The recruiting outlook has changed quite a bit in the past few months.
Kickstarting recruiting is no easy task during a coaching change, regardless of the caliber of program. Back in early May, we took a look at Sherrone Moore’s recruiting class as it stood back then and compared it to how Jim Harbaugh and Brady Hoke had done up to that point in the year.
Obviously things have changed, so we’re going to revisit this now that Moore has acquired many more commitments since then.
Moore Era
According to 247Sports’ composite, Moore’s first recruiting class, the class of 2025, is currently listed at No. 12 nationally. He has 16 commitments with 11 four-stars and five three-stars prospects.
The strength of the class is undoubtedly on defense, particularly in the secondary and along the defensive line. The recent flip of Ivan Taylor from Notre Dame to Michigan gave the Wolverines a top-100 safety in the class to pair up with top-100 nickel corner Kainoa Winston out of Washington D.C.
After a slow start to the spring, Moore and staff hit the recruiting trail hard and brought in 11 commitments in the back half of June and early July.
Harbaugh Era
Jim Harbaugh’s first full recruiting class was in 2016. He ended up hitting an absolute home run as the class was rated No. 4 in the country and helped pave the way to some early success. However, what did the recruiting class look like at the end of July?
Harbaugh’s class of 2016 ended up having 30 players in it, but it only consisted of 11 commits in July. Notable names from that class include Ben Bredeson, Michael Onwenu, Josh Metellus and Brad Hawkins. However, the class didn’t take off until after the New Year. The class was finally punctuated by the addition of No. 1 overall prospect Rashan Gary in Feb. 2016.
It’s safe to say there were some doubts in July 2015 as to where the class was going before it filled out nicely.
Hoke Era
For the sake of comparison, we’re again going to compare Hoke’s first full class, the class of 2012, rather than the patchwork class he had to assemble in less than two months for the class of 2011. Hoke’s first full class ended up being ranked No. 7 nationally.
As of the end of July 2011, the class of 2012 already had 16 commits in it out of a total class size of 25. This is notably more than Harbaugh saw at this same time of year for the class of 2016. Hoke’s first full class didn’t have any five-stars in it, but it consisted of several big-time starters such as James Ross, Chris Wormley, Devin Funchess and Joe Bolden.
Summary
By my math, at the same time of year for each respective class, Moore has gained 16 commitments while Hoke also had 16 and Harbaugh had 11. Hoke’s class ended up being on the smaller size with just 25 players, so he had more than half his class already locked up by the end of July. Meanwhile, Harbaugh had yet to truly strike gold, but did finish strong.
Scholarship limits don’t really exist anymore, so it will be interesting to see how large Moore’s first class will be. As it stands today, the class could be more than half of the final count or it could be just the tip of the iceberg.
What differentiated Hoke and Harbaugh’s first classes was the star-power at the top. Harbaugh had the Gary commitment by the end to hang his hat on. Moore is still looking for his first five-star commitment.
With four top-100 players already committed, Moore is off to a great start.