BYU's 2018 Recruiting Class

So the master recruiter pulled out an 83. I don't think Bronco ever had a recruiting class rated that low. So much for the myth that Bronco was a bad recruiter, along with the myth that Sitake was going to put us into top 25 recruiting classes.

2013 recruiting class rank = #66

2014 recruiting class rank = #64

2015 recruiting class rank = #65

2016 recruiting class rank = #49 (Bronco-->Kalani transition class)

2017 recruiting class rank = #66

2018 recruiting class rank = #83-ish



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Other than the "excitement" bump of the class he shared with Bronco, Kalani's recruiting skills are not impressing....

I don't pay too much attention to the #83 ranking. The 247sports site shows that we have 17 commits (we have 22) and the total points upon which the rankings are formulated favor teams with more commits. Rivals.com currently has us at #91...



We landed some potential playmakers - Romney, Finau, Holker, Nasilai, Alfrey, Conner and Wilson...and some intriguing projects - Opara, Miskela, Moore, Jones (the aussie rules punter - who happens to be the *heaviest* recruit signed today)...we also added 5 solid Olinemen.



Overall - decent. Lacks any "star" power, but decent.



But, the recruiting hype largely ignores a significant part of the team - transfers. In 2018, we have key contributors that were never part of a BYU recruiting class: Tolutau, Canada, T. Hoge, Empey, Tei-Kirby.



See also - Max Hall, Jordan Leslie, Uona Keveinga, Hebron Fangupo, Kelly Poppinga, Andrew Rich, Riley Nelson, etc.



And, some of BYU's highly-touted recruits didn't pan out like expected, for various reasons - Jake Heaps, Jason Munns, Ben Olson, Brayden Kearsley, Austin Holt, Troy Hinds, etc.



And, don't forget that some players return from missions this year, like Tooley, Hall, Gunther, Livai, and Southam.



Plus, there have been many preferred walkon "commits" that have had successful careers at BYU in the past. I fully expect several of these guys to have solid careers and to contribute to BYU football.



The BYU system doesn't work like the video game recruiting plan we want.

I'm happy we got Holker. And we got some transfers ready to step in.

I guess we will see how the team does this year. I am in "wait and see" mode. so far, other than getting bailed out by Taysom and Jamaal, I am not impressed with Sitake as a head coach. We were sold that he would be a master recruiter, thus far that has been a myth. We were told that Bronco hated recruiting and that recruiting suffered under him because of it, so far that has been a myth. I hope we win more than 4 games this year.

It is obvious that people are using this to validate their feelings about Sitake one way or the other. If people fully believe all the hype or hate, they are likely to be off one way or the other. Can we stop whining about how Sitake is no Bronco already? haha

Fido wrote:

Can we stop whining about how Sitake is no Bronco already?

Sure. I'll just keep complaining he's an inept coach who is falling farther and farther short of the standard.

"I think people forget that only five players from Kalani's 1st class (46th ranked class) have played a down. Most of the kids from that class are in the program in 2018." @Mitch_Harper

YNot wrote:

I don't pay too much attention to the #83 ranking. The 247sports site shows that we have 17 commits (we have 22) and the total points upon which the rankings are formulated favor teams with more commits. Rivals.com currently has us at #91...



We landed some potential playmakers - Romney, Finau, Holker, Nasilai, Alfrey, Conner and Wilson...and some intriguing projects - Opara, Miskela, Moore, Jones (the aussie rules punter - who happens to be the *heaviest* recruit signed today)...we also added 5 solid Olinemen.



Overall - decent. Lacks any "star" power, but decent.



But, the recruiting hype largely ignores a significant part of the team - transfers. In 2018, we have key contributors that were never part of a BYU recruiting class: Tolutau, Canada, T. Hoge, Empey, Tei-Kirby.



See also - Max Hall, Jordan Leslie, Uona Keveinga, Hebron Fangupo, Kelly Poppinga, Andrew Rich, Riley Nelson, etc.



And, some of BYU's highly-touted recruits didn't pan out like expected, for various reasons - Jake Heaps, Jason Munns, Ben Olson, Brayden Kearsley, Austin Holt, Troy Hinds, etc.



And, don't forget that some players return from missions this year, like Tooley, Hall, Gunther, Livai, and Southam.



Plus, there have been many preferred walkon "commits" that have had successful careers at BYU in the past. I fully expect several of these guys to have solid careers and to contribute to BYU football.



The BYU system doesn't work like the video game recruiting plan we want.

Perfectly said, most forget about all the transfers last year that had to sit out the year. On paper it's not what we all would like to see but let's see what they are like in 3 years.

YNot wrote:

I don't pay too much attention to the #83 ranking. ....



Overall - decent. Lacks any "star" power, but decent.

Funny, two years ago you were telling us that unless recruiting improved from our usual 60-70 ranking level, we would never improve:

YNot wrote:
I think BYU can become a solid B level football program. Better donor support and $$$ can help to lead to better recruiting and more resources - which can help with winning and lead to a better TV contract that gives BYU even more resources. But it can be kind of a catch 22 - unless some donors step it up or the new coaching staff is able to improve recruiting and the on-field product with the same resources.

Both sides of that equation included improving recruiting somehow, and yet now you're telling us everything is fine after we drop 23 spots below where you were calling for improvement....



[url=http://cougarcorner.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=19436&p=223488#p223488]You also rated the 2016 class as a C back then, and called it insufficient:

YNot wrote:
BYU's (2016) recruiting class was pretty ho-hum on the national radar - but par for the BYU course. I'd even say that BYU's class was C, may be C+. One of the top non-P5 recruiting classes, but easily among the bottom wrung when compared to the P5. BYU needs 1 or 2 more elite recruits and a half-dozen more 3-star commits - and fewer 2-star guys - to improve to grade B recruiting class.

Now we land a #80+ class and it's "decent"...



So, what's changed?

I think the Bronco comparisons are going to happen as long as the current staff is under performing. Just like the Crowton vs Lavell comparisons happened all the way until Bronco got the team performing the way it should. Get used to it.

Just thought I'd list where BYU's 2018 opponents landed in the recruiting wars today (from Scout). BYU #81.

Arizona, #58

California, #43

Wisconsin, #44

McNeese St., #222

Washington, #13

Utah St., #113

Hawaii, #94

Northern Illinois, #91

Boise St., #56

UMass, #114

New Mexico St., #124

Utah, #38



BTW -

LSU #15, UCLA #18, TCU #25, Stanford #39, Virginia #63, SUU #155, Weber St. #156, Navy #102, San Diego St. #77

https://lawlessrepublic.com/2018/07/31/byu-football-5-newcomers-immediate-impact/



Possible new impact players.