Today, we compare Clemson's special teams recruiting to non-ACC teams. Assumptions made in creating this article can be found here. I should point out that we strictly used www.scout.com position classifications. It is possible that some players ended up at a different position ball after they arrived on campus for any of the schools in this article.
We again need to tell you that this analysis is very different from the others because special teams is extremely unique. Typically, special teams units are largely composed of non-starting position players and walk-ons. Many specialists, particularly kickers, who play vital roles in the games are preferred walk-ons who are able to earn playing time through special teams. We'll show the data for special teams recruiting but don't really know how vital all these numbers are based upon the impact of non-starters who play special teams and the large number of walk-ons we see week after week.
Table I and Figure 1 (below) both illustrate Clemson's ranking based on defensive line class size since 2006. Clemson (at 0.67 players per class) was only bettered by LSU at 0.83 ppc. Note that Clemson tied UGa, Auburn, and USF for second most signed over this time period. You'll note that no team in this survey signed more than two players in a single class.
Table I: Recruiting Class Size
|
Class Size |
|||||||
|
Team |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
AVERAGE |
|
Clemson |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0.67 |
|
Alabama |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0.50 |
|
Auburn |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0.67 |
|
Georgia |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0.67 |
|
LSU |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0.83 |
|
South Carolina |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0.33 |
|
South Florida |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0.67 |
|
Non-Clemson Average |
0.2 |
0.8 |
0.6 |
0.4 |
1.2 |
0.4 |
0.60 |
Figure 1: Individual Institution Recruiting Class Size
Figure 2: Average non-Clemson vs Clemson Recruiting Class Size
Table II and Figure 3 show the average star-rating per player for each team, as shown below. Clemson (2.58 stars/player) tied Auburn narrowly was better than LSU in terms of stars per player for the group. Clemson was 0.22 stars per player better than the field average overall, as shown in Figure 4.
Again, we have made the effort to list all the special teams' players signed by these teams since 2006.
Table II: Team Average Player Star Rating
|
Average Star Rating (per player) |
||||||||
|
Team |
Service |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
AVERAGE |
|
Clemson |
Scout |
3.00 |
NA |
2.50 |
NA |
NA |
3.00 |
2.83 |
|
Rivals |
3.00 |
NA |
2.00 |
NA |
NA |
2.00 |
2.33 |
|
|
Average |
3.00 |
NA |
2.25 |
NA |
NA |
2.50 |
2.58 |
|
|
Alabama |
Scout |
NA |
NA |
2.00 |
NA |
3.50 |
NA |
2.75 |
|
Rivals |
NA |
NA |
2.00 |
NA |
2.50 |
NA |
2.25 |
|
|
Average |
NA |
NA |
2.00 |
NA |
3.00 |
NA |
2.50 |
|
|
Auburn |
Scout |
2.00 |
3.00 |
NA |
NA |
3.00 |
NA |
2.67 |
|
Rivals |
2.00 |
3.00 |
NA |
NA |
2.50 |
NA |
2.50 |
|
|
Average |
2.00 |
3.00 |
NA |
NA |
2.75 |
NA |
2.58 |
|
|
Georgia |
Scout |
NA |
2.00 |
4.00 |
2.00 |
NA |
2.00 |
2.50 |
|
Rivals |
NA |
2.00 |
3.00 |
NA |
NA |
2.00 |
2.33 |
|
|
Average |
NA |
2.00 |
3.50 |
2.00 |
NA |
2.00 |
2.42 |
|
|
LSU |
Scout |
NA |
