This is part two of a four part series reviewing the Big East’s 2011 recruiting classes.
Yesterday the Big Beast highlighted West Virginia’s and Rutgers’ recruiting classes while also explaining why the Mountaineers got the slight nudge in terms of our recruiting rankings. While a full review of Louisville’s class will be the last part of our four part series, today we will look at why Cincinnati had the better haul over Pittsburgh.
First off, both Cincinnati and Pittsburgh impressed me with their latest recruiting efforts, especially considering the less than delightful circumstances at each program. Let’s look at Cincinnati for starters. Cincy is coming off a 4-8 record where both the defense and offense fell to the middle of the Division-1 standings. Clearly some fresh talent was needed on both sides of the ball to make up for the lack of playmakers and depth left from Brian Kelly’s move to Notre Dame the season before. However, Coach Butch Jones seems to have erased the memory of last season from his recent crop of signees and while short on headliners, the Bearcats’ class is solid nonetheless.
Led by Jameel Poteat, a Pittsburgh defect and a standout running back from Pennsylvania, the Bearcats’ boasted 20 3 star players according to Rivals.com. Obviously Poteat’s signature was the most sought after by Cincy faithful, but it was the focus on developing the lines on both sides of the ball that shows where the coaches priorities were. Cincinnati received LOIs from four offensive and four defensive lineman and also tacked on five wide receivers (four of which are 6′ or taller, a rarity in this day and age). 24 players signed with Cincinnati, a very respectable number, and many of them hailing from Ohio, Georgia, Florida, and California (yes, California).
I would like to think that the varying areas of the country that are represented in this class are due to the increase in national exposure for the Bearcats’ football program over the last few years, but it could just be the coaching efforts of Jones and his staff. Although the class isn’t a world-beater by any means, I see Cincinnati having many more solid recruiting classes in the near future (that is if Jones can get things turned around).
Now onto Pittsburgh, which barely even had a class to speak of a few weeks ago. Much has been made of the Mike Haywood debacle at Pittsburgh, luckily for Panthers’ fans Todd Graham came to the rescue. Though the new coach has only been in his Steel City position for less than a month, he has already been successful on the recruiting trail for several highly-regarded players and won a recruiting battle or two against Pitt’s arch-rival West Virginia. Depending on which recruiting service you rest your faith and trust with, Pittsburgh only landed one to two 4-star players and that is a change from past seasons for Pitt.
New offensive coordinator Calvin Magee appears to have aggressively sought out cogs for his no-huddle, run-oriented spread offense as the Panthers collected four running backs and three wide receivers. In fact, Graham’s first class is heavily laden with offensive talent. Only 8 of the 20 signees are defenders but as usual, Pittsburgh attracted a couple of big-time defensive standouts. Nicholas Grigsby, a 4-star Ohio linebacker, and Khaynin Mosley-Smith, a 4-star New York defensive tackle, look to follow in the footsteps of recent Pittsburgh defensive greats like Jabaal Sheard and Greg Romeous. However two of Pittsburgh’s incoming freshman decided not to follow in the footsteps of Pittsburgh defect Terrell Chestnut (who committed to West Virginia) and instead opted for their Backyard Brawl brethren. Linebacker LaQuentin Smith and defensive back Roderick Ryles, both from Orlando, opted to pledge their allegiance to Pittsburgh just hours after returning from their official Morgantown visit. Both of the players cited a “family atmosphere” as their reasoning for choosing the Panthers, and Graham must be commended for resurrecting a program and locker room in such a short period of time.
Tomorrow we will list the most intriguing incoming freshmen in the Big East and review the rest of the Big East’s recruiting classes. And in case you are wondering, the last installment of the “Big East Football Recruiting Review” will feature a full review of the Louisville Cardinals’ Top 25 Class complete with videos and comments from the coaches. Enjoy the weekend everyone!
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