ACC Coaches Talk Anonymously About Conference Foes for 2021

[BurdellJacket]

I am not very encouraged.

As a skeptic, who would expect you to be?

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

So you are saying we are going to create classes for football players like UNC. We will never approach their level, we haven't in 20 years. What we can do is out coach them....maybe.

No. A lot of people said we couldn't recruit in the top 25. We are proving that wrong. I don't know that we will get in the top 15, which UNC can crack, but I do feel we can land in the top 20, which is approaching UNC territory.

 

[Madison Grant]

I think Godfrey from PAPN / Split Zone Duo did a lot of those coaching 2cents parts for Athlon. I doubt he made crap up. Coaches LOVE to talk.

Teams in the SP+ top 30 by Conf.
ACC 3
BigTen 7
Big12 4
Pac12 6
SEC 7
G5/Indy 3

The ACC sucks, and GT being 11th in the ACC in recruiting per 247 last year is bad too. You have to hope the staff has a better eye than 247 (who just goes off of offers), and can develop talent better than their opponents. Deployment only matters when teams have equal talent.

Don't follow 24/7, but counting Notre Dame we were 12th in conference recruiting rank on Rivals. However, we had more 4 star signees than 6 of those teams, and the same number as FSU. The smaller class size hurt the ranking. Pitt was ranked 22nd with fewer 4 stars, but 7 more signees. Those 7 signees could wind up being 7 scrubs for them.

 

[UgaBlows]

Don't follow 24/7, but counting Notre Dame we were 12th in conference recruiting rank on Rivals. However, we had more 4 star signees than 6 of those teams, and the same number as FSU. The smaller class size hurt the ranking. Pitt was ranked 22nd with fewer 4 stars, but 7 more signees. Those 7 signees could wind up being 7 scrubs for them.

How about by avg star ratings?

 

[Skeptic]

As a skeptic, who would expect you to be?

That's one for you.

 

[billga99]

How about by avg star ratings?

Georgia Tech was 5th in average star ratings with 2021 class. We also had the smallest number of signees which clearly affected our ranking (and FSU).

RANK		SCHOOL	TOTAL	5 STARS	4 STARS	3 STARS	AVG	POINTS
1		Clemson	19	2	14	3	3.95	2670
2		Miami (FL)	22	1	12	9	3.64	2376
3		North Carolina	19	0	11	7	3.53	2010
6		Florida State	17	0	4	13	3.24	1504
11		Georgia Tech	16	0	4	10	3.13	1260
4		Pittsburgh	23	0	3	19	3.09	1629
7		Virginia	24	0	3	19	3.04	1500
8		Boston College	26	0	2	20	2.92	1492
5		Louisville	24	0	1	19	2.88	1530
13		Duke	18	0	0	15	2.83	1125
9		North Carolina State	21	0	1	16	2.76	1370
10		Virginia Tech	28	0	1	21	2.75	1365
12		Syracuse	22	0	1	14	2.73	1215
14		Wake Forest	19	0	0	13	2.68	1065

 

[billga99]

By the way, we are currently 7th in average star ratings for 2022 but obviously more work for all of the teams to complete their class (and hang on to their commits)

 

[WreckinGT]

Georgia Tech was 5th in average star ratings with 2021 class. We also had the smallest number of signees which clearly affected our ranking (and FSU).

RANK		SCHOOL	TOTAL	5 STARS	4 STARS	3 STARS	AVG	POINTS
1		Clemson	19	2	14	3	3.95	2670
2		Miami (FL)	22	1	12	9	3.64	2376
3		North Carolina	19	0	11	7	3.53	2010
6		Florida State	17	0	4	13	3.24	1504
11		Georgia Tech	16	0	4	10	3.13	1260
4		Pittsburgh	23	0	3	19	3.09	1629
7		Virginia	24	0	3	19	3.04	1500
8		Boston College	26	0	2	20	2.92	1492
5		Louisville	24	0	1	19	2.88	1530
13		Duke	18	0	0	15	2.83	1125
9		North Carolina State	21	0	1	16	2.76	1370
10		Virginia Tech	28	0	1	21	2.75	1365
12		Syracuse	22	0	1	14	2.73	1215
14		Wake Forest	19	0	0	13	2.68	1065

The glaringly obvious thing to me is that there is a clear divide in the ACC between the top 4 and those that come after. According to 247 in 2021 Clemson had 15 guys ranked higher than our highest recruit. Miami had 12, UNC had 11. FSU only had 4 but they seem to be returning to their juggernaut recruiting status in 2022. We need to get more top 250 players to shrink that gap.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

Probably just Grad assistant’s commenting

I actually heard Bear Bryant talking about preseason magazines and coaches' polls say that he always delegated that chore to the SID for the simple reason that he did not have the time nor inclination to keep up with teams other than his own and who the Tide was going to play. Can't say I blame him.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

So you are saying we are going to create classes for football players like UNC. We will never approach their level, we haven't in 20 years. What we can do is out coach them....maybe.

You are probably right but we can do better than what we have been doing with difference makers and linemen.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

As a skeptic, who would expect you to be?

"A cynic is someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing" Oscar Wilde But when it comes to the ACC in general and Tech specifically we are skeptical to one degree or another. It comes with the territory.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

Georgia Tech was 5th in average star ratings with 2021 class. We also had the smallest number of signees which clearly affected our ranking (and FSU).

