And "13" spots open. With attrition, and kids moving on, it might be as high as 20 new recruits.
Is this staff even trying to recruit? No QBs, 1 WR, and 1 D-lineman at the end of November?!?! Our OVs during the season have been embarrassing.
Hard to recruit with the uncertainty of the staff keeping their jobs.
The ball is on Mark Coyle's & Tracy Claeys' courts. I would expect some sort of contract extension soon. This is Coach Claeys' opportunity to lose if he can't recruit effectively. Bear in mind Mark Coyle has mentioned that a coaches ability to recruit is critical for the success of any program. Football in particular.
That said, the Gophers are on par with last year's recruiting visits according to 247 Sports (don't know if these are all OVs). They had thirteen visits by November, 20 2015 compared to twelve as of November 4, 2016:
Visits 2016 Recruiting Class as of November 20, 2015 (Commitment in bold):
6/18 - Tralund Webber WDE,
Vincent Calhoun OG;
6/21 - Wally Aime DT;
9/25 - Andre Polk OLB;
10/31 - Tre Bryant RB, Dredrick Snelson WR, Tony Poljan QB,
Kiondre Thomas CB, Elijah Daniels S, Elisha Daniels CB, Arkeem Boyd Ath,
Coney Durr CB.
Visits 2017 Recruiting Class as of November 4, 2016:
9/1 - Quran Hafiz CB;
9/9 -
Corey Gaynor OG; 9/23 - Kendrick Green OG,
Jaquarius Landrews S;
10/7 - Dimitri Moore OLB,
Kyrei Fisher OLB,
Trey Creamer CB;
10/21
Claudin Cherelus S;
11/4 - Bruce Judson ATH,
Joshua Croslen DT, Bryson Jackson OLB,
Raheem Lane CB.
Claeys has actually four more commitments with seven than last year this time.
The bulk of last year's recruiting visits come later with December 2015 leading the way with 20 visits:
12/4/2015 - Chase Allen TE,
Sam Schlueter OT,
Garrison Wright OG, Trystan Castillo OC, Terrell Lucas WDE;
12/5/2015 -
Seth Green QB;
12/11/2015 - Kris Weatherspoon S,
Tai'yon Devers WDE, Elijah Battle CB,
Carter Coughlin OLB, Amir Watts DT,
Tyler Johnson ATH,
Kamal Martin ATH,
Phillip Howard ATH,
Drew Kmielewski WR,
Connor Olson OG,
Thomas Barber ILB, Matt Kegel OG,
Antoine Winfield CB, Lloyd Cushenberry OG;
1/15/2016 - True Thompson ATH,
Connor Mohs FB,
Ko Kieft ATH, Rhashaun Epting ATH, Nick Kramer WDE, Connor Novak-Goar DT,
Danny Pietruszewski ATH;
1/22/2016 - Tyrez Lindsey S, Stephen Moye OLB,
Kobe McCrary RB;
1/28/2016 - Daniel Thomas S;
1/29/2016 -
TaMarion Johnson WDE,
DeMarcus Williams QB,
Calvin Swenson S,
John Mack K;
2/12/2016 -
Kieran Johnson WR (don't see him on official roster);
5/13/2016 - Osirus Mitchell WR.
If we don't see a large uptick in recruiting visits starting next month, we can officially start to panic.
However, I am optimistic that Claeys in the end will have a decent recruiting class. IMHO, it will be a godsend if we can get two or three athletes who are program changers.
