The Early Offer is RecruitingNation's regular feature, giving you a daily dose of recruiting in the mornings. Today’s offerings: After a few weeks to recover from national signing day, it’s always interesting to analyze the data to get a better understanding of what really happened. To me, there’s no better test of a program’s recruiting momentum than to see how they climbed from one class to another. And programs like Boston College, NC State and Stanford are definitely trending upward.
New to the mix
Boston College, Syracuse and Western Michigan were the three schools you could make a case climbed the most from the 2013 to 2014 recruiting class, especially the Eagles. None of the three programs were ranked in the 2013 top 75, but Boston College climbed all the way to No. 42 overall in 2014. The Eagles' class was headlined by former Rutgers commit and ESPN 300 prospect Jonathan Hilliman, who is expected to have an instant impact at running back. Syracuse (60) and Western Michigan’s (68) entrance into the rankings weren't as high as the Eagles’ but it’s a step in the right direction if you’re a fan of both programs. There are many, including me, that believe the Broncos signed the best class ever in the MAC.
Top-5 climbers
1. Dave Doeren was fired up about his 2014 class when I visited with him at the American Football Coaches Association convention in January, and the signing day numbers reveal why. The Pack saw the biggest gain from 2013 to 2014, climbing 28 spots. Unfortunately NC State wasn’t able to crack the top 35, finishing at No. 38, but still it is significant movement for a program that finished 3-9 overall and 0-8 in the ACC.
2. Stanford
The Cardinal’s dominance on the field helped it climb 25 spots from 2013 to 2014. The top-15 effort and No. 2 finish in the Pac-12 is about as impressive as it gets because the 2013 class was very good coming in at No. 40. But coach David Shaw was able to take another major step forward in 2014. The job he and his staff do of finding high-quality players with a higher academic standard is second to none.
3. Tennessee
Coach Butch Jones has done big things on the recruiting trail for the Vols, and they landed at No. 5 in 2014. The Vols' class ranks as the third largest climb from 2013 to 2014 with a gain of 24 spots in the class rankings. Jones was able to build his 2014 class largely off 14 early enrollees, many of whom are expected to have an immediate impact for Tennessee after going through spring drills.
4. Texas Tech
The Red Raiders climbed 22 spots from 2013 to 2014, and it’s no surprise to those that follow Big 12 football that Kliff Kingsbury was able to get things done on the recruiting trail. He is the cool coach who recruits want to play for. If he’s not rapping while at practice, his name is being used as a "Jeopardy!" clue. Kingsbury's "cool factor" helped Tech sign a top-35 class in 2014.
5. UCF
Buoyed by a BCS victory over Baylor, UCF saw more and more recruits show interest in the program, which allowed the Knights to climb 22 spots from 2013 to 2014. The Knights climbed all the way to No. 52 in the country, ahead of major BCS programs like Georgia Tech, Rutgers, Kansas State, Utah and Oregon State, among others.