We spend so much time on recruiting, but we rarely take time to look back. This series examines every class for the past five coaches- Manny, Richt, Golden, Shannon, and Coker. As Mario’s first class enters Year 4, what are the trends he needs to avoid if he wants to break the cycle?
Of course, bad coaching and development played a massive role in our downfall. But for this exercise, I wanted to focus on pure talent acquisition. That’s why I use NFL numbers. The NFL has the most standardized and competitive talent-evaluation process in football. It’s also really hard to get there- only 2% of CFB players and only 22% of four-stars make the league. And far fewer are able to stick around. As expected, our NFL decline mirrored our decline on the field.
Next up is the last class of the Coker Era: 2006.
Four-year winning percentage: 55% (-1 from prior class)
Total enrollees- 18
NFL players- 7
NFL games- 350 (37% from P Matt Bosher)
Day 1 Picks- 0
Day 2 picks- 0
Pro Bowls- 1
The class ranked #12 on the Composite. I’ve listed the players in order of recruiting ranking, with NFL players in BOLD:
FOUR STARS
RB Kylan Robinson (Tampa, FL)
RB Javarris James (Immokalee, FL)
TE Tervaris Johnson (Miam-Dadei, FL)
OL Jason Fox (Fort Worth, Texas)
DE Stephen Wesley (Polk County, FL)
OL Chaz Washington (New Orleans, LA)
OL Ian Symonette (Houston, TX)
CB Chavez Grant (Miami-Dade, FL)
K Matt Bosher (Palm Beach County, Florida)
OL Joel Figueroa (Miami-Dade, FL)
DE Chris Lewis (Fresno, CA)
WR George Robinson (Miami-Dade, FL)
WHAT HAPPENED: At this point, the Coker era had run out of steam. The 2005 season ended with a thud in the Peach Bowl, several assistants got fired, and the program’s decline became obvious headed into February 2006. This was another smaller class and, while it had some solid talent (39% NFL players), there was a lack of impact guys. The best players in the class were the punter (Matt Bosher) and Sam Shields, who became a much better pro than college player after switching to CB as a senior.
The Canes missed on quarterback yet again, with commit Pat Devlin (Chester County, PA) flipping to Penn State. We ended up signing no-star QB Daniel Stegall from Fort Smith, Arkansas, who got drafted by the Mets in the 7th Round as an outfielder. Stegall never made it to campus.
We also did poorly in South Florida, as we either lost or misevaluated future NFL players such as WR Preston Parker (FSU), OT Marcus Gilbert (Florida), OT Sam Young (Notre Dame), and CB Pat Robinson (FSU). The only skill players we signed locally were two tight ends and zero-star wide receiver George Robinson.
Parker was the most high-profile battle, but in retrospect the most painful loss was DT Geno Atkins from St. Thomas Aquinas. Atkins was a three-star prospect with minimal hype and strong shotput metrics (54’9 PR). Like many local DTs during this era, Atkins went to the SEC (Georgia). He ended up making eight Pro Bowls and was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team.
This year saw the rise of the Gators, as Urban Meyer picked up on Zook’s recruiting momentum and signed Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin and Brandon Spikes. Their only setback was losing Jacksonville’s CJ Spiller to Clemson, which boosted the Tiger's recruiting profile in the Sunshine State. The only excitement for the Canes came on Signing Day, when RB LeSean McCoy (Harrisburg, PA) signed with Miami out of nowhere. But at that point, most people knew McCoy was headed to prep school because of grades. He ended up going to Pittsburgh a year later and rushing for over 11,000 yards in the NFL.
BEST PLAYER: This one goes to Sam Shields. He was one of the top receivers in America (1,201 yards and 22 TDs as a senior) and seemed destined to solve Miami’s pass-catcher problem. Shields followed a similar trajectory to Lance Leggett- he had early success on Greentree with his deep speed, but he struggled to hold onto the ball in full contact. He scuffled for three years before finally moving to cornerback as a senior. Shields excelled as a gunner on special teams but was up-and-down as a corner. He signed as an undrafted FA to the Green Bay Packers, started on a Super Bowl winner, made a Pro Bowl and signed a $39 million deal.
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: There were no five stars in the class, but the highest-rated guy was RB Kylan Robinson. He was a unique prospect with size (6’1, 210) and athleticism. He played basketball in Alaska before moving to Tampa’s Chamberlain High as a wide receiver. Three games into his senior year, he returned a kickoff for a touchdown, moved to running back, put up huge numbers and surged up the rankings.
At Miami, he struggled with instincts in the backfield and ultimately moved to middle linebacker. He started two games as a senior but made little impact.
BEST EVALUATION: Dallas-Fort Worth’s Jason Fox was a converted tight end like his fellow Texas Cane Eric Winston. Despite coming into Miami around 250 pounds, Fox started as a true freshman at tackle and remained a starter until getting drafted by the Detroit Lions in the fourth round.
LESSON LEARNED: Miami didn’t spend enough time and resources on local big guys during this time period. Every year, future NFL linemen on both sides of the ball left the area (usually to the SEC). From St. Thomas Aquinas alone, you had Atkins, Gilbert and Young leaving home before making the NFL.
Around this time, you began to hear stories about a rift between St. Thomas Aquinas head coach George Smith and the University of Miami. This would haunt the Canes for years to come.
CONCLUSION: The 2001 Class- which Coker took over from Butch- had a four-year winning percentage of 88%. When Coker signed his fifth and final full class in 2006, the four-year winning percentage had dropped to 55%. Programs like Alabama and Georgia kept their standard high after breaking through in the early 2000s. We collapsed. As we've seen in this series, Coker's failures as a recruiter played a major role.
