*UPDATED* -Taking a look at 25 years of recruiting & rankings from then to now .....

[LCN]

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EDITED - Apologies to those who have already read this and to Rodney Orr as well . If you have read this , then you know I'm playing hurt . Thing is , I'm also on the meds so to speak and cannot believe I forgot to include Rodney in this piece . Sorry , Rodney Take 2 .... LOL



How did we get from there to here ?


Below are listings from the past 25-26 years showing two things - 1 - which school was #1 either by average or consensus and - 2 - where Alabama was ranked each year .


FIRST .... How did all of this come to be ? During the late 70's there was a domer who is generally credited as being the first recruiting "guru" , Joe Terranova . A couple of years back I was asked by a member if I remembered him and I honestly did not . Pretty easy to forget as his newsletter/publication had rather limited circulation and was very little more than a propaganda piece pushing the dome . Terranova did receive some decent exposure though when he was buried in the back of a few editions of Sports Illustrated over a 4-5 year span . This was how limited recruiting coverage was in those days .

Next in line were Tom Lemming (another fraudulent Chicago based domer) and Allen Wallace (SuperPrep) . Both made futile attempts at covering recruiting from a national perspective yet somehow managed to survive simply because of little to no competition . At the same time (1979) , Kirk McNair (BamaMag) , far from a fraud , began covering this new fad from a purely Alabama perspective . McNair instantly became the "gold standard" for Alabama recruiting information via monthly magazine and weekly newsletters .

Soon after , Forrest Davis made his mark with a poorly designed magazine/newsletter venture which was little more than Bama propaganda combined with flat out guesses when "focusing" on prospects who were not targeted by the Alabama coaching staff . I use "focusing" lightly as 1-2 sentences , if that , per prospect is little more than a short-changed joke . Without an annual whisper in the ear from a couple of UA staffers , Forrest had no genuine information .

As the 80's moved on , other gurus made their presence known . Max Emfinger was the most notable of the newcomers who attempted to cover recruiting nationally . Max always , and still does , put out a lot of effort but outside of Texas and Louisiana he had very limited sources and is still somewhat restricted in the present . Truth be told , one of his handful of sources for Alabama and Auburn information in that day was .... is typing this piece .

As others took the dive into the recruiting scene , incidents such as the supposed Charlie Dare scandal helped to shed new light on recruiting and as a result both fan interest and the business side exploded throughout the south and in turn the nation . Countless others , mostly from throughout the southeast , began to cover recruiting and pushing combinations of newsletters , magazines and recorded phone messages . By the early to middle portion of the 1990's there were as many as 12-14 "services" and or frauds focusing solely on recruiting . Even Max Howell started a service at one time . I think it was in 1993 but Max had insufficient backing to keep the service up and running . Another among this new bread was a guy from Guntersville , AL who was easily the best and who was , above all else , honest - Jeff Whitaker . Bill King from up in Tennessee was pretty adequate and Bill Buchalter down in Florida was fairly reputable too .

This was also the same point in time a new medium had really taken over - Sports Radio . Without SR , the avid or day to day follower of recruiting was completely lost . All of the information which was current , as well as the dismantling of false info , was sorted out on a daily basis through the crackle of AM radio waves . During those years I was fortunate or unfortunate enough to have had dealings or relationships on some level with every guru in the game up to but excluding the modern guru of gurus - Jamie Newberg .

Another newcomer primarily focusing on Alabama recruiting was also starting to make the rounds by the name of Rodney Orr . Rodney doesn't say so in his bio but his initail efforts were recordings on 800 or 900 numbers . Rodney started his service in 1991 or 92 as best I can recall and we were among the first handful of shows to have him as an ocassional guest . Rodney has since , among other things , founded and maintains an exceptional site focused on U of A athletics and recruiting - TiderInsider . Over time Rodney has supplanted Kirk McNair as being the more reliable source when it comes to Alabama recruiting .


Sorry but , I'm a poor typist with a broken finger , running out of gas and starting to break out countless typos so we'll wrap this one up with the obvious - SportsRadio would eventually step aside as the internet rose to the forefront during the very early years of this century with 2003 marking a year of total transformation . At some point in the near future , time permitting , we'll discuss just exactly how the early gurus arrived at their ratings , their period of reliance on local groups or individuals on up through the camp circuits and how all of it is done today .

Some years are based on consensus and some - early to late 90's - are based on an average rating as there were often as many as 8 to 14 sources for most of that span .

National leaders ....

84 - SoCal
85 - LOST in the flood we had this Spring .
86 - Mich/UCLA/Alabama
87 - ND
88 - ND
89 - ND
90 - ND
91 - PnSt
92 - FL/ND
93 - FlaSt
94 - TN
95 - ND
96 - PnSt/OhSt
97 - FlaSt/TN
98 - UCLA/Mich
99 - TX
00 - FL
01 - FlaSt (LSU fans embraced Emfinger)
02 - TX
03 - LSU
04 - SoCal
05 - SoCal
06 - SoCal
07 - FL
08 - Alabama
09 - Alabama


Alabama

84 - LOST in the flood we had this Spring . Terrible though as punter Chris Mohr was tops .
85 - LOST in the flood we had this Spring . I'll try to locate a ranking on the web as this class was strong .
86 - 3
87 - 20-25
88 - 20-25
89 - 20-25
90 - 15
91 - 5
92 - 15
93 - 6
94 - 6
95 - 9
96 - 20-25
97 - 8
98 - 5
99 - 3
00 - 4
01 - 20-25
02 - 25-30
03 - 25-30
04 - 15-20
05 - 16
06 - 14
07 - 15 - with Rivals being the exception - 10th
08 - 1
09 - 1


In closing .... I know many of you are die-hard supporters of the prettier package - Rivals - but , for the record , a 2006 study showed that Scout was far and away the more accurate service . That said , since '05 or so Scout largely put it park for a while and even regressed at one point prior to upping their efforts as of late . On the other hand , Rivals has seriously upped their game but more importantly has lessened their baiting tactics with misleading headlines , teasers and such .


