Welcome to The Crootletter (sign up to get this in your inbox every morning!). I'm Bud Elliott, SB Nation's National Recruiting Analyst, and in this space I'll be sharing news, rumors and musings on the world of college football recruiting.
Mark Richt is on quite the recruiting run with the Miami Hurricanes according to State Of The U's Cameron Underwood.
If you look back at the last few players to commit to Miami you'll see what I mean. In the 2016 class, 4-star WR Sam Bruce reaffirmed his commitment to Miami over Ohio State, 4-star LB Zach McCloud recommitted to Miami, 3-star (borderline 4-star) TE Jovani Haskins committed to Miami, 4-star DE Pat Bethel committed to Miami, 3-star ATH Malek Young (a U.S. Army All-American) committed to Miami, 4-star WR Ahmmon Richards (also a U.S. Army All-American) recommitted to Miami over Alabama, and 4-star S Romeo Finley committed to Miami over a host of schools. All of those moves happened after Richt was hired. That's damn good.
Now, looking at the 2017 class, Richt and his staff have done a great job building this class early. Among this class, which is currently ranked 3rd overall by 247sports, the Canes have 2 QBs committed, including their #1 overall target in 4-star N'Kosi Perry, 4-star ATH DeeJay Dallas committed to Miami on Saturday afternoon over Alabama, Michigan, and others, got top OL prospect Zach Dykstra from Iowa away from the Hawkeyes, and have the top DL in SoFLA, 4-star Jon Ford, committed as well.
Certainly Richt and Miami are benefiting from what I call "New Coach Smell." The Hurricanes are currently No. 3 nationally in the 247Sports Composite Rankings, though it had just five four-star players and 10 three-stars, a ratio that will have the Hurricanes in the top-25 range if it holds come National Signing Day. Miami has averaged eight four- and five-stars over the last four classes, and it seems like a good bet to eclipse that mark. But top-five classes typically have at least twice as many blue chips as two- and three-stars.
Speaking of new coaches, Testudo Times saysMaryland's D.J. Durkin is recruiting better than most of the other new coaches nationally.
Michigan folks are feeling good about landing top receiver recruit Donovan Peoples-Jones. Michigan and Rutgers are in a bit of a tiff over happy birthday recruiting graphics. Ugh.
Ohio Statehosted stud Texas recruits in safety Jeffrey Okudah and and linebacker Baron Browning. I like the Buckeyes' chances with Okudah, who is not a Texas native, but I'd be surprised if they land Browning.
Arizona is off to a great recruiting start and one of the major keys has been the recruiting by one of its top recruits, Greg Johnson. Arizona Desert Swarm writes that the top-100 player is encouraging other elite prospects to jump on.
LSUlanded a pair of prospects at its Bayou Picnic, an annual recruiting event on campus. This is on the heels of landing offensive lineman Austin Deculus.