Comparing Littrell Starting Lineups as Recruits

BillySee58 · June 13, 2020

I put together some research comparing the UNT starting lineups of the Littrell era. The starting lineups were put together using the most common starters of each season. The points system was determined by adding up the offer lists of each player. Each G5 offer was worth 1 point and each P5 offer was worth 1.5 points. For example, a player with 1 P5 offer and 4 G5 offers would count as 5.5 offer points. UNT offers do not count towards these points.

2016 Starters: Offense 57 points/Defense 29 points

Total - 86 points

2017 Starters: Offense 30.5 points/Defense 12.5 points

Total - 43 points

2018 Starters: Offense 24 points/Defense 13.5 points

Total - 37.5 points

2019 Starters: Offense 35 points/Defense 39 points

Total - 74 points

2020 Projected Starters: Offense 45.5 points/Defense 48 points

Total - 93.5 points

Here are a few of my takeaways:

• The D1 transfers skewed the lists pretty noticeably. Guys like Trey Keenan in 2016 and D’Andre Plantin and Nick Harvey in 2019 had really good offer lists out of high school but it would have been nice to have a transfer offer list to be more representative of the caliber of player we were actually getting. Similar to how Jalen Guyton’s offer list out of TVCC was a better reference than his offer list out of Allen.

• Even though the winning record teams had lower points than the losing record teams, the strengths of the winning record teams was a good mix of highly recruited guys like Guyton and Bussey and lowly recruited guys like Fine and Ejiya.

• We have not recruited OL well, especially at the high school level. We need those guys to outperform their offer lists.

• 2020 will be the year we really start to see some of these high caliber recruits actually in position to start and make a difference. They’re not all going to pan out, but this should translate into a more talented roster. Coaches need to turn that into wins, especially as these guys gain experience at the D1 level.

Edited June 13, 2020 by BillySee58

El Paso Eagle · June 14, 2020

@BillySee58Great information. Can this be pinned to the top for easy referencing?

2020 really impressive considering five players have a "0" score

Edited June 14, 2020 by El Paso Eagle

Side Show Joe · June 14, 2020

3 hours ago, BillySee58 said:

I put together some research comparing the UNT starting lineups of the Littrell era. The starting lineups were put together using the most common starters of each season. The points system was determined by adding up the offer lists of each player. Each G5 offer was worth 1 point and each P5 offer was worth 1.5 points. For example, a player with 1 P5 offer and 4 G5 offers would count as 5.5 offer points. UNT offers do not count towards these points.

2016 Starters: Offense 57 points/Defense 29 points

Total - 86 points

2017 Starters: Offense 30.5 points/Defense 12.5 points

Total - 43 points

2018 Starters: Offense 24 points/Defense 13.5 points

Total - 37.5 points

2019 Starters: Offense 35 points/Defense 39 points

Total - 74 points

2020 Projected Starters: Offense 45.5 points/Defense 48 points

Total - 93.5 points

Here are a few of my takeaways:

• The D1 transfers skewed the lists pretty noticeably. Guys like Trey Keenan in 2016 and D’Andre Plantin and Nick Harvey in 2019 had really good offer lists out of high school but it would have been nice to have a transfer offer list to be more representative of the caliber of player we were actually getting. Similar to how Jalen Guyton’s offer list out of TVCC was a better reference than his offer list out of Allen.

• Even though the winning record teams had lower points than the losing record teams, the strengths of the winning record teams was a good mix of highly recruited guys like Guyton and Bussey and lowly recruited guys like Fine and Ejiya.

• We have not recruited OL well, especially at the high school level. We need those guys to outperform their offer lists.

• 2020 will be the year we really start to see some of these high caliber recruits actually in position to start and make a difference. They’re not all going to pan out, but this should translate into a more talented roster. Coaches need to turn that into wins, especially as these guys gain experience at the D1 level.

I'm glad to see your numbers reflect what many on here have been pointing out for a while now. It is my opinion that both of our lines have been weak. I think the backbone of successful programs are their lines. Until we make our offensive and defensive lines a higher recruiting priority, we will continue to struggle against the better programs in C-USA.

Small and poor LA Tech places a priority on lineman, and we all know what happened last time they came to Denton. Also, since both of our programs joined C-USA in 2013, LA Tech has had an offensive tackle, and 3 defensive linemen drafted by the NFL. Littrell's staff is doing better, but we just had a 4-8 season. At $1.8 million a year, Littrell needs better lines now. We don't have time for the young talent to develop.

BillySee58 · June 14, 2020

4 hours ago, BillySee58 said:

I put together some research comparing the UNT starting lineups of the Littrell era. The starting lineups were put together using the most common starters of each season. The points system was determined by adding up the offer lists of each player. Each G5 offer was worth 1 point and each P5 offer was worth 1.5 points. For example, a player with 1 P5 offer and 4 G5 offers would count as 5.5 offer points. UNT offers do not count towards these points.

2016 Starters: Offense 57 points/Defense 29 points

Total - 86 points

2017 Starters: Offense 30.5 points/Defense 12.5 points

Total - 43 points

2018 Starters: Offense 24 points/Defense 13.5 points

Total - 37.5 points

2019 Starters: Offense 35 points/Defense 39 points

Total - 74 points

2020 Projected Starters: Offense 45.5 points/Defense 48 points

Total - 93.5 points

Here are a few of my takeaways:

• The D1 transfers skewed the lists pretty noticeably. Guys like Trey Keenan in 2016 and D’Andre Plantin and Nick Harvey in 2019 had really good offer lists out of high school but it would have been nice to have a transfer offer list to be more representative of the caliber of player we were actually getting. Similar to how Jalen Guyton’s offer list out of TVCC was a better reference than his offer list out of Allen.

• Even though the winning record teams had lower points than the losing record teams, the strengths of the winning record teams was a good mix of highly recruited guys like Guyton and Bussey and lowly recruited guys like Fine and Ejiya.

• We have not recruited OL well, especially at the high school level. We need those guys to outperform their offer lists.

• 2020 will be the year we really start to see some of these high caliber recruits actually in position to start and make a difference. They’re not all going to pan out, but this should translate into a more talented roster. Coaches need to turn that into wins, especially as these guys gain experience at the D1 level.

Thank you. At the least I’m definitely going to continue updating this. Also will probably go back and compare to the Mccarney years.

Two things I’m working on trying to incorporate are factoring in experience (starts heading into the season) and figuring out some scale to show these P5 transfers in a way that’s more representative of their market at the time we got them, rather than back when they were high school seniors.