RANK		SCHOOL	TOTAL	5 STARS	4 STARS	3 STARS	AVG	POINTS
1		Clemson	19	2	14	3	3.95	2670
2		Miami (FL)	22	1	12	9	3.64	2376
3		North Carolina	19	0	11	7	3.53	2010
6		Florida State	17	0	4	13	3.24	1504
11		Georgia Tech	16	0	4	10	3.13	1260
4		Pittsburgh	23	0	3	19	3.09	1629
7		Virginia	24	0	3	19	3.04	1500
8		Boston College	26	0	2	20	2.92	1492
5		Louisville	24	0	1	19	2.88	1530
13		Duke	18	0	0	15	2.83	1125
9		North Carolina State	21	0	1	16	2.76	1370
10		Virginia Tech	28	0	1	21	2.75	1365
12		Syracuse	22	0	1	14	2.73	1215
14		Wake Forest	19	0	0	13	2.68	1065

Never in my lifetime would I have thought to live to see the day when Georgia Tech has the same number of 4 star recruits as FSU. What is the world coming to?

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

The glaringly obvious thing to me is that there is a clear divide in the ACC between the top 4 and those that come after. According to 247 in 2021 Clemson had 15 guys ranked higher than our highest recruit. Miami had 12, UNC had 11. FSU only had 4 but they seem to be returning to their juggernaut recruiting status in 2022. We need to get more top 250 players to shrink that gap.

We have had, what?, three top 250 recruits in the past three years. Something like that. What stands out to me besides the obvious gulf between the elite 3 teams is how efficient Wake Forest is with what they have to work with. No five stars, no four stars but somehow, someway, they get the job done.

 

[Coloradojacket]

We have had, what?, three top 250 recruits in the past three years. Something like that. What stands out to me besides the obvious gulf between the elite 3 teams is how efficient Wake Forest is with what they have to work with. No five stars, no four stars but somehow, someway, they get the job done.

It is called coaching and scheme. They run a hybrid option offense that is very difficult to defend. They are also very disciplined like Army and Navy.

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

Possibly true, but it sounds made up. Certain words were used over and over. Maybe interviewed one or two water boys, if that.

 

[goldfella]

It reminds me of the old Big 8... "Oklahoma and the Seven Dwarfs" Clemson is miles ahead of everyone else. Miami can't catch them, UNC can't, it is a one team show. As for Tech, we remain sort of middling to near the bottom according to these coaches, if you read between the lines but ahead of Duke, Syracuse and perhaps Louisville, NC State and Virginia Tech so its not all that bad. Coach Collins is nowhere near being on the hot seat that Satterfield at Louisville, Fuentes at Virginia Tech, and Cut is at Duke. Can't really find fault with these observations. The comments about the defense were the most disturbing. Two comments about "falling apart" and one about a "train wreck" which were pretty much how a lot of people saw it. It is a shame we are not playing Louisville, Syracuse and maybe NC State this year.

I'd be extremely surprised if Satterfield was on the hot seat. He's only in his 3rd year as Louisville's coach and managed to win 8 games in his first year with Petrino's dumpster fire of a roster (which won like 2 games the previous year). Yeah, they regressed last year, but it was also a weird year in general

 

[goldfella]

If it was Steven Godfrey, he's great.
COVID last year may have really hurt us more that other schools on the field and in traditional high school recruiting. For a couple of reasons, we went heavier in the transfer portal--and part was that we had a few positions where we needed someone now in positions like the OL. If you do that every year, you have the lack of continuity that Brian Gregory had in basketball where you're treading water. Do it well and you get players like Usher who seemed to help in visible and invisible ways with our basketball team.
If we'd gotten a mainly 4* class and gone heavy in the transfer market, I don't think you'd have heard that comment. We need to get in the same recruiting zone as UNC, which is where people expected us to be.

I would contend that UNCheat has a few distinct advantages unfortunately... 1) they're the NC equivalent of uGAg, which means they are able to pull in a lot of the top-tier NC talent even when the on field product underperforms. 2) Larger state-wide fan base with deep pockets. 3) A demonstrated willingness to short change their athletes' education for eligibility.

I was definitely surprised when they jumped something like 20 spots in the recruiting rankings after Brown was hired, even after fielding a 2-10 team the year before under Fedora, but it makes more sense when considering how many of their top recruits are from NC and were likely UNCheat fans growing up. That being said, I think as our on-field product begins to improve, we'll hopefully climb into the top 15 in recruiting

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

I'd be extremely surprised if Satterfield was on the hot seat. He's only in his 3rd year as Louisville's coach and managed to win 8 games in his first year with Petrino's dumpster fire of a roster (which won like 2 games the previous year). Yeah, they regressed last year, but it was also a weird year in general

Well, that is what I thought, but the magazine's reasoning was that he had such a good first year that the bar was raised by the media, the fans etc. and then there was a dumpster fire which we witnessed first hand when they played Tech but the offseason has been full of turmoil as well. There is also a bit of culture shock from the way Louisville was under the previous coach to Satterfield. IIWII

 

[UgaBlows]

I would contend that UNCheat has a few distinct advantages unfortunately... 1) they're the NC equivalent of uGAg, which means they are able to pull in a lot of the top-tier NC talent even when the on field product underperforms. 2) Larger state-wide fan base with deep pockets. 3) A demonstrated willingness to short change their athletes' education for eligibility.

I was definitely surprised when they jumped something like 20 spots in the recruiting rankings after Brown was hired, even after fielding a 2-10 team the year before under Fedora, but it makes more sense when considering how many of their top recruits are from NC and were likely UNCheat fans growing up. That being said, I think as our on-field product begins to improve, we'll hopefully climb into the top 15 in recruiting

Success on the field and Collins recruits getting drafted will take us to an unprecedented level of recruiting success......imo

 

[goldfella]

Success on the field and Collins recruits getting drafted will take us to an unprecedented level of recruiting success......imo

Yep, I think you're absolutely right