DRC: Breaking down UNT's recruiting class/C-USA race for top class

Brett Vito · February 6, 2019

DRC: UNT signees, area and Texas top 100 players

https://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/everything-you-need-to-know-about-north-texas-recruiting-class/article_f911ac7f-390e-5591-9873-88612a985f00.html

Top player in UNT's class, needs met and and overall grade of class that sits No. 3 in C-USA

https://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/breaking-down-north-texas-recruiting-class-the-mean-green-s/article_dd19a617-b220-5994-bdf9-080e8ce23486.html

MeanGreen22 · February 6, 2019

Regardless of final 247 score, UNT has a better overall class than FAU and Marshall

RiseUNT · February 6, 2019

Marshall has 2 early enrollees, 24 signed, and 5 commits. How?

FAU has less commits and a lower average score but is ranked higher. How?

Cusfa · February 6, 2019

FAU has a low avg because for some reason 247 ranked one of their players as 0.6999.

Edited February 6, 2019 by Cusfa

Big Z · February 6, 2019

Garrison Johnson who originally committed to us is going to Syracuse. 20 bucks says he will be back in Texas after one season.

Edited February 6, 2019 by Big Z

greenjoe · February 6, 2019

Thank you for the update on Johnson. From what I've read here and elsewhere, he always wanted to go to Syracuse. I also think you're right about him coming back. If we still want him, he will come knocking.

97and03 · February 6, 2019

2 hours ago, MeanGreen22 said:

Regardless of final 247 score, UNT has a better overall class than FAU and Marshall

LaTech has a higher avg

UNTLifer · February 6, 2019

Let's just see how this class turns out and what future classes look like. My hope is that this becomes the norm and we continue to build each year.

Cr1028 · February 6, 2019

3 hours ago, greenjoe said:

Thank you for the update on Johnson. From what I've read here and elsewhere, he always wanted to go to Syracuse. I also think you're right about him coming back. If we still want him, he will come knocking.

He got offered at Syracuse before he committed to us. He was set to come here but didn’t want to sign on early signing day because he was waiting on a bigger fish than Syracuse to come before today, the real NSD. When Seth said no dice, sign today or look elsewhere, that and him somehow learning about Tashard Choice leaving, he withdrew his commitment. From there forward Syracuse was his fallback, he signed with them because the big fish never came. I think he thought Choice would offer him to come to GT, he thought wrong.

Edited February 6, 2019 by Cr1028

NorthTexasWeLove · February 6, 2019

It was inevitable to get passed up given how early we locked guys up and how much wiggle room in terms of committed recruits other CUSA teams had. But this class is nothing to sneeze at on paper. Should be a well recognized class by the time they are done. But yeah, maintaining and even improving on this class is mandatory.

Harry · February 6, 2019

It would be interesting to see the amount of jucos and transfers by C-USA teams in their final 2019 class and past classes. It’s very clear to me that Littrell prefers to build through the high school ranks. I have always believed in this method too IF you are getting good quality, develop and maintain good retention. That said, I felt like we struggled at times last season against teams that were juco / transfer heavier such as UAB and of course Utah State.

I think there are some instances where you need to go heavier juco at particular positions.

Cr1028 · February 6, 2019

2 minutes ago, Harry said:

That said, I felt like we struggled at times last season against teams that were juco / transfer heavier such as UAB and of course Utah State.

I think there are some instances where you need to go heavier juco at particular positions.

UAB might as well have been BYU last year except instead of a Mormon mission, they all just went to practice for an extra two years. Next year should be a more level playing field.

Graddean · February 7, 2019

Marshall ranking is based on 30 commits; however, they can only sign 25, right?

GrandGreen · February 7, 2019

3 hours ago, Cr1028 said:

He got offered at Syracuse before he committed to us. He was set to come here but didn’t want to sign on early signing day because he was waiting on a bigger fish than Syracuse to come before today, the real NSD. When Seth said no dice, sign today or look elsewhere, that and him somehow learning about Tashard Choice leaving, he withdrew his commitment. From there forward Syracuse was his fallback, he signed with them because the big fish never came. I think he thought Choice would offer him to come to GT, he thought wrong.

My take was he was waiting on a Syracuse offer that finally came through.

At this point I would rate NT as the number 1 CUSA class because there appears to be a lot less risk of losing players than the other two.

That is not how rankings work but there are reasons that these late commits were not grabbed earlier. A few players were waiting on that P5 offer that never appeared, but others were just deemed too risky for many programs.

