2010 ACC Football Recruiting Roundup

In the ACC’s never-ending quest for respect, 2009 will go down as a year that reinforced the notion of the league as a second tier citizen in the Southeast. While the conference by no means had a terrible year, their BCS bowl record is the worst of the big six leagues and the league’s depth is a concern as the two biggest historical powers, Miami and Florida State, are still not competing for conference championships.

However, their location in the Southeast also affords most ACC teams with a strong home field advantage in chasing recruits and it was reflected in 2010’s final count. The ACC has put together the 4 th highest average star rating in the country, as their 251 commitments average out to a 2.986 star rating. Here is the final ranking of the ACC teams according to their Average Star Rating (ASR).

• Florida State Seminoles, 24 commitments, Average Star Rating: 3.513

The Seminoles have always recruited well but the ousting of legendary coach Bobby Bowden kick-started a stretch run that culminated in the ACC’s clear #1 class. Featuring four Consensus 150 prospects and nine signees overall that were selected by one of the major services as a Top 150 player, Florida State’s ASR finished 8 th in the entire country. If new boss Jimbo Fisher can develop talent better than Bowden did during his dotage, this class could be the backbone of future ACC Championship teams.

• Clemson Tigers, 23 commitments, Average Star Rating: 3.195

The Tigers always seem to recruit well and young coach Dabo Swinney is well known for his recruiting prowess. Thus, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Clemson checks in at #2 on this list. Swinney’s first effort as the full-time head coach produced a 23 man class that featured four Top 150 players and finished with the nation’s 17 th best ASR. In a year where the Tigers finally broke through and made their way to the ACC Championship Game, perhaps they’ve also brought in the class that will earn Swinney his first ACC title.

• Virginia Tech Hokies, 21 commitments, Average Star Rating: 3.142

Virginia Tech is well-known as one of the best ‘development’ programs in the country and their recruiting classes often exceed expectations by a wide margin. In that vein, it was fairly surprising to see the Hokies put together the 21 st ranked ASR in the entire country and it will be fun to see what Frank Beamer can do with a group of highly touted recruits.

• North Carolina Tar Heels, 21 commitments, Average Star Rating: 3.119

Butch Davis has done a good job restoring some prestige to the North Carolina program and he is one the best-known recruiters in the country from his days at Miami. With that in mind, it should be no surprise that he has put together a very good class at UNC this year. Featuring Consensus 150 Offensive lineman James Hurst, this class is the nation’s 23 rd best in ASR and should be another strong step towards competing for a conference title.

• Miami Hurricanes, 28 commitments, Average Star Rating: 3.077

Remember when former Hurricane coach Howard Schnellenberger said that he only needed to recruit the ‘State of Miami’ (a.k.a. south Florida) to bring in a top 10 class every year? Well, with 28 commitments, an ASR that falls outside of the top 25 and a surprisingly high number of signees from outside the ‘State’, I have to wonder what Head Coach Randy Shannon was thinking this year. While this is a good class that features four Top 150 players, it doesn’t strike me as the kind of class which will bring ‘Da U’ back to prominence.

• Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 18 commitments, Average Star Rating: 3.046

The defending conference champions have brought in a small but strong class this year. While there is only one Top 150 player in this group, there are plenty of highly touted guys who will thrive in Paul Johnson’s option system. Anytime Tech brings in a top 30 ASR, it has been a successful year.

• Maryland Terrapins, 21 commitments, Average Star Rating: 2.944

For a team that had a terrible season, Maryland sure put together a surprising recruiting class. This 21 man class has a surprisingly solid ASR and more than half of this group will play along the line of scrimmage! Terp fans should be ecstatic with this effort considering how poorly their team has performed on the field in the last few seasons.

• NC State Wolfpack, 19 commitments, Average Star Rating: 2.877

Much like Maryland, NC State has really been a pleasant surprise considering their lack of success since Phillip Rivers graduated. This group is anchored (literally) by Consensus 150 Tackle Robert Crisp, one of ten trench warriors in this group. Tom O’Brien is a former Marine and he knows how to produce strong linemen, so this much raw talent has to have him salivating. This is definitely a successful class for the Pack.

