Tag: 2024 recruiting class

‘There’s just not as many of them’: Brent Venables on the difficulties of recruiting elite defensive linemen

The defensive line is one of the most important position groups on the football field but it’s also one of the most difficult to recruit.

When the announcement was made that the Oklahoma Sooners would be heading to the [autotag]SEC[/autotag], there was one thing that had to change about this football program. They had to start winning battles for elite defensive linemen.

That’s one of the reasons why [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] got the job. They knew his track record of building elite defenses that started with elite defensive linemen. He brought with him his defensive line coach [autotag]Todd Bates[/autotag], who is an elite recruiter, and also brought [autotag]Miguel Chavis[/autotag] with him, who has proven to be a very good recruiter as well.

They’ve done a very good job so far, landing two five-star defensive linemen in two years. They could add a third in February. Venables talked about the difficulties of recruiting elite defensive linemen in his press conference on Wednesday.

“It’s the law of supply and demand,” Venables said. “There’s just not as many of them. It’s been that way since football became a sport. Rushing the passer, stopping the run, the lines of scrimmage is where the game has always been won or lost. So, that’s not a new thing, but there’s just not as many of them that are able to play at a really, really high level.”

The Sooners have signed five defensive linemen so far this cycle. Those five gave the Sooners one of the best defensive line classes the program has had in the last 20 years. So, you can see Venables is building it the right way.

They just now have to start developing those players and then getting the results on the field.

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Brent Venables feels Skip Johnson deserves the credit for ‘2 Sport U’

The Sooners uniquely signed two players who will also be playing baseball but how does that work?

The Oklahoma Sooners have had a history of players playing multiple sports. The most notable one, of course, is [autotag]Kyler Murray[/autotag], who played football and baseball.

Murray became the first player drafted in the first round of both the [autotag]NFL[/autotag] and [autotag]MLB[/autotag] draft. He ultimately decided on a football career. In the [autotag]2024 recruiting class[/autotag], the Sooners have two more who are set to play both sports. [autotag]James Nesta[/autotag] will play linebacker for the football team and will pitch for the baseball team. [autotag]Taylor Tatum[/autotag] will play running back and then, most likely, in the outfield.

But this wouldn’t work if it wasn’t for the plan in place that [autotag]Skip Johnson[/autotag] has. He’s been through it with Murray and knows how to make this work. It was his plan that both Nesta and Tatum have talked about as to why they chose Oklahoma.

Brent Venables talked about how this plan came to be. “I wouldn’t say it’s as much as me. Skip and the baseball team is willing to do it,” Venables said. “I think the attractiveness of how well our baseball program has done. The history, the tradition, certainly they did a great job of selling those things. I think that attracted them as much as anything. That combination of the excellence of Oklahoma football and what it’s represented and the excellence of baseball. I personally don’t think we would have gotten either one of them had the football been a powerhouse and excellent and had the history and tradition and then the baseball program stunk. I don’t think we would have gotten either one of those guys.”

It’s a testament to how good of a job Johnson has done since taking over. It’s also why Oklahoma has become “2 Sport U.”

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Where does Oklahoma rank among the top 25 recruiting teams in college football in 2024?

Where do the Oklahoma Sooners rank in 2024 team recruiting rankings after securing their signing class?

The Oklahoma Sooners finished the 2024 recruiting cycle without a whole lot of issues, signing all 27 of their committed prospects.

It secured the Sooners a third-consecutive top 10 signing class under head coach Brent Venables in his two years in Norman. The 2024 class has a chance to help set the Sooners on a trajectory to help them contend for SEC and national titles.

It all starts up front with a defensive line class that includes five blue-chip prospects, headlined by five-star defensive tackle David Stone. But beyond Stone, the Sooners have a number of talented players who will be big-time contributors for Oklahoma in 2024 and in the coming years.

With the early signing period wrapping up, let’s take a look at how Oklahoma’s 2024 signing class compares to the rest of the country. Here’s a look at the top 25 teams in recruiting based on an average of the team rankings from 247Sports, On3, and Rivals.

