NSD today

[Appmountaineers19]

I know most if not all of the 2021 class is full. Just seeing if there are any surprises left for today?

[AppSt94]

Nope

[NattyBumppo'sRevenge]

If we knew about it, it wouldn’t be a surprise

[Rick83]

On a related note, this was on the App State Football Facebook page today:

On #NSD21, a quick look back at our 2016 and 2017 classes...
2016:
Class rank: 109
4-year record: 43-10
The Athletic re-rank: 28
2017:
Class rank: 107
4-year record: 42-10
The Athletic re-rank: 13

If the "re-ranks" are anywhere near accurate this demonstrates how great of a job our program does with recruiting and developing those recruits.

[AppNC]

Every signing day, I think back to consoling a very upset high school senior who wasn't signing a letter of intent. We both knew that if given the chance, his hard work would pay off. Thankful App gave him a chance to prove it!

[EastHallApp]

On a related note, this was on the App State Football Facebook page today:

On #NSD21, a quick look back at our 2016 and 2017 classes...
2016:
Class rank: 109
4-year record: 43-10
The Athletic re-rank: 28
2017:
Class rank: 107
4-year record: 42-10
The Athletic re-rank: 13

If the "re-ranks" are anywhere near accurate this demonstrates how great of a job our program does with recruiting and developing those recruits.

Absolutely! Of course there's still subjectivity involved in the rerank, but it's ultimately results-based, and our results speak for themselves.

It also speaks to how much less reliable rankings are at the G5 level, given that both those classes were ranked sixth in the Sun Belt. In fact every one of our classes between 2015-2019 was ranked between fifth and seventh in the conference.

For reference, that 2017 class included:

-Noah Hannon
-Shaun Jolly
-Demetrius Taylor
-Thomas Hennigan
-Corey Sutton
-D'Marco Jackson
-Malik Williams
-Ryan Huff
-Daetrich Harrington
-Steven Jones
-Tim Frizzell
-EJ Scott
-George Blackstock

Lots of quality and depth!

2016 included:

-Darrynton Evans
-Clifton Duck
-Shemar Jean-Charles
-Zac Thomas
-Jordan Fehr
-Ryan Neuzil
-Baer Hunter
-Marcus Williams
-Kaiden Smith
-Jalen Virgil
-Cole Garrison
-Chris Willis
-Jacob Huesman
-Elijah Diarrassouba
-Caleb Spurlin
-Noel Cook

If anything you could argue that one was as good or even a little better than '17.

Both absolutely loaded classes. Satt's staff didn't have many down years in recruiting, despite what the rankings said at the time. Hopefully the current staff will continue that eye for talent, combined with being able to land higher-end prospects due to our extended success.

[Neer86]

On a related note, this was on the App State Football Facebook page today:

On #NSD21, a quick look back at our 2016 and 2017 classes...
2016:
Class rank: 109
4-year record: 43-10
The Athletic re-rank: 28
2017:
Class rank: 107
4-year record: 42-10
The Athletic re-rank: 13

If the "re-ranks" are anywhere near accurate this demonstrates how great of a job our program does with recruiting and developing those recruits.

Absolutely! Of course there's still subjectivity involved in the rerank, but it's ultimately results-based, and our results speak for themselves.

It also speaks to how much less reliable rankings are at the G5 level, given that both those classes were ranked sixth in the Sun Belt. In fact every one of our classes between 2015-2019 was ranked between fifth and seventh in the conference.

For reference, that 2017 class included:

-Noah Hannon
-Shaun Jolly
-Demetrius Taylor
-Thomas Hennigan
-Corey Sutton
-D'Marco Jackson
-Malik Williams
-Ryan Huff
-Daetrich Harrington
-Steven Jones
-Tim Frizzell
-EJ Scott
-George Blackstock

Lots of quality and depth!

