Welcome to the Crootletter, a college football recruiting newsletter.
College football recruiting never stops. And with the calendar turning to the quiet period, new offers and visits are happening.
Let’s get caught up with the week in college football recruiting.
- Rocky Top Talk explains how Tennessee currently has a top-five recruiting class, and what could be next to come. Landing four-star linebacker Adam Anderson, from Georgia, would be big for the Volunteers. While Tennessee’s season was a disappointment in 2016, I am not sure I buy all the hot-seat talk for Butch Jones just yet. And a great recruiting class could be a good argument for keeping his job.
- Auburn gained a surprise commitment from Quindarious Monday, a four-star recruit, on Tuesday. And the Tigers have an impressive group of recruits coming in this weekend as well.
- State of the U takes a look at Miami’s updated recruiting rankings. I find the strength of Miami’s class to be in its depth, not the very top.
- UF, FSU, and LSU all lost recruits, including Dalvin Cook’s little brother James. Could they be Georgia bound?
- One of 2019’s best running back recruits plays at IMG in Florida, but is originally from Texas. He’ll be visiting Texas soon. A top safety from Georgia is also visiting.
- This is an excellent rundown of Arizona’s recruiting.
- UCLA picked up a four-star receiver commit in Devon Cooley. Cooley is such a smooth route runner, I enjoy watching him
- Four-star safety Aashari Crosswell will be a welcome addition to any secondary, but USC might be in the driver’s seat.
- Out of St. Louis, Mo., the No. 2 defensive tackle in the country has a top five of Ohio State, Michigan, LSU, Missouri, and Alabama. Seems about right.
- A former top recruit looks ready to make an impact for Maryland.
- 247Sports ranked Kennesaw (Ga.) QB Justin Fields as the No. 1 player in the nation.
Next
In this section, I’ll preview some upcoming events and give some thoughts from around the industry.
- Four-star tight end Al’vonte Woodard
- The top tight end recruit in the country commits Monday. We think he’s likely going to Ohio State over Michigan, Wisconsin, and Notre Dame.
- Five-star defensive end Micah Parsons, a former Penn State commit, is visiting Alabama this weekend. If he does not end up at Ohio State, I see him heading South for school.
- I would not be surprised to see four-star offensive lineman Verdis Brown and four-star defensive back Houston Griffith commit to Florida State over a number of Big Ten offers. The pair play at IMG Academy in Bradenton (Fla.) but were teammates from Chicago before that.
- Four-star linebacker Cam McGrone, from Indianapolis, may be leaning to Michigan over Notre Dame.
- Penn State may be zeroing in on Will Levis, a QB from Middletown (CT). Levis has added offers from FSU, Syracuse, UNC, and Iowa in recent weeks.
CFB (not recruiting)
- ACC coaches believe the conference is the best in the country. Over the last four years, they have an argument, but I do not believe that will continue into next year.
- SB Nation’s Bill Connelly is previewing the ACC, and so far he has published Virginia, Duke, Boston College, Syracuse, and Wake Forest. Great reading.
- You have to read this epic future of football preview by Jon Bois.
- Jimbo Fisher’s hair comeback, or should we say combback, is epic.
- If Vegas is right about these eight college football teams, will they fire their coaches?