More from the [autotag]2024 early signing period[/autotag].

Oklahoma Sooners’ 2024 signing class position outlook

A position by position look at who signed with the Oklahoma Sooners in the 2024 signing class.

The Oklahoma Sooners put together another top-10 recruiting class, signing all 27 of their prospects on the first day of the early signing period.

It’s a class that will help define Oklahoma’s success in the SEC. It’s a class that’s balanced, with 14 offensive signees and 13 on the defensive side of the ball. The defensive front is garnering all of the attention, but the Oklahoma Sooners brought in a number of really talented players on both sides of the ball.

Here’s a position breakdown of the Sooners’ 2024 signing class.

More: [autotag]2024 Early Signing Period[/autotag] coverage

‘I think we’ve added great people to the Texas A&M community’ Everything Mike Elko had to say during National Signing Day

Here’s what Texas A&M Head Coach Mike Elko had to say following National Early Signing Day.

Mike Elko entered the A&M job with limited time to assemble a staff. On top of that, he had the tough task of managing the current roster, high school recruiting and hitting the transfer portal.

Given the circumstances, I’d give Elko a B+ grade overall mainly because, even though he has a lot on his plate, I believe he’s been a tad bit slow filling out important coaching positions. Granted, he did mention once bowl season is over the staff will shape up quickly. Outside of that, he’s been doing a bang-up job on the recruiting trail, especially rebuilding the relationship with the THSCA in a short period of time.

Like with most coaching changes, many football players will rightfully start looking for other places to continue their college careers with a staff they might have built a prior relationship with. Coach Elko addressed one of the coaching positions that has yet to be filled on his staff and if it’s affecting the recruiting.

“I don’t think there has been any problem in selling the defense. I think finding a linebackers coach, which is where the coordinator will come from, has been more of a challenge.”

He also mentioned that a hire to fill the vacant defensive coordinator spot should come within 24-48 hours. Another topic of interest was the status of signing high school recruits who might have been on the fence or just having the time to reach out to as many recruits as he liked.

“The group that we put together is really about quality and not quantity….. When you’re a new coach, you can do a lot of things in your first 18 days that can set your program back a lot.”

“At some point, we’re going to have to come up with some kind of governance that has some sort of access to roster management that isn’t open moves every single day from the end of the season into January.”

Coach Elko hit on several other topics that you can check out from the Press conference below:

The Elko era is almost in full swing, and the future looks bright as the team starts to take shape.

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4-star WR Izaiah Williams flips from Florida and signs with Texas A&M

4-star wide receiver Izaiah Williams announced today on Instagram his decision to flip his commitment from Florida to sign with the Aggies.

Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko held a press conference on Wednesday evening to recap what had been an eventful first day of the early signing period for Class of 2024 recruits.

Elko was a couple of minutes late to the 5 p.m. CT gathering because he was glued to his phone, tuned in on Instagram Live. To say his time was well spent is an understatement.

Elko and thousands of others tuned in to hear 4-star wide receiver Izaiah Williams announce his decision to flip his commitment from Florida and sign with Texas A&M.

“What really stood out to me with Texas A&M is the vision they have,” Williams told Hayes Fawcett of On3 Sports. “I feel my skill set best aligns with their program to be successful. They have key components that will help develop me not only as a player but as a person as well.”

Williams is listed at 6-foot and 175 pounds from Carrollwood Day High School in Zephyrhills, Fla. Zephyrhills is a suburb of Tampa and Izaiah is 1-of-2 prospects from the Tampa area with the Williams last name to sign with the Aggies on Wednesday, joining 4-star edge rusher Solomon Williams.

Izaiah originally committed to the Gators program Cinco de Mayo but received an official offer from Texas A&M on Oct. 20. The rest, as they say, is history.

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Coach Prime’s first full class at Colorado finished where!?!

