a school that has a floridian on the roster that didn't end up at one of those programs those guys always always always have really good games it's always the nc state kid who like you know went to chaminade or wherever and like was a three star and he took three years to develop and then as a junior he catches like seven balls for 280 yard yeah yeah so i just is there extra motivation for justin scott now he was at one time committed to ohio state he certainly could have went to notre dame but you know playing close to him he's not going to be able to do that i don't know i just i could see him kind of breaking out number 85 overall prospect right now on on mike renner's uh nfl draft big board on cbssports.com also wouldn't be surprised if he's a guy that kind of shot up given what he might do uh against that front but man i'm i'm excited for this one bud really just a ton of good weekends i'm also going to give you a shout out i love on your socials how you kind of outline uh how you kind of outline how you kind of outline how you should set up the tvs every saturday i got i mounted two tvs outside so i know what to have on the main screen in the quad box uh drives my family crazy but um super helpful dude and this weekend i i didn't even fill it fully out i'm like hey there's so many prime matchups these three need screens and the fourth spot is reserved for whichever big favorite is like losing in the second half like like flip that one on then like you kind of got to be monitoring the scoreboard a and then because you have so many good on good you got a lot of kind of mid on mid after that so it is not a strong undercard but man the the showcase games are absolutely fantastic what a weekend of college ball we have going up man and only four weekends left until national signing day i just appreciate as always joining us here on the country podcast recruiting episode i'll see you again next week appreciate you hey flip season coming signing day coming hey these are these are where the rosters are built usc that number one rank recruiting class i looked it up bud they've had five guys i think they're going to win i think they're going to win i think they're going to win over 250 snaps this season uh and then and then i think like uh the top eight teams that are supposed to be in the college football playoff they all got a guy that's over 200 snaps as well as a true freshman so uh we talk transfer portal a lot but spines of the roster is built on signing day love it man all right i'll see you next week buddy i don't know what i'm doing need a break forget it i quit escape to pluto tv this is objectively fantastic relax into the movies and shows you already know and love all for free even our news is uplifting you stay classy san diego watch tommy boy crazy ex-girlfriend anchorman the legend of ron burgundy the x-files wayne's world and so much more we're not worthy the best things on tv really are free you just have to know where to look escape to pluto tv stream now pay 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