• Virginia Cavaliers, 17 commitments, Average Star Rating: 2.754

Virginia finally got sick of Al Groh’s inability to coax anything more than mediocrity from his teams and replaced him with former Richmond coach Mike London, who can boast a D-1AA National Title on his resume. His first recruiting class isn’t anything spectacular but he did manage to pick up 4 star tackle Morgan Moses on Signing Day over Ohio State and LSU, a coup to say the least. More will be expected with a full year to recruit in 2011.

• Boston College Eagles, 21 commitments, Average Star Rating: 2.730

When I mentioned that Virginia Tech was a development program, I nearly referenced the gold standard in player development: Boston College. This class isn’t exactly highly thought of (though WR Shakim Phillips is a Rivals 150 prospect) but I can virtually guarantee you that it will be one of the most productive in the ACC upon graduation. That’s just what Boston College does.

• Wake Forest Demon Deacons , 18 commitments , Average Star Rating: 2.703

Wake Forest has never been and never will be a major recruiting player under Jim Grobe. In fact, his recruiting pitch usually is ‘I want to redshirt you’, which turns off most of the elite prospects in the country. However, Grobe has done a good job developing his players and this decently thought of class should produce some major contributors. Just don’t expect any of them to contribute until 2011, at earliest.

• Duke Blue Devils, 20 commitments, Average Star Rating: 2.441

It isn’t hard to see why Duke has been the laughingstock of college football for the last two decades when their ASR is the 4 th lowest among BCS conference teams. David Cutcliffe is well known as a quarterback guru but he’ll have to show some ability as a development coach if he wants to turn Duke into a winning program.

Overall, the ACC garnered six Consensus 150 prospects and 24 Top 150 prospects total in the Class of 2010. That puts them 4 th and 5 th among BCS conferences, respectively. It gets even more lopsided when you consider that Florida State was responsible for a large portion of the league’s elite haul and you have to wonder why the rest of the league wasn’t more successful bringing in top players as both the Big Ten and Pac Ten (both of whom have fewer conference members) brought in more Top 150 signees.

However, there is some good news internally. While the Atlantic Division boasts the two highest rated teams in the league ASR standings, the next four belong to the Coastal and the talent appears to have been spread fairly evenly between the two divisions. That’s a good thing for college football fans because it should mean a competitive conference championship in the future.

SUPERLATIVES

Most Surprising (Best): Maryland Terrapins

When a school’s coach is on the hot seat and is coming off of a stink bomb of a season, he usually isn’t able to put together a strong class. See: Illinois Fighting Illini, Class of 2010. However, that’s what Ralph Friedgen has done this year and Maryland’s class is definitely the most positive surprise in the league.

Most Surprising (Worst): Miami Hurricanes

I can already hear the Miami fans arguing with me as I declare the Hurricanes as the most disappointing class in the ACC. Look, expectations for all schools are not created equally. Is this is a solid class? Yes. Would a school like Virginia or Boston College love to have this highly ranked of a class? Absolutely. But does this class live up to all of the built in advantages and historical success that come with the University of Miami? Certainly not. Miami had the #1 class in the country two years ago and there’s never any excuse to finish outside of the top 20 in Coral Gables. Randy Shannon’s contract expires after this season (which is unheard of as it is normal for coaches to have contracts extended with two or three years remaining so that they can tout stability) and unless he has a monster year on the field this fall, it isn’t hard to read the writing on the wall.

Worst Class Overall: Duke Blue Devils

Duke’s class is a quarter star lower than the 2 nd worst team in conference and is the 4 th worst among BCS conference teams, making this the clear choice as the league’s worst. However, don’t expect any pressure on Cutcliffe because of it: Less than a dozen Duke fans even know Signing Day exists outside of basketball. Now if Coach K brought in such a lowly class, there’d be riots in Durham. Blue Devil Basketball aside, this is pretty clearly the least impressive haul in the ACC.

Best Class Overall: Florida State Seminoles

Much like Duke’s selection at the bottom of the totem pole, Florida State’s haul is inarguably the most highly thought of class in the entire conference. Four of the six Consensus 150 players from the league’s entire haul are headed to Tallahassee and their ASR is more than a quarter point higher than 2 nd place Clemson. This class is simply the best that the ACC has to offer in 2010.

Florida State is the winner of Collegesports-fans.com’s 2010 ACC Class Of The Year!

Matt Baxendell is collegesports-fans.com’s football writer. If you want to get in touch with him, email him at Matt.Baxendell@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @MattBaxendell