Class of 2025 Class of 2025 Recruiting Discussion

[tep624]

When you look at our class, I think Fran has done the best job of landing regional high level recruits in ages - those 4-8 or 9 P4 offer guys. It would have been nice to see 3-4 top 250 kids at the top of the class for perception and maybe a few less of the diamonds, but that may come into the season as well as Fran has a successful season and flip season starts. It happened last year with Ross/Willis/Barnes/Edwards so why not again this year?

 

[AngryOtto]

When you look at our class, I think Fran has done the best job of landing regional high level recruits in ages - those 4-8 or 9 P4 offer guys. It would have been nice to see 3-4 top 250 kids at the top of the class for perception and maybe a few less of the diamonds, but that may come into the season as well as Fran has a successful season and flip season starts. It happened last year with Ross/Willis/Barnes/Edwards so why not again this year?

Not sure how many diamonds in the rough. Most of the class are 88,87 and 86. That’s not diamonds in the rough.
Under Dino we were lucky to get one 87 and a couple 86. Most of the recruits were 84, 83, 82 or lower.
This is the best over all class in years. Yes we do not have some top 250 but the overall class is solid.

 

[cusefan88]

Not sure how many diamonds in the rough. Most of the class are 88,87 and 86. That’s not diamonds in the rough.
Under Dino we were lucky to get one 87 and a couple 86. Most of the recruits were 84, 83, 82 or lower.
This is the best over all class in years. Yes we do not have some top 250 but the overall class is solid.

Even the QB who's only at 84 has 5+ other power conference offers. So quite a good class when you like at other schools offering the players.

 

[baggerbob]

Not sure how many diamonds in the rough. Most of the class are 88,87 and 86. That’s not diamonds in the rough.
Under Dino we were lucky to get one 87 and a couple 86. Most of the recruits were 84, 83, 82 or lower.
This is the best over all class in years. Yes we do not have some top 250 but the overall class is solid.

When they finally get around to rerating Carney, who Rivals already made a 4Star, at 5.8 instead of an 84 on 247 which is dumb.
The class will go up.

 

[tep624]

Not sure how many diamonds in the rough. Most of the class are 88,87 and 86. That’s not diamonds in the rough.
Under Dino we were lucky to get one 87 and a couple 86. Most of the recruits were 84, 83, 82 or lower.
This is the best over all class in years. Yes we do not have some top 250 but the overall class is solid.

We’ve got 5-6 guys who were the only P4 offer on and a few more where it’s like us and BC. I base my opinions on offers. I’m happy the recruiting sites have evaluated most of them as 3 stars though.

 

[richmondcuse03]

We’ve got 5-6 guys who were the only P4 offer on and a few more where it’s like us and BC. I base my opinions on offers. I’m happy the recruiting sites have evaluated most of them as 3 stars though.

The fact we are taking and getting commits so early says a lot to me. These aren’t B list guys. These are ones with the measurables and potential Fran wants. There are perhaps a few guys who you might think are reaches but I don’t think Fran agrees with that. They’re strong takes either because of their measurables or in some cases the area/schools they come from. James is a great example - if you go based on stars and offers, he’s a reach. But his speed is legit.

And let’s be real - Fran knows he has to coach up and develop guys from the northeast. It’s why the portal mattered for this year. Buys an extra year for some guys and if he wins, he’s well suited for some top recruits in ‘26. This class is about a foundation for a few years from now.

 

[721Comstock]

The fact we are taking and getting commits so early says a lot to me. These aren’t B list guys. These are ones with the measurables and potential Fran wants. There are perhaps a few guys who you might think are reaches but I don’t think Fran agrees with that. They’re strong takes either because of their measurables or in some cases the area/schools they come from. James is a great example - if you go based on stars and offers, he’s a reach. But his speed is legit.

