OK fine folks, we entered ACC play in 2004.
: This is going to be a long QP, to highlight if we’ve had a talent issue or a coaching issue. We know attrition existed w/in our program, but every team faces attrition whether it be from early draftees, transfers, ineligibilities, injuries, etc. It’s too cumbersome to extrapolate every single team’s attrition, so it all pans out as I’m including those team’s attrition issues in this, as well.
With that being said, what I’ll be focusing on is strictly what each coaching regime had at their disposal regarding enrollees &/or LOIs for all teams. What will not be included are Hard Commits who never signed. Again, b/c this is not a 100% accurate method, but pretty **** close, to alleviate any confusions, I’ll also be highlighting NFL draft picks that were on each team during this period. The class rankings listed will be the average class ranked, per team, during each of our coaches’ regime. So buckle up b/c here we go (Data provided via 247):
“COKER YEARS” (2004 - 2006):
Avg. Recruiting Classes -
-Miami -#8 (29 blue chips: 6 - 5*/ 24 - 4*)
-Duke - #58 (2 blue chips: 2 - 4*)
-GT - #60 (1 blue chip - 5*)
-UNC - #34 (6 blue chips: 6 - 4*)
-UVA - #44 (9 blue chips: 1 - 5* / 8 - 4*)
-VT - #28 (11 blue chips: 11 - 4*)
Results?
-Miami (19 - 12: 0 ACC Coastal)
-Duke (3 - 31: 0 ACC Coastal)
-GT: (23 - 17: 1 ACC Coastal)
-UNC: (14-21: 0 ACC Coastal)
-UVA: (20 - 16; 0 ACC Coastal)
-VT: (31 - 11; 1 ACC Coastal / 1 ACC)
NFL draft picks (2005 - 2007)
*This highlights who played on the teams from 2004 - 2006:
-Miami: 19 (5 - 1st rounders)
-Duke: 0
-GT: 5 (1 - 1st rounder)
-UNC: 4 (0 - 1st rounder)
-UVA: 14 (2 - 1st rounders)
-VT: 15 (0 - 1st rounders)
“SHANNON YEARS” (2007 - 2010):
Avg. Recruiting Classes -
-Miami #11 (42 blue chips: 3 - 5* / 39 - 4*)
-Duke: #68 (2 blue chips: 2 - 4*)
-GT: #38 (13 blue chips: 13 - 4*)
-UNC: #19 (32 blue chips: 3 - 5* / 29 - 4*)
-UVA: #48 (9 blue chips: 9 - 4*)
VT: #24 (16 blue chips: 1 - 5* / 15 - 4*)
Results?
-Miami: 28 - 23 (0 ACC Coastal Titles)
-Duke: 13 - 35 (0 ACC Coastal Titles)
-GT: 32 - 10 (2 ACC Coastals / 1 ACC)
-UNC: 28 - 23 (0 ACC Coastal)
-UVA: 21 - 28 (0 ACC Coastal)
-VT: 42 - 13 (3 Coastal / 3 ACC)
NFL draft picks (2008 - 2011)
*This highlights who played on the teams from 2007 - 2011):
-Miami: 16 (1 - 1st rounders)
-Duke: 0
-GT: 12 (2 - 1st rounders)
-UNC: 18 (3 - 1st rounders)
-UVA: 9 (3 - 1st rounders)
-VT: 17 (1 - 1st rounder)
“GOLDEN YEARS” (2011 - 2015):
Avg. Recruiting Classes -
-Miami: #19 (36 blue chips: 4 - 5* / 32 - 4*)
-Duke: #62 (1 blue chip: 1 - 4*)
-GT: #53 (4 blue chips: 4 - 4*)
-UNC: #29 (21 blue chips: 21 - 4*)
-Pitt: #41** (7 blue chips: 7 - 4*)
-UVA: 32 (17 blue chips: 2 - 5* / 15 - 4*)
-VT: 27 (22 blue chips: 1 - 5* / 21 - 4*)
**Pitt didn’t officially become a member of the ACC Coastal until the 2013 season. Their avg is from 2013 - 2015
Results?