TBC ....

PS - Who invented the tag "Blue Chip" and the system behind it ?

[RedStar]

Great job LCN! For younger recruiting junkies like me, this kind of stuff makes my day. Thanks for the effort.

I've been listening to Bill King a lot lately on Sirius/XM and he's grown on me a lot. I couldn't stand him in the beginning, he seemed a little arrogant, but I've since changed my opinion and I've even called in a few times to talk to him. He's really a nice guy.

I find it interesting how accurate some of those early-90's rankings were. PSU ranked #1 in 1991 and they go 12-0 3 years later. UF ranked #1 in 1992 and they win the MNC 4 years later. UT ranked #1 in 1994 and they win the MNC 4 years later. Texas in 02 winning the MNC 3 years later, etc...

Anyone who says they're not a direct correlation with recruiting rankings and championships should look at that list.

Again, great job LCN.

[dWarriors88]

A+++++ Post! GREAT read!!

[dWarriors88]

how did Notre Dame do when they had the 4 consecutive number one classes? NC?

[1FitToBeTide]

I'm not a player, but the blue chip is the highest valued of poker chips, I think...

[BigEasyTider]

	Quote:	dWarriors88
	how did Notre Dame do when they had the 4 consecutive number one classes? NC?

Extremely good.

Notre Dame went undefeated and won a national championship in 1988, and came very close to doing it in a couple of others years as well. Only a loss to eventual national champion Miami on the road in 1989 kept them from repeating. And honestly, only a last-second loss to Boston College in 1993 -- a week after beating #1 and eventual national champion Florida state -- kept them from winning it that year.

All told, from 1988-1993, Notre Dame went a combined 64-9-2. And that includes two Cotton Bowl victories, a Sugar Bowl victory, a Fiesta Bowl victory, and an Orange Bowl victory. Their only bowl loss was in the 1991 Orange Bowl to eventual co-national champion Colorado, when they lost 10-9 after a punt return for a touchdown was called back with less than two minutes to go.

Again, extremely good. The only team in the country better than them in that stretch was Miami, and they were only very slightly better. Had Notre Dame beaten them in that 1989 game, the Irish would have been the team of that era.

What can you say? Recruiting rankings matter. Period.

[resmith]

LCN, thanks for a great post. Really brought back some memories, both good and bad.
This is the kind of article that I have come to expect from this site-knowledgeable, interesting, and informative. Keep up the great work!

[BEATtutorsee]

Great stuff!

[LCN]

	Quote:	BigEasyTider
	Extremely good. Notre Dame went undefeated and won a national championship in 1988, and came very close to doing it in a couple of others years as well. Only a loss to eventual national champion Miami on the road in 1989 kept them from repeating. And honestly, only a last-second loss to Boston College in 1993 -- a week after beating #1 and eventual national champion Florida state -- kept them from winning it that year. All told, from 1988-1993, Notre Dame went a combined 64-9-2. And that includes two Cotton Bowl victories, a Sugar Bowl victory, a Fiesta Bowl victory, and an Orange Bowl victory. Their only bowl loss was in the 1991 Orange Bowl to eventual co-national champion Colorado, when they lost 10-9 after a punt return for a touchdown was called back with less than two minutes to go. Again, extremely good. The only team in the country better than them in that stretch was Miami, and they were only very slightly better. Had Notre Dame beaten them in that 1989 game, the Irish would have been the team of that era. What can you say? Recruiting rankings matter. Period.

Yep . Grannie still pouts about that one . Bottom line - Who lost last ... the dome

PS - BET , thanks for catching that for us as my hand and finger are KILLING me

[JPT4Bama]

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I remember some of the early recruiting pioneers and my how times have changed.

Great job LCN!

[LCN]

	Quote:	RedStar
	Great job LCN! For younger recruiting junkies like me, this kind of stuff makes my day. Thanks for the effort. I've been listening to Bill King a lot lately on Sirius/XM and he's grown on me a lot. I couldn't stand him in the beginning, he seemed a little arrogant, but I've since changed my opinion and I've even called in a few times to talk to him. He's really a nice guy. I find it interesting how accurate some of those early-90's rankings were. PSU ranked #1 in 1991 and they go 12-0 3 years later. UF ranked #1 in 1992 and they win the MNC 4 years later. UT ranked #1 in 1994 and they win the MNC 4 years later. Texas in 02 winning the MNC 3 years later, etc... Anyone who says they're not a direct correlation with recruiting rankings and championships should look at that list. Again, great job LCN.

While Bill has become mainly focused on the Titans these days , there was a time when he was an excellent source for TN recruiting and such . Primarily the 80's and 90's . Especially when compared to his fraudulent competitor - Jeff Weinberger We aired Bill down here in Montgomery on Sunday nights for a couple of years .... probably 89-90 or maybe even as late as 92-93 .

	Quote:	JPT4Bama
	Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I remember some of the early recruiting pioneers and my how times have changed. Great job LCN!

Well , I think you asked for something like this ...... 6-8-10 months ago Maybe one day/year I'll finish my book


Thanks for the interest and while I no longer invest 12-16 (as many as 20 in December and January) or so hours a day working at it , I'm usually pretty open to discussing it

[dWarriors88]

	Quote:	LCN
	Yep . Grannie still pouts about that one . Bottom line - Who lost last ... the dome PS - BET , thanks for catching that for us as my hand and finger are KILLING me

This study shows that recruiting is directly related with wins.

With that statement, where do you see Bama in 3 years?

[LCN]

I think Bama is already there