2016 included:

-Darrynton Evans
-Clifton Duck
-Shemar Jean-Charles
-Zac Thomas
-Jordan Fehr
-Ryan Neuzil
-Baer Hunter
-Marcus Williams
-Kaiden Smith
-Jalen Virgil
-Cole Garrison
-Chris Willis
-Jacob Huesman
-Elijah Diarrassouba
-Caleb Spurlin
-Noel Cook

If anything you could argue that one was as good or even a little better than '17.

Both absolutely loaded classes. Satt's staff didn't have many down years in recruiting, despite what the rankings said at the time. Hopefully the current staff will continue that eye for talent, combined with being able to land higher-end prospects due to our extended success.

Those guys produced all those wins with 3 different head coaches.

That's pretty impressive. The rest of the Sun Belt Conference agrees.

[AtlAppMan]

We have had numerous discussions on this exact topic. Initial recruiting class ranking vs actual results. This is the first time I have heard of the "re-rank" and happy you brought it to our attention.

Now that you introduced me to this I have a few related questions.

1. Did our coaches do a better job of identifying talented players than the
"scouts/analysts" (players that otherwise were flying under the radar) or did they just do a better job of coaching them up/cultivating them to their true potential? Or both (most likely)

2. Now that our school is getting a higher recruiting grade vs other FBS programs, is that just an adjustment to the above and we are not really getting any different level of talent but rather they are acknowledging the past rating failures OR are we really getting better starting/raw talent and assuming our coaches do the same with these players the ceiling is even higher for the recent recruits?

[bigdaddyg]

On a related note, this was on the App State Football Facebook page today:

On #NSD21, a quick look back at our 2016 and 2017 classes...
2016:
Class rank: 109
4-year record: 43-10
The Athletic re-rank: 28
2017:
Class rank: 107
4-year record: 42-10
The Athletic re-rank: 13

If the "re-ranks" are anywhere near accurate this demonstrates how great of a job our program does with recruiting and developing those recruits.

That is probably (if remotely accurate) the best recruiting ranking you can hope for. I couldn’t care less what some service thinks about an 18 year old kid finishing up high school. I want to know how a group of 22 year old young men performed over a 4 year period. Again, if there is merit to those numbers we can really get it done. I’ve asked many times to see that kind of information. Thanks

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

On a related note, this was on the App State Football Facebook page today:

On #NSD21, a quick look back at our 2016 and 2017 classes...
2016:
Class rank: 109
4-year record: 43-10
The Athletic re-rank: 28
2017:
Class rank: 107
4-year record: 42-10
The Athletic re-rank: 13

If the "re-ranks" are anywhere near accurate this demonstrates how great of a job our program does with recruiting and developing those recruits.

And not to take away from the coaching staff but it also shows, I would think, the skewed nature of the rankings in that I imagine in a blind test the same recruit hitting a Prig 5 program versus a Great 5 program will automatically have a higher ranking at a Prig 5 school, because Prig 5.

[APPdiesel]

Write it down...

2021 class
Class rank: 69 (2020 class ranked 85th)
1st in the Sunbelt
9th overall in the group of 5

[Rekdiver]

These yahoos don’t know C R A P....
They just look at measurables. You can’t predict heart and football IQ

[T-Dog]

The five stars and high four stars turn into the best college players more often than not for a reason. There's a reason Clemson, Ohio State and Alabama dominate every year, they get the best Jimmy's and Joe's. Also, they have the best resources and coaching to build on that blue-chip potential.

But once you get past that upper crust (Top 20-30 teams in recruiting rankings), recruiting rankings are just numbers and stars. It also comes down to coaching and if the resources fit that player the best. But you got to recruit four and three stars because of the perception to those high schoolers that take those rankings as gospel.

[Cro-Magnon App]

“... you can’t predict heart and IQ ...”

I agree. And there are many college coaches out there that think if all the size and speed and other numbers are good, but the intangibles are not good (a high school coach tells the recruiter in all honesty that “the kid is hard to coach, doesn’t listen, is lazy, is hard headed, has a huge ego, etc...”) the high school coach couldn’t get it out of him, but the college coach thinks he can. Rarely, if ever, does it happen (a leopard doesn’t change his spots?). Then they fail to make headway with the kid and run him off.