2.50 |
NA |
3.00 |
2.00 |
2.00 |
2.38 |
|
Rivals |
NA |
3.00 |
NA |
3.00 |
3.00 |
2.00 |
2.75 |
|
|
Average |
NA |
2.75 |
NA |
3.00 |
2.50 |
2.00 |
2.56 |
|
|
South Carolina |
Scout |
NA |
NA |
2.00 |
NA |
2.00 |
NA |
2.00 |
|
Rivals |
NA |
NA |
2.00 |
NA |
2.00 |
NA |
2.00 |
|
|
Average |
NA |
NA |
2.00 |
NA |
2.00 |
NA |
2.00 |
|
|
South Florida |
Scout |
2.00 |
NA |
2.00 |
NA |
2.00 |
NA |
2.00 |
|
Rivals |
2.00 |
NA |
2.00 |
NA |
2.00 |
NA |
2.00 |
|
|
Average |
2.00 |
NA |
2.00 |
NA |
2.00 |
NA |
2.00 |
|
|
Non-Clemson Average |
Scout |
2.00 |
2.50 |
2.50 |
2.50 |
2.50 |
2.00 |
2.33 |
|
Rivals |
2.00 |
2.67 |
2.25 |
3.00 |
2.40 |
2.00 |
2.39 |
|
|
Average |
2.00 |
2.58 |
2.38 |
2.50 |
2.45 |
2.00 |
2.36 |
|
Figure 3: Schools' Recruiting Average Player Star Rating
Figure 4: Average vs Clemson Recruiting Class Average Player Star Rating
Table III: Specialists Signed by Clemson/non-ACC Schools
|
Player |
Class |
Scout |
Rivals |
High School |
Hometown |
HT/WT/40 |
College |
Position |
|
Corey Smith |
2008 |
2 |
2 |
Musselman HS |
Bunker Hill, WV |
6-0/190 |
Alabama |
K |
|
2010 |
4 |
3 |
Carroll HS |
Southlake, TX |
6-1/215 |
Alabama |
K |
|
|
2010 |
3 |
2 |
Thomasville HS |
Thomasville, AL |
6-4/220 |
Alabama |
P |
|
|
2006 |
2 |
2 |
Oak Mountain HS |
Birmingham, AL |
6-0/182 |
Auburn |
K |
|
|
2007 |
3 |
3 |
St. Thomas Aquinas HS |
Fort Lauderdale, FL |
6-1/200 |
Auburn |
K |
|
|
Steven Clark |
2010 |
2 |
2 |
Park Hill HS |
Kansas City, MO |
6-6/230 |
Auburn |
P |
|
2010 |
4 |
3 |
Jupiter HS |
Jupiter, FL |
6-1/185 |
Auburn |
K |
|
|
Richard Jackson |
2006 |
3 |
3 |
Riverside HS |
Greer, SC |
5-11/180/4.70 |
Clemson |
K |
|
2008 |
2 |
2 |
Myrtle Beach HS |
Myrtle Beach, SC |
6-3/190 |
Clemson |
K |
|
|
2008 |
3 |
2 |
Brookwood HS |
Snellville, GA |
6-2/195 |
Clemson |
P |
|
|
Ammon Lakip |
2011 |
3 |
2 |
Chattahoochee HS |
Alpharetta, GA |
5-11/175 |
Clemson |
K |
|
2007 |
2 |
2 |
Peachtree Ridge HS |
Suwanee, GA |
6-2/200 |
Georgia |
P |
|
|
2008 |
4 |
3 |
Cardinal Gibbons HS |
Fort Lauderdale, FL |
5-10/175 |
Georgia |
K |
|
|
Brandon Bogatay |
2009 |
2 |
N/A |
Grossmont |
El Cajon, CA |
-/- |
Georgia |
K |
|
Nathan Theus |
2011 |
2 |
2 |
The Bolles School |
Jacksonville, FL |
6-3/252/5.22 |
Georgia |
LS |
|
2007 |
3 |
3 |
Northwest Cabarrus HS |
Concord, NC |
6-0/175 |
LSU |
K |
|
|
2007 |
2 |
3 |
Ridgeway HS |
Memphis, TN |
6-0/165/4.90 |
LSU |
K |
|
|
2009 |
3 |
3 |
Fort Scott |
Fort Scott, KS |
6-1/180 |
LSU |
P |
|
|
2010 |
2 |
3 |
Parkview Baptist School |
Baton Rouge, LA |
6-3/175 |
LSU |
P |
|
|
James Hairston |
2011 |
2 |
2 |
Jesuit College Prep School |
Dallas, TX |
6-0/190 |
LSU |
K |
|
Ryan Doerr |
2008 |
2 |
2 |
Katy HS |
Katy, TX |
-/- |
South Carolina |
P |
|
2010 |
2 |
2 |
Burns HS |
Lawndale, NC |
6-1/165 |
South Carolina |
P |
|
|
2006 |
2 |
2 |
Robinson Senior HS |
Tampa, FL |
6-2/185 |
South Florida |
K |
|
|
2008 |
2 |
2 |
Lake Wales Senior HS |
Lake Wales, FL |
5-9/170 |
South Florida |
K |
|
|
2008 |
2 |
2 |
Winter Springs HS |
Winter Springs, FL |
6-3/230 |
South Florida |
P |
|
|
2010 |
2 |
2 |
Forest HS |
Ocala, FL |
6-1/205 |
South Florida |
K |
As we stated in the two previous articles, this is a tough analysis based upon the large number of special teams players who are either walk-ons or play other positions. We also pointed out that many kickers come to school as preferred walk-ons so their data was not captured in this article.