And let’s be real - Fran knows he has to coach up and develop guys from the northeast. It’s why the portal mattered for this year. Buys an extra year for some guys and if he wins, he’s well suited for some top recruits in ‘26. This class is about a foundation for a few years from now.

144% THIS.

Unlike the prior coaching regimes, Fran’s ‘reaches’ all have P4 measurables and/or elite speed.

And having some developmental guys is good for long term roster balance, since they’re less likely to bolt if they don’t get a ton of PT in their first year or 2.

The ‘25 class will likely be just about complete in the next few weeks -
just think about how that compares to us seemingly scrambling to try to add bodies late in the process in years past.

That allows the staff to focus fully on ‘26 & ‘27, which will likely have more higher rated guys in them.

Let Fran cook.
#FRANCHISE.

 

[upperdeck]

if we take so many 25s we wont have room for any 26-27s

 

[kcsu]

The fact we are taking and getting commits so early says a lot to me. These aren’t B list guys. These are ones with the measurables and potential Fran wants. There are perhaps a few guys who you might think are reaches but I don’t think Fran agrees with that. They’re strong takes either because of their measurables or in some cases the area/schools they come from. James is a great example - if you go based on stars and offers, he’s a reach. But his speed is legit.

And let’s be real - Fran knows he has to coach up and develop guys from the northeast. It’s why the portal mattered for this year. Buys an extra year for some guys and if he wins, he’s well suited for some top recruits in ‘26. This class is about a foundation for a few years from now.

All the bull about some of these guys cracks me up. This is the best one two set of recruits we might ever have had. This rivals P and Mac days.

 

[qdawgg]

We’ve got 5-6 guys who were the only P4 offer on and a few more where it’s like us and BC. I base my opinions on offers. I’m happy the recruiting sites have evaluated most of them as 3 stars though.

If it was the previous two staffs than I’d be wringing my hands on these recruits and getting blasted. But when the best recruiting staff in the country offers these guys, there’s a reason and they are great recruiters for a reason.

 

[tep624]

The fact we are taking and getting commits so early says a lot to me. These aren’t B list guys. These are ones with the measurables and potential Fran wants. There are perhaps a few guys who you might think are reaches but I don’t think Fran agrees with that. They’re strong takes either because of their measurables or in some cases the area/schools they come from. James is a great example - if you go based on stars and offers, he’s a reach. But his speed is legit.

And let’s be real - Fran knows he has to coach up and develop guys from the northeast. It’s why the portal mattered for this year. Buys an extra year for some guys and if he wins, he’s well suited for some top recruits in ‘26. This class is about a foundation for a few years from now.

For those who are too lazy to go back a page or just jumped into the middle of a conversation, here is my original post:

“When you look at our class, I think Fran has done the best job of landing regional high level recruits in ages - those 4-8 or 9 P4 offer guys. It would have been nice to see 3-4 top 250 kids at the top of the class for perception and maybe a few less of the diamonds, but that may come into the season as well as Fran has a successful season and flip season starts. It happened last year with Ross/Willis/Barnes/Edwards so why not again this year? “

What you were responding to was my response to someone putting a high value on 247 recruits grades - I don’t put a lot of value on those. That has nothing to do with my perspective on the job that Fran has done with the ‘25 class.

I’ve been one of Fran’s biggest proponents since day 1. But it’s undeniable that with the ‘25 class (so far) that we whiffed on the top 250 kids we were pursuing so far. It doesn’t mean that during flip season that can’t change.

 

[tep624]

All the bull about some of these guys cracks me up. This is the best one two set of recruits we might ever have had. This rivals P and Mac days.

Well I’m not throwing out bull, and I gave Fran and his staff praise (which is due to them) in my original post. You jumped in the middle of a conversation and didn’t read my original post.