Buzz, your girlfriend…

Just before the early signing period a year ago Notre Dame lost running back Dylan Edwards to Colorado.  Edwards shined in his first game for Colorado this year, scoring four touchdowns in Colorado’s upset of TCU back in September.

The season didn’t go as well the rest of the year for Edwards or Colorado head coach Deion Sanders as Edwards found the end zone just twice more and the Buffaloes finished the year 4-8 overall.

This year was better for Notre Dame as they didn’t have any last-minute departures from the class.  Colorado also didn’t end up pulling off flips anywhere like they did a year ago.

So with the early signing period open and the vast majority of commitments in, where did Colorado finish up in the rankings to close the first full class Deion Sanders was able to recruit?

98th on the 247Sports composite rankings.

You read that correctly.

98th.

If you’re curious, that’s exactly one spot behind Eastern Michigan and one ahead of South Alabama.

Sure Colorado landed arguably the most talent of any program through the transfer portal this off-season but its certainly not the recruiting class that Sanders and company were thinking they’d have in place.

How well did LSU ‘Recruit the Boot’ in 2024 cycle?

Let’s check and see how well Brian Kelly accomplished that goal with the 2024 recruiting class.

When [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] came to LSU, he made a mission to keep the best players from Louisiana in Louisiana. That initiative was called “Recruit the Boot.” Let’s check and see how well he accomplished that goal with the 2024 recruiting class.

Of the top 10 Louisiana recruits in the 2024 class, LSU has signed eight of them. The only ones they did not sign are [autotag]Wardell Mack[/autotag], a four-star cornerback who signed with Texas, and [autotag]Dominick McKinley[/autotag], who won’t sign until February. The Tigers still have a chance to land McKinley and make the final tally nine out of ten.

As of now, McKinley is committed to Mike Elko and the Texas A&M Aggies. We will see if Kelly can get McKinley to flip before February. Last year, the Tigers only landed five out of ten so this is a definite upgrade and proof that Kelly is staying true to his word. He is keeping the best players home in Louisiana.

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7 Takeaways from the Oklahoma Sooners 2024 signing class

The Oklahoma Sooners locked in all 27 commits to their 2024 signing class and here are seven takeaways.

The Oklahoma Sooners found success on the recruiting trail in each of the three cycles Brent Venables has been in Norman. Because they signed all 27 commitments on the first day of the early signing period, the Sooners locked up a third-consecutive top 10 recruiting class.

It was a great day for the Sooners on the recruiting trail. It also was a stress-free morning: The Sooners had their class locked up by 11:30 a.m. CT.

Now they turn their attention to their remaining targets on the recruiting trail, namely Dominick McKinley, who isn’t expected to sign until the February’s national signing day.

Even if they don’t pull off an improbable flip with McKinley, the Sooners have put together another really strong recruiting class on both sides of the ball.

Here are some takeaways from the Sooners 2024 signing class:

Check out more from the [autotag]2024 early signing period[/autotag].

Aggies sign 4-star edge Solomon Williams of Tampa

Add another one to the Aggies’ 2024 class.

After flipping fellow Carrollwood Day product Izaiah Williams earlier in the day from Florida, the Texas A&M Aggies added yet another Tampa product. Four-star edge rusher Solomon Williams signed with Texas A&M.

He told Hayes Fawcett of On3, “College Station ima work to help to take us where we want to be!”

Williams joins a defense that is adding Kendall Jackson (defensive line) and Jordan Pride (safety) from the Sunshine State in Mike Elko’s transition class. Williams is a two-sport athlete at Carrollwood Day, where he also plays basketball. He is an explosive athlete on the edge who has shown off his athleticism dunking the basketball on the hardwood.

At the time of publication, the Aggies have the No. 17 ranked recruiting class of the 2024 cycle per 247Sports. They rank behind Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Auburn, Oklahoma, LSU, Tennessee, and Florida.

There is still plenty of work to be done for Elko, but he is off to a good start in his return to College Station.