Holgersen"s last 4 recruiting classes, the average star value was 2.76, 3.04, 2.74 and 2.64. For reference, this year’s class average 3.25 stars not counting Nester (Brown's first full year). Anyone pretending that our recruiting is not on the uptick or that Holgersen left a loaded roaster is just an idiot.
Those stats are even misleading too, when you factor in many of the top rated players in those classes never even played a down in a WVU uniform, or very little.
2015 = Two Highest Rated players = Tyrek Cole( Kicked off the team, got arrested for robbery). Jovon Durante- was an impactful player early on, but transferred before his Junior year. Matt Jones(Transferred).
2016 Two highest rated players = Brenden Ferns(Played very little, due to multiple season ending injuries). Steven Smothers(Didnt play a down, also didnt take his school work seriously and wasnt eligible so he transferred). Marcus Simms(Kicked off team, quit, who knows either way he wasnt around when Brown came to town)
2017 = Derrek Pitts(transferred), Reggie Roberson(transferred), Kenny Robison(Kicked off the team for cheating)
2018 = Kwantel Raines(Transferred), Trey Lowe(transferred), Dillon Spalding(transferred)
2019 = Osita Smith(Didnt qualify, so he played JUCO then signed with Terps). Also anyone who thinks 2019 is Brown's first recruiting class needs clinical evaluation. 2021 is the first class he had the full period, and even then COVID probably caused him to miss on a few, he could have reeled in after they visited. I say that with confident, because how many of the 2020 & 2021 commits spoke about what they saw & felt when they visited campus. Also from Brown's signing day interview, he even mentioned this, so hopefully the 2022 class will make the splash he wanted for 2021. Still tho, 2021 is shaping up nicely, esp after he adds a few more to it..
When you subtract those players from those classes, the rating & ranking plummet... DH missed on many of the higher end recruits, or a few left without really making a major impact, def not around for Brown.
Brown is doing a great job recruiting, as good as we can hope for, relative to how the team has performed in recent years. Once results start to show on the field, itll only help fuel further improvements from a talent acquisition perspective. It requires a few years to develop the improved talent, so they can improve the results on the field, which then further improve talent... Its a long term strategy, that requires 4-5 years to really see the fruits.
Realistically, the best we can probably hope for is for Brown to recruit in the 22-26 range, after we start competing more regularly. When you factor in all Blue Bloods & programs better positioned from a recruiting landscape, 22-26 is about the best we can strive for, which should be enough talent that if its evaluated & developed correctly, to compete at a higher level more consistently. I mean, if recruiting rankings was the end all determining factor, Texas would be in the CFP every other year, so there are many factors at play beyond the number of stars our commits have... WVU will always be a program, that needs a coach that knows how to do more with less. That knows how to squeeze every drop of talent from players, that knows how to identify potential and under recruited gems, that uses analytics & scheme to out coach opponents. Every tool in the arsenal has to be deployed, but WVU is catching up from a support staff & facilities perspective.. WVU will never be a talent rich program that can rely on 4 & 5 star Fresh & Soph to compete. We always need to have healthy upperclassmen sizes, something Brown has not had in his first two years. Look at the current roster, a few commits in the 2018 class will technically be seniors next year, some RSJuniors, one of the better classes for DH, but even that class is not as talented as the 2020 & 2021 classes.
Fans are not known to be patient, we are all emotionally invested, some more then others, but building anything of real quality takes time, which is hard to accept when we lose, but thats part of the process.. When many fans wanted to fire DH after a couple years, I did not support that either, I wanted to give him ample time to build the program to his vision. DH had 8 years, ample time to show & prove his ceiling, and simply put, it wasnt high enough. Im not saying we give Brown 8 years without some results, but he deserves to have our support for the first contract, as long as some improvements are identifiable. Recruiting & talent are improving, results on the field most certainly are improving, we are not where we want to be, but to not give him the time needed to implement his vision is doing us all a disservice, esp when we see the talent he is bringing to Morgantown is consistently better then what we saw the last 5 years with DH. Lets give him the time to develop & coach that talent, before serious criticisms are applied. Considering what he inherited, to literally be 1 fumble & 1 missed PI call away from 7 wins this year in reg season, I think is a miraculous coaching job by Brown & staff. To me, it shows what he can do with mostly Fresh & Soph, which only increases optimism for what he can do a couple years from now, when the 2020 & 2021 classes are Juniors & Seniors, and by that time the Fresh & Soph will also be of equal or better talent if we are on an upward trajectory.
If we want a better team, some of that responsibility falls on us as fans & program supporters. Buy Season tickets, buy WVU merch, go to the games & stay for all of it, show love to recruits on SM, and most positively DONATE to the MAC!
#PatienceisaVirtue