 

[SUskibum]

if we take so many 25s we wont have room for any 26-27s

Not when you bake in the fact a third of the kids leave due to portal, injury or just arent willing to do what it takes to stay a part of the FRANchise

There are lots of solutions to having too many kids, not many answers to the opposite

 

[shu 49]

We’ve got 5-6 guys who were the only P4 offer on and a few more where it’s like us and BC. I base my opinions on offers. I’m happy the recruiting sites have evaluated most of them as 3 stars though.

The key here i think them guys have something tangible or special like gigantic size or extreme speed that dino s guys fidnt really have. Fran recruited them for a reason. I have faith in him not that i have a choice lol

 

[tep624]

The key here i think them guys have something tangible or special like gigantic size or extreme speed that dino s guys fidnt really have. Fran recruited them for a reason. I have faith in him not that i have a choice lol

The “bottom” of the class if you will all have the measurables you’d want - the bottom of our class using 2025 as an example has improved dramatically.

 

[baggerbob]

The “bottom” of the class if you will all have the measurables you’d want - the bottom and middle of our classes using 2025 as an example have improved dramatically.

And the fact that Rivals in May graded Carney as 5.8 4 star and 247 has him as an 84 shows how idiotic the ratings are.
By now they should have upgraded him, but they haven't.

 

[tep624]

And the fact that Rivals in May graded Carney as 5.8 4 star and 247 has him as an 84 shows how idiotic the ratings are.
By now they should have upgraded him, but they haven't.

They’re highly subjective when you’re dealing with kids outside the top 250. I’ve always put more value in other coaching staffs valuing our recruits and not so much the sites, with the exception of the top 250 kids because generally they’re going to be the 20+ P4 offer profile kids. For the top 250 kids - recruiting sites grades and offers usually correlate pretty well.

 

[dwilmont44]

I think the measurables are factored into the ratings.

Let's see how good they are at coaching now.

 

[The Viking]

All the bull about some of these guys cracks me up. This is the best one two set of recruits we might ever have had. This rivals P and Mac days.

So true. Mac focused on NY & NJ as the core of his recruiting plan, and Pasq added the importance of speed a few years later. That's when he got guys like Kevin Johnson and, later, Qadry Ismail.
I know Marrone's been knocked a bit on recruiting on some forums, but it seemed he had a solid plan as well, no?

 

[kcsu]

So true. Mac focused on NY & NJ as the core of his recruiting plan, and Pasq added the importance of speed a few years later. That's when he got guys like Kevin Johnson and, later, Qadry Ismail.
I know Marrone's been knocked a bit on recruiting on some forums, but it seemed he had a solid plan as well, no?

Doug didn't like to recruit.

 

[The Viking]

Doug didn't like to recruit.

Lol, gotcha.

 

[hungrychuck]

Have a sense also that apart from the elite holdovers FB worked hard to retain - Wax, Barron, Oronde, etc - he knew that the base here was not good.

Why not load up early when you’re doing an essential upgrade of the base?

 

[orange_in_VA]

If we want to compete for Championships/Playoffs, the recruiting rankings matter. It's been studied to death. The Blue Chip Ratio matters. Top to bottom, recruiting rankings aren't a perfect science (too many players and variables) but the percentage of top talent (4-5 stars) on your roster is basically a perfect science and indicator of whether you can compete for a Championship or not. Basically you need your roster to be made up of ~50+% of those players to have a chance at a title.

 

[Qbobby]

I'll judge him more fully once he's had a full recruitment cycle. Remember that he has a very late start for this class, and the work he has done both in the portal and in this class is fairly remarkable considering where we were.

So anyone being critical of this class really needs to back up and look from 20000 feet.

 

[NJCuse97]

So true. Mac focused on NY & NJ as the core of his recruiting plan, and Pasq added the importance of speed a few years later. That's when he got guys like Kevin Johnson and, later, Qadry Ismail.
I know Marrone's been knocked a bit on recruiting on some forums, but it seemed he had a solid plan as well, no?

Pretty sure Kevin Johnson came after Qadry Ismail (and that the Missile was a Coach Mac recruit) but the point remains.