Of course, bad coaching and development played a massive role in our downfall. But for this exercise, I wanted to focus on pure talent acquisition. That’s why I use NFL numbers. The NFL has the most standardized and competitive talent-evaluation process in football. It’s also really hard to get there- only 2% of CFB players and only 22% of four-stars make the league. And far fewer are able to stick around. As expected, our NFL decline mirrored our decline on the field.
Next up is the last class of the Coker Era: 2006.
Four-year winning percentage: 55% (-1 from prior class)
Total enrollees- 18
NFL players- 7
NFL games- 350 (37% from P Matt Bosher)
Day 1 Picks- 0
Day 2 picks- 0
Pro Bowls- 1
The class ranked #12 on the Composite. I’ve listed the players in order of recruiting ranking, with NFL players in BOLD:
FOUR STARS
RB Kylan Robinson (Tampa, FL)
RB Javarris James (Immokalee, FL)
- 10 NFL games
- 96 NFL games
- One Pro Bowl
TE Tervaris Johnson (Miam-Dadei, FL)
OL Jason Fox (Fort Worth, Texas)
- 37 NFL games
- 4th Round
- 6 NFL games
- 7th Round
- 36 NFL games
- 4th Round
- 35 NFL games
- 6th Round
DE Stephen Wesley (Polk County, FL)
OL Chaz Washington (New Orleans, LA)
OL Ian Symonette (Houston, TX)
CB Chavez Grant (Miami-Dade, FL)
K Matt Bosher (Palm Beach County, Florida)
- 130 NFL games
- 6th Round
OL Joel Figueroa (Miami-Dade, FL)
DE Chris Lewis (Fresno, CA)
WR George Robinson (Miami-Dade, FL)
WHAT HAPPENED: At this point, the Coker era had run out of steam. The 2005 season ended with a thud in the Peach Bowl, several assistants got fired, and the program’s decline became obvious headed into February 2006. This was another smaller class and, while it had some solid talent (39% NFL players), there was a lack of impact guys. The best players in the class were the punter (Matt Bosher) and Sam Shields, who became a much better pro than college player after switching to CB as a senior.
The Canes missed on quarterback yet again, with commit Pat Devlin (Chester County, PA) flipping to Penn State. We ended up signing no-star QB Daniel Stegall from Fort Smith, Arkansas, who got drafted by the Mets in the 7th Round as an outfielder. Stegall never made it to campus.
We also did poorly in South Florida, as we either lost or misevaluated future NFL players such as WR Preston Parker (FSU), OT Marcus Gilbert (Florida), OT Sam Young (Notre Dame), and CB Pat Robinson (FSU). The only skill players we signed locally were two tight ends and zero-star wide receiver George Robinson.
Parker was the most high-profile battle, but in retrospect the most painful loss was DT Geno Atkins from St. Thomas Aquinas. Atkins was a three-star prospect with minimal hype and strong shotput metrics (54’9 PR). Like many local DTs during this era, Atkins went to the SEC (Georgia). He ended up making eight Pro Bowls and was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team.
This year saw the rise of the Gators, as Urban Meyer picked up on Zook’s recruiting momentum and signed Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin and Brandon Spikes. Their only setback was losing Jacksonville’s CJ Spiller to Clemson, which boosted the Tiger's recruiting profile in the Sunshine State. The only excitement for the Canes came on Signing Day, when RB LeSean McCoy (Harrisburg, PA) signed with Miami out of nowhere. But at that point, most people knew McCoy was headed to prep school because of grades. He ended up going to Pittsburgh a year later and rushing for over 11,000 yards in the NFL.
BEST PLAYER: This one goes to Sam Shields. He was one of the top receivers in America (1,201 yards and 22 TDs as a senior) and seemed destined to solve Miami’s pass-catcher problem. Shields followed a similar trajectory to Lance Leggett- he had early success on Greentree with his deep speed, but he struggled to hold onto the ball in full contact. He scuffled for three years before finally moving to cornerback as a senior. Shields excelled as a gunner on special teams but was up-and-down as a corner. He signed as an undrafted FA to the Green Bay Packers, started on a Super Bowl winner, made a Pro Bowl and signed a $39 million deal.
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: There were no five stars in the class, but the highest-rated guy was RB Kylan Robinson. He was a unique prospect with size (6’1, 210) and athleticism. He played basketball in Alaska before moving to Tampa’s Chamberlain High as a wide receiver. Three games into his senior year, he returned a kickoff for a touchdown, moved to running back, put up huge numbers and surged up the rankings.
At Miami, he struggled with instincts in the backfield and ultimately moved to middle linebacker. He started two games as a senior but made little impact.
BEST EVALUATION: Dallas-Fort Worth’s Jason Fox was a converted tight end like his fellow Texas Cane Eric Winston. Despite coming into Miami around 250 pounds, Fox started as a true freshman at tackle and remained a starter until getting drafted by the Detroit Lions in the fourth round.
LESSON LEARNED: Miami didn’t spend enough time and resources on local big guys during this time period. Every year, future NFL linemen on both sides of the ball left the area (usually to the SEC). From St. Thomas Aquinas alone, you had Atkins, Gilbert and Young leaving home before making the NFL.
Around this time, you began to hear stories about a rift between St. Thomas Aquinas head coach George Smith and the University of Miami. This would haunt the Canes for years to come.
CONCLUSION: The 2001 Class- which Coker took over from Butch- had a four-year winning percentage of 88%. When Coker signed his fifth and final full class in 2006, the four-year winning percentage had dropped to 55%. Programs like Alabama and Georgia kept their standard high after breaking through in the early 2000s. We collapsed. As we've seen in this series, Coker's failures as a recruiter played a major role.
