From time immemorial, coaches' first recruiting classes almost always are shaky. It takes time to build connections, which simply cannot be done overnight no matter how compelling the coach is.
We will see if Jon Sumrall can buck a trend Willie Fritz certainly could not do with his first class. Fritz had one massive hit with Darnell Mooney, a diamond in the rough who turned out to be easily the best receiver in Fritz's eight years. Darius Bradwell, recruited as a quarterback who could not throw, turned into a 1,000-yard running back and a solid player. P.J. Hall became a very solid starter at DB in his last two years. DeAndre Williams had a tremendous junior year on the defensive line before losing his starting job midway through his senior season. Lawrence Graham was a productive linebacker in his final two years. Will Harper had a decent senior season at safety with 33 tackles.
And that's it. The other 17 players in the class were either busts or not very productive. Tyler Johnson started a fair amount on the offensive line but was not particularly effective. Jonathan Brantley had his moment in the sun running the option while conducting long TD drives on the first two series at Oklahoma in 2017 before throwing a pick six on the third and never being heard from again essentially. Three-star recruit Tre Jackson (the son of Jack Jackson, whom I covered at Florida and was a very good receiver there) never panned out. Wide receiver Jacob Robertson, another one of three 3-star recruits in the class, was a minor contributor, as was DB Larry Bryant.
A.J. Walker, Chase Napoleon, Phabion Woodard, Miles Strickland, D.J. Owens, Coby Neenan, the impossibly skinny Chris Johnson, Deion Rainey, Eric Lewis and Jonathan Wilson were nonentities for varying reasons.
Sumrall almost assuredly will be successful, but it is highly unlikely he will rely heavily on this class. Hopefully he can fare better with the class than Fritz's staff did in year 1, though. He's certainly starting from a better point in selling the program.
We will see if Jon Sumrall can buck a trend Willie Fritz certainly could not do with his first class. Fritz had one massive hit with Darnell Mooney, a diamond in the rough who turned out to be easily the best receiver in Fritz's eight years. Darius Bradwell, recruited as a quarterback who could not throw, turned into a 1,000-yard running back and a solid player. P.J. Hall became a very solid starter at DB in his last two years. DeAndre Williams had a tremendous junior year on the defensive line before losing his starting job midway through his senior season. Lawrence Graham was a productive linebacker in his final two years. Will Harper had a decent senior season at safety with 33 tackles.
And that's it. The other 17 players in the class were either busts or not very productive. Tyler Johnson started a fair amount on the offensive line but was not particularly effective. Jonathan Brantley had his moment in the sun running the option while conducting long TD drives on the first two series at Oklahoma in 2017 before throwing a pick six on the third and never being heard from again essentially. Three-star recruit Tre Jackson (the son of Jack Jackson, whom I covered at Florida and was a very good receiver there) never panned out. Wide receiver Jacob Robertson, another one of three 3-star recruits in the class, was a minor contributor, as was DB Larry Bryant.
A.J. Walker, Chase Napoleon, Phabion Woodard, Miles Strickland, D.J. Owens, Coby Neenan, the impossibly skinny Chris Johnson, Deion Rainey, Eric Lewis and Jonathan Wilson were nonentities for varying reasons.
Sumrall almost assuredly will be successful, but it is highly unlikely he will rely heavily on this class. Hopefully he can fare better with the class than Fritz's staff did in year 1, though. He's certainly starting from a better point in selling the program.