-Miami: 36 - 27 (0 ACC Coastal)
-Duke: 36 - 29 (1 ACC Coastal)
-GT: 36 - 30 (2 ACC Coastals)
-UNC: 39 - 26 (1 ACC Coastal)
-Pitt: 21 - 18 (0 ACC Coastal)
-UVA: 23 - 28 (0 ACC Coastal)
-VT: 40 - 26 (1 ACC Coastal)
NFL Draft Picks (2012 - 2016)
*This highlights who played on the team during the 2011 - 2015 season:
-Miami: 20 (3 - 1st rounders)
-Duke: 4 (1 - 1st rounder)
-GT: 9 (0 - 1st rounder)
-UNC: 12 (4 - 1st rounders)
-Pitt: 5 (1 - 1st rounder)
-UVA: 8 (0 - 1st rounder)
-VT: 12 (2 - 1st rounders)
“MARK RICHT YEARS” (2016 - 2018)
Avg. Recruiting Classes -
-Miami: #14 (34 blue chips: 1 - 5* / 33 - 4*)
-Duke: #48 (6 blue chips: 6 - 4*)
-GT: #51 (3 blue chips: 3 - 4*)
-UNC: #27 (10 blue chips: 10 - 4*)
-Pitt: #33 (8 blue chips: 8 - 4*)
-UVA: #60 (0 blue chips)
-VT: #35 (13 blue chips: 13 - 4*)
Results?
-Miami: 26 - 13 (1 ACC Coastal)
-Duke: 19 - 19 (0 ACC Coastal)
-GT: 21 - 16 (0 ACC Coastal)
-UNC: 13 - 23 (0 ACC Coastal)
-Pitt: 20 - 19 (1 ACC Coastal)
-UVA: 15 - 22 (0 ACC Coastal)
-VT: 25 - 15 (1 ACC Coastal)
NFL Draft Picks (2017 - 2019)
*This highlights who played on the team from 2016 - 2018:
-Miami: 20 (1 - 1st rounder)
-Duke: 1 (1 - 1st rounder)
-GT: 1 (0 - 1st rounders)
-UNC: 10 (1 - 1st rounder)
-Pitt: 9 (0 - 1st rounders)
-UVA: 4 (0 - 1st rounders)
-VT: 9 (2 - 1st rounders)
“DIAZ YEARS” (2019 - Present)
Avg. Recruiting Classes** -
-Miami: #18 (38 blue chips: 2 - 5*/ 36 - 4*)
-Duke: #56 (1 blue chip: 1 - 4*)
-GT: #42 (10 blue chips: 10 - 4*)
-UNC: #19 (29 blue chips: 2 - 5*/ 27 - 4*)
-Pitt: #43 (5 blue chips: 5 - 4*)
-UVA: #40 (6 blue chips: 6 - 4*)
-VT: #49 (11 blue chips: 11 - 4*)
**These rankings/blue chips for ALL TEAMS also include the transfer portal’s re-rankings (Ex. J Phillips was a 5* in HS, but became a 4* transfer or D King was a 3* in HS, but became a 4* transfer)
Results? (Including 1st game of ‘21 season)
Miami: 14 - 11 (0 ACC Coastals)
Duke: 7 - 17 (0 ACC Coastals)
GT: 13 - 23 (0 ACC Coastals)
UNC: 15 - 11 (0 ACC Coastals)
Pitt: 14 - 10 (0 ACC Coastals)
UVA: 15 - 10 (1 ACC Coastal)
VT: 14 - 11 (0 ACC Coastals)
NFL Draft Picks (2020 - 2021)
*This highlights who played on the team from 2019 - 2020:
-Miami: 8 (2 - 1st rounders)
-Duke: 4 (0 - 1st rounders)
-GT: 3 (0 - 1st rounders)
-UNC: 7 (0 - 1st rounders)
-Pitt: 7 (0 - 1st rounders)
-UVA: 2 (0 - 1st rounders)
-VT: 6 (2 - 1st rounders)
In summary:
Since 2004, over 5 coaching regimes:
-Miami has signed an avg class ranked 14th (The next closest during this span is UNC at 26th)
-Miami has signed a total of 198 blue chip players including 16 - 5* (The next closest: UNC at 98 blue chips & 5 - 5*)
-Miami has had a total of 83 draft picks w/ 12 - 1st rounders (The next closest: VT w/ 59 draft picks & UNC w/ 8 - 1st rounders)
-Yet, here are the results despite such a huge discrepancy:
From 2004 - present:
-One 10+ win season (2017)
**Even GT has two 10+ win seasons despite recruiting atrociously (2009, 2014)
-A 78 - 59 record in the ACC (.570 win %)
**Even GT is 78 - 59, but have more accomplishments
-One Coastal Title
**Even GT, UVA, Pitt, & Duke have at least 1 ACC Coastal during this period, despite our massive talent advantage.
So if u wanna bicker about not having talent have been our problem, well 247 &/or The NFL draft over a course of 17 yrs vehemently disagrees. We don’t have Bama or the now known elite football powers type of talent, but we are absolutely murdering EVERY single team in the Coastal from a talent standpoint. It’s no wonder that our best 3 yr window came under a soon to be CFB Hall of Fame coach in Richt. That should tell u right there that our problem is not talent, but coaching.