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The 14 college football programs in the Southeastern Conference are located, collectively, in the most talent-rich region of the country.
Given that, it’s no surprise that annually more SEC teams are in the top 25 of team recruiting rankings on signing day and that SEC teams annually produce more NFL draft picks than any other conference.
But there are programs that do damage to the league on the recruiting trail, thanks in part to geographic location, but mostly because of the excellence they strive to achieve in roster-building and acquiring talent.
The pair that hurts the most
The two that hurt the SEC the most, Clemson and Florida State, will play in major bowl games today with the top-ranked Tigers in the national semifinals (Orange Bowl) this afternoon.
Clemson
During the last two recruiting cycles (2014 and 2015), Clemson has signed 14 prospects rated four-stars or better (247Sports Composite rankings) out of SEC footprint states (any state with an SEC program located within its borders).
A strong argument can be made that the Tigers are the single program that hurts the SEC the most on the recruiting trail, simply because Dabo Swinney and his staff have shown the ability to land multiple high-level prospects over the years from multiple SEC talent pockets.
Clemson isn’t a program that strikes gold in a particular area and then continues to go to that mine. The Tigers have a collective of mines throughout the region and not only land elite prospects from their own state (South Carolina) that is within the SEC footprint, but routinely go into Georgia and Florida and land top-shelf talent.
Many of Clemson’s best players- including quarterback Deshaun Watson (Gainesville, Ga.), a Heisman Trophy finalist, cornerback MacKensie Alexander (Immokalee, Fla.), and wide receiver Artavis Scott (Tarpon Springs, Fla.) are franchise-level recruits from out-of-state SEC recruiting regions.
The recruiting battles Clemson has fought and won in those areas have directly correlated into the Tigers being a National Championship contender. Don’t think for a minute that Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and the other SEC programs the Tigers have snatched players from on the recruiting trail wouldn’t love to have their pick of the talent on the Clemson roster.
Florida State
The Seminoles have signed more prospects rated four stars or better during the last two cycles from SEC states (22) than Clemson has, but the majority of the damage Florida State does is within the state of Florida (20 are from the Sunshine State), which works just fine considering Florida produces a slew of high-level talent on an annual basis.
The Noles have long been able to win their share of recruiting battles against SEC programs, so it comes as no surprise that they are one of the two that hurt the league the most. When it comes to a direct victim, look no further than Florida. Think the Gators would have liked to have had Dalvin Cook and Ermon Lane? That almost happened. Those two alone could have made a huge difference on offense the last two years in Gainesville. Florida State also is able to more times than not hold off Alabama, Auburn, Georgia and the other SEC programs that attempt to sign elite talent out of the Sunshine State on an annual basis.
By the way, the 2013 National Championship Florida State won was led by Jameis Winston, who is a product of the state of Alabama. Talk about a big recruiting win in a tough-to-recruit SEC footprint state!
Be aware of these three
Ohio State
The Buckeyes are located in a major talent-producing state themselves and also recruit nationally, but that hasn’t stopped them from signing six prospects in the 2014 and 2015 classes rated four stars or higher out of the SEC footprint.
Texas
Simply by the Longhorns being located within the Lone Star State and having decades of success recruiting that state, they are worth a mention here. Current coach Charlie Strong and his staff also cherry pick Florida and other SEC states. If Texas starts winning big again and dominating in-state recruiting, then its a given that the Longhorns are more of a factor.
Notre Dame
The Irish have shown the ability to dip into the SEC footprint and land highly-regarded prospects. Notre Dame is a program to be aware of when discussing every conference’s footprint.
One outlier
Miami
The Hurricanes always will recruit talent-rich south Florida well, but Alabama (Amari Cooper, Calvin Ridley, etc.) and other SEC programs (Arkansas and Alex Collins, Auburn and Carlton Davis, etc.) have been more successful in recent cycles plucking top talent out of Dade, Broward and Palm Beach than what was once the case. If new head coach Mark Richt and his staff can begin to seal the borders of the “State of Miami” then the Hurricanes certainly are a program that every program in the SEC that recruits the area needs to be aware of.
Recruiting writer for Saturday Down South
