5 disappointing teams in On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking
With the early signing period opening up in just 37 days, college coaches are making mad dashes to wrap up the 2022 recruiting cycle. Missouri, Kentucky and Stanford are some of the surprise classes. But on the flip side, there are some teams that have struggled with the 2022 class. Here’s a look at five disappointing classes in the On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking.
Nebraska Cornhuskers
On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking: 60
Commitments: 9
Average rating: 85.72
Score: 84.815
Scott Frost has said repeatedly this would be a small recruiting class in Lincoln. But still, this is not what Husker fans signed up for when Frost was hired.
Not only are the Huskers struggling on the field, but they’re also struggling to assemble a quality recruiting class. With the final stretch here, the Huskers have only nine commitments on the board and room for three or four more.
It’s not the size of the class that is disappointing. It’s the quality combined with the size.
The Huskers do not have a single On3 Consensus four-star recruit committed. Ok, On3 does have in-state linebacker commit Ernest Hausmann ranked as a four-star prospect. But this class still does lack the overall punch needed to help right the ship for Frost.
It’s been an utterly frustrating recruiting cycle after it looked like the Huskers were moving in the right direction in recruiting with a top-25 class in 2021.
It’s been such a weird year, that Nebraska hosted its first official visitor since June this past weekend. That visitor was unranked Chicago receiver Jalil Martin. He committed to the Huskers on the visit. But beating out Illinois and Colorado for recruits is not the expectation in Lincoln.
Arizona State Sun Devils
On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking: 86
Commitments: 5
Average rating: 84.81
Score: 81.425
Arizona State hired Herm Edwards four years ago largely because he promised success on the recruiting trail. Edwards assured that success would then turn into wins against Pac-12 Conference rivals.
Fast forward to early November, and the Sun Devils are being investigated by the NCAA for alleged recruiting violations that already resulted in the suspensions of three assistants.
It’s destroyed the 2022 recruiting class, which now includes only five commitments, the fewest in the Pac-12. It’s also the second-lowest rated Power 5 recruiting class, only ahead of the rebuilding Kansas Jayhawks.
Plus, defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator Antonio Pierce apparently removed most ASU references from his social media accounts after being told he couldn’t travel to recruit during the recent off week.
It’s gotten so bad at ASU that its recruiting coordinator can’t even recruit off-campus.
It’s hard to get more disappointing than that.
Florida Gators
On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking: 20
Commitments: 13
Average rating: 88.46
Score: 88.458
There are more than 100 other teams that would love to trade places with the Gators and their top-20 recruiting class. But there are lofty expectations in Gainesville, and UF is not meeting those goals on the field and on the recruiting trail.
Florida has a myriad of bad losses this season, but its most recent loss came in 40-17 fashion to a bottom-dwelling South Carolina Gamecocks program, still in its first season of a complete rebuild under coach Shane Beamer.
With the loss, Dan Mullen and the Gators moved to a 4-5 overall record, just months after a No. 13 ranking in the preseason AP poll and climbing as high as No. 10.
It’s so bad that ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum thinks Mullen is in trouble.
The Gators are also in trouble on the recruiting trail.
There are some good pieces already on board, but it’s simply not good enough when you’re battling Alabama, Georgia, Texas A&M for SEC supremacy. Right now, the Gators have the seventh-best class in the SEC and are even behind Missouri, Kentucky and Arkansas.
To say Gator fans are disappointed on the field and on the trail might be an understatement.
Miami Hurricanes
On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking: 21
Commitments: 8
Average rating: 89.69
Score: 88.343
The Hurricanes do have the nation’s No. 21 recruiting class and there are some good commitments on board.
However, the Canes have struggled to get a foothold on the recruiting trail. Plus, there’s a real chance they could miss out on quite a few of the best of the best in their own backyard.
The good news is that wins over NC State, Pitt and Georgia Tech have cooled the hot seat some for Manny Diaz.
He should be able to use some of that success to show elite recruits that they are on the right track in Coral Gables.
However, the expectation at Miami is that you need to keep those South Florida players at home. That’s especially true when it’s such a good group of players down there this year.
If Miami doesn’t and it finishes somewhere in the teens or even the upper 20s, it’ll definitely go down as a missed opportunity and a disappointing 2022 recruiting cycle.
Maryland Terrapins
On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking: 50
Commitments: 13
Average rating: 85.92
Score: 85.923
When Mike Locksley was hired, there was an expectation of immediate recruiting success at Maryland, especially with his reputation as one of the best recruiters in the country.
The Terps have produced some quality recruiting wins since his arrival, including the 2021 class that was No. 24 in the country. But for one reason or another, Locksley’s 2022 class hasn’t taken off.
Four-star WR Shaleak Knotts is a heck of a get out of Monroe, N.C. The Terps also did land local four-star QB Preston Howard out of Owings Mills (Md.) McDonogh. But the big recruiting wins elsewhere haven’t materialized.
There is still some time to change the narrative. Coach Lock is one of the best closers in the game.
But to go from fourth in the Big Ten to 11th is disappointing, no matter the reasoning. That’s even more true when Terp fans see Northwestern, Rutgers and Purdue ahead of you in the class rankings.