Edited February 7, 2019 by GrandGreen

Side Show Joe · February 7, 2019

It is a good class. Much better than what we normally see in Denton. I'll grade it a B-.

The reason I don't grade the class higher....

-I'm still concerned about our talent in the trenches, and don't know that this class represents a substantial improvement on the lines. In recruiting, I value offensive and defensive linemen above all other positions.

-Also, outside of Texas and Oklahoma, we only signed 3 players from the other 48 states. I believe we could be more committed to turning over every rock to find the best talent we can get, especially when it comes to linemen.

UNT Texas Hooligan · February 7, 2019

2 hours ago, Side Show Joe said:

It is a good class. Much better than what we normally see in Denton. I'll grade it a B-.

The reason I don't grade the class higher....

-I'm still concerned about our talent in the trenches, and don't know that this class represents a substantial improvement on the lines. In recruiting, I value offensive and defensive linemen above all other positions.

-Also, outside of Texas and Oklahoma, we only signed 3 players from the other 48 states. I believe we could be more committed to turning over every rock to find the best talent we can get, especially when it comes to linemen.

Agreed about the need for more linemen but hasn't the focus shifted to keeping the best talent home? As in getting recruits from our own backyard which is natural given that Texas high school football is the Mecca of high school football and recruiting. We look to have focused and succeeded in that area

97and03 · February 7, 2019

No class without a DT can receive an A grade as far as I am concerned. I know some will say that we might bulk up these DEs but I am sorry, it is not the same - especially with this three man front.

LongJim · February 7, 2019

It's a great class. DL/OL--will always be a challenge to find elite players.

FirefightnRick · February 7, 2019

1 hour ago, LongJim said:

It's a great class. DL/OL--will always be a challenge to find elite players.

Would a 310 lb DT with a high school bio that read like this be considered in your opinion as “Elite”?

Quote

Defensive MVP of 201* state championship team... led ****** to 15-1 record... four-year starter with 121 solo tackles, 214 total tackles, 30 tackles-for-loss, 16.5 sacks, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries.

Rick

Edited February 7, 2019 by FirefightnRick

LongJim · February 7, 2019

2 hours ago, FirefightnRick said:

Would a 310 lb DT with a high school bio that read like this be considered in your opinion as “Elite”?

Rick

Yeah, if that's all the info I had to go on, probably so. Factors such as level of competition would be worth considering, also.

Harry · February 7, 2019

4 hours ago, 97and03 said:

No class without a DT can receive an A grade as far as I am concerned. I know some will say that we might bulk up these DEs but I am sorry, it is not the same - especially with this three man front.

It sounds like they feel very good about Shaw but I hear you - my preference would be they address that position every year.

greenminer · February 7, 2019

3 hours ago, LongJim said:

It's a great class. DL/OL--will always be a challenge to find elite players.

If we are paying to Compete with the top G5s, then we should expect to recruit like them.

MeanGreenTexan · February 7, 2019

16 minutes ago, Harry said:

It sounds like they feel very good about Shaw but I hear you - my preference would be they address that position every year.

It's hard to do that though, when you have a DT locked up all year, telling you he's got the grades to show up in the Fall, only to be surprised to find out extremely close to signing day that he DOESN'T have the grades.
Quality DT's are not available as "backup" plans. When we lost Rowland, we lost any sort of quality 2019 recruit at DT.

Mean Green 93-98 · February 7, 2019

15 hours ago, GrandGreen said:

My take was he was waiting on a Syracuse offer that finally came through.

Nope. Syracuse offered him Feb. 21 last year.

https://247sports.com/Player/Garrison-Johnson-46036011/TimelineEvents/

CarmanSandiego · February 7, 2019

20 hours ago, Harry said:

It would be interesting to see the amount of jucos and transfers by C-USA teams in their final 2019 class and past classes. It’s very clear to me that Littrell prefers to build through the high school ranks. I have always believed in this method too IF you are getting good quality, develop and maintain good retention. That said, I felt like we struggled at times last season against teams that were juco / transfer heavier such as UAB and of course Utah State.

I think there are some instances where you need to go heavier juco at particular positions.

This is the way to build a program that is competitive year in, year out. Look at programs that go JUCO heavy most of the time...they have ups and downs. Programs that focus on recruiting well from high school and then use JUCO for spot fixes/depth usually field a consistently competitive team.