Top 100 2025 vs 2026

[Hufftwoseven]

Just wanted to point out that in the 2025 recruiting class, we signed 1 top 100 prospect. I know a lot were perplexed and underwhelmed with that class, finishing ranked 14th while coming off 10 wins. I personally thought it was unacceptable when Mario’s whole selling point as a CEO HC is his recruiting acumen.

Well fast forward to this 2026 class and the staff put that in the rear view by signing 6 top 100 players according to 247 rankings. 7 in the top 120 on both the 247 and composite scales.

Moving forward, I think it’s acceptable to expect 1 five star as the FLOOR. USC, Bama, OSU, ND, Texas and Oregon all signed 3+ 5 stars. I think it’s fair to expect this staff to sign 2+ with sustained success. But most importantly, I believe landing 5-8 in the top 100 is where you get the bang for your buck.

Cheers to the 2027 recruiting season, I’m assuming it heats up as we get into spring.

 

[ToneyDaGawd]

Not worried about the Top 100 or 24/7, rivals, etc rankings. This staff has proven their evals are pretty **** good.

 

[Morey161]

Considering Malachi Toney was a 3 star and a NA ranked nationally and Bryce Fitzgerald was ranked 237 nationally, not including Josh Moore, Kellen Wiley, Jaboree Antoine, Gerard Pringle ect I am ok with it because in the end those guys are all going to be ranked 100 type players with Toney being a top 3 player in cfb period.

 

[Go Canes!!]

Have a feeling our staff’s Top 100 are vastly different than those of the recruiting sites.

 

[lfoliva9988]

recruiting rankings are important, I'm not denying that and they've seemed to get more accurate as time goes on.....but you simply cant understate/skip the process of evaluating at the same time.

The secret sauce is having more "blue-chip recruits" than not and then also being able to hit/evaluate on some guys that maybe weren't super highly ranked but were just pure football players. Toney is the perfect example. He was not "highly ranked" by the recruiting services but everyone wanted him (OSU and Miami being the big battle). That tells you what you need to know.
Same thing when a 3 star OL is being heavily recruited by Miami, Wisconsin, Iowa, etc.

in this years class, I feel that person is J. Wyman at DB. He was a borderline 3/4 star recruit but he was being pursued by UGA, Auburn, UF, LSU, etc. (teams that have consistently recruited that position well).