The reality of this year's recruiting class

[Stallion]

It's still a solid class on the offensive side of the ball with Tate, Eletise and the running backs but the majority of the decommits have been on defense. That's not a surprise with the coaching changes, but the recruiting struggles were also the reason for the coaching changes.

It would be great if we could land a couple surprises on signing day but it's not realistic given half the staff just got here (and one guy hasn't even been hired yet). Yates has said he's not going to go after Boise State commits (which is honorable) so we don't even get a bump from the new DC bringing players with him.

It's going to be a thin class and we have to keep that in mind when we have a thin team (again) the next year or two, especially on defense. But I'm on board with the new coaches and the hope is starting with next year's class we'll start to see the cupboard filling with large numbers of quality players.

BEAR DOWN!

[Iggy]

So what if instead some Boise St recruits call Yates and say they want to come play for him at Arizona? Does he say no?

[Wildcat Jones]

So what if instead some Boise St recruits call Yates and say they want to come play for him at Arizona? Does he say no?

I think the unwritten rule in the coaching world is that this means the coach won't call the players. But if the players call the coaches and want to follow, that's acceptable. It's benefited us before and hurt us to. I"m sure there's not a school out there that this hasn't happened to both positively and negatively. But does any school really want to have an incoming freshman who really no longer wants to be there because of a lost coach? Probably not.

[uafan_joe]

There are at least three So-Cal Athlete/DB's that we are in on that were also being recruited by BSU that have not committed. Not sure how much consideration was being given by either recruit but we're still on their radar and with Yates joining the staff hopefully the fact that recruits liked him so that is why they were considering BSU but now that he is at a Pac-12 school maybe that puts us over the top. Looking at you Chacho Ulloa, Jackie Jones and Lamar Jackson.

[Stallion]

...that makes the numbers less bleak for this class:

So 7 slots left, give or take. Go, staff, go!

[Oro Valley Cat]

Hard to believe we were in the PAC 12 championship game the season before this one. You would never know it by looking at this years class

[Wildcat Jones]

Hard to believe we were in the PAC 12 championship game the season before this one. You would never know it by looking at this years class

Sort of reminds me of Tomey's recruiting class 14-15 months after our 12-1 season in '98. All I will say is that I am hoping and hopeful the new coaching regime will fulfill their end of the RECRUITING bargain and work much harder at landing better overall talent/depth on that side of the ball.

[El Gato]

NM

[El Gato]

A lot has been said that our recruiting fell off because of our staff turnover. But what IF we had to turn the staff over because our recruiting was starting to drop off and we weren't leveraging our Pac12 South Champion season the way we should. Were they guys not getting after it the way they should? Did that necessitate a change?

And then it worsens when existing commits reneg because the coaches they knew left.

Bearing Down on a death spiral.

[JMCCATS]

I think this has to explain the staff changes Rich has made. The recruiting gusto just wasn't there. There's still time to get some quality players for this class, but it's impossible for there to be no ramifications for the firings/hirings, especially this late in the process.

BEAR DOWN!!!