USF's recruiting classes ranked higher than Cincy's in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007

[RickUSF]

...yet Cincy won the Big East in back-to-back years in 2008 and 2009

It's fun to speculate who we will land, and the only thing i really focus in on is if we land our local talent (because i like having a team of home-grown kids, it creates a great pipeline).. but let't not fool ourselves with all this "National Signing Day" hoopla.. its how you develop the talent.

I see a lot of panic on this forum about how we're not landing these big names... child, please.  in 3 or 4 years, most of these names will slip into oblivion and we will never even know who they are.  Some of the names that aren't even being mentioned will be Big East All-Americans.  go back into 2006 and 2007 on scout or rivals, and actually look at even some of the 4-stars.. most of them i have never even heard of, and they are supposed to be seniors/nfl players by now

[The Great 8]

They also got handled easily in the BCS bowls in 2008 and 2009.

Coaching 'em up when you're in the BE may win you the conference. Look at UConn and Cincy the past 3 years. But, when you play a team filled with well coached team filled with 4 and 5-star players it doesn't matter how well you coach up your 2 and 3-star players most of the time.

Stars aren't the end all be all, but they do not hurt anything.

[South_Florida_Flip]

It all comes down to coaching.

[GaUSFBull]

It all comes down to coaching.

+1

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - the more prestigious recruits will come when USF can get the visibility that comes from being a conference champion. 

[RickUSF]

They also got handled easily in the BCS bowls in 2008 and 2009.

Coaching 'em up when you're in the BE may win you the conference. Look at UConn and Cincy the past 3 years. But, when you play a team filled with well coached team filled with 4 and 5-star players it doesn't matter how well you coach up your 2 and 3-star players most of the time.

Stars aren't the end all be all, but they do not hurt anything.

You can't play in BCS bowls unless you win the Conference Title (especially coming out of the Big East).. WVU "handled" Oklahoma and UGA in their BCS bowl games, and their recruiting classes were no where near OU or UGA's

[The Great 8]

They also got handled easily in the BCS bowls in 2008 and 2009.

Coaching 'em up when you're in the BE may win you the conference. Look at UConn and Cincy the past 3 years. But, when you play a team filled with well coached team filled with 4 and 5-star players it doesn't matter how well you coach up your 2 and 3-star players most of the time.

Stars aren't the end all be all, but they do not hurt anything.

You can't play in BCS bowls unless you win the Conference Title (especially coming out of the Big East).. WVU "handled" Oklahoma and UGA in their BCS bowl games, and their recruiting classes were no where near OU or UGA's

Sure, but WVU's classes have been the class of the BE.

We're closer to UC and UConn recruiting classes than WVU's. And, our record in the BE reflects it.

[2000bull]

They also got handled easily in the BCS bowls in 2008 and 2009.

Coaching 'em up when you're in the BE may win you the conference. Look at UConn and Cincy the past 3 years. But, when you play a team filled with well coached team filled with 4 and 5-star players it doesn't matter how well you coach up your 2 and 3-star players most of the time.

Stars aren't the end all be all, but they do not hurt anything.

You can't play in BCS bowls unless you win the Conference Title (especially coming out of the Big East).. WVU "handled" Oklahoma and UGA in their BCS bowl games, and their recruiting classes were no where near OU or UGA's

WVU recruiting classes were also a lot higher ranked than uconn & cincy

[Reliable Source]

This year Cincy #41, WVU #52, USF #55.

Scout.com

[RickUSF]

They also got handled easily in the BCS bowls in 2008 and 2009.

Coaching 'em up when you're in the BE may win you the conference. Look at UConn and Cincy the past 3 years. But, when you play a team filled with well coached team filled with 4 and 5-star players it doesn't matter how well you coach up your 2 and 3-star players most of the time.

Stars aren't the end all be all, but they do not hurt anything.

You can't play in BCS bowls unless you win the Conference Title (especially coming out of the Big East).. WVU "handled" Oklahoma and UGA in their BCS bowl games, and their recruiting classes were no where near OU or UGA's

Sure, but WVU's classes have been the class of the BE.

We're closer to UC and UConn recruiting classes than WVU's. And, our record in the BE reflects it.

If WVU's recruiting classes were so superior, how come they couldn't win the conference title in 2008 and 2009?

our record in the BE reflects it?!?  UC and UConn WON the Big East... with similar recruiting classes (ranking-wise) than us.. proof that their coaching staffs knew how to develop talent

FYI:

Pat White was a 2-star recruit

Steve Slaton was a 3-star recruit (didn't even get a scholarship from his dream school, Univ of Maryland)

Owen Schmitt, i can't even find stars on him (transferred from UW-River Falls.. heard of it? me neither)

Darius Reynaud was a 3-star recruit

The only highly-touted recruit that have had was Noel Devine, in 2006 (5-stars), but he came towards the end, and was not a part of the previous 4 that laid down the foundation for WVU's run from '03 to '07, although he was a big contributor to their win vs Oklahoma.. but I digress...

Also, those 4 are all playing in the NFL too.. again, all about development-- not bad for a bunch of 3-stars

[The Great 8]

If WVU's recruiting classes were so superior, how come they couldn't win the conference title in 2008 and 2009?

our record in the BE reflects it?!?  UC and UConn WON the Big East... with similar recruiting classes (ranking-wise) than us.. proof that their coaching staffs knew how to develop talent

I never said WVU's classes were "so superior" that they could make up for inept coaching since RichRod left (his BCS win was a fluke).

FYI, in terms of BE recruiting from Rivals:

2010 #1 WVU

2009 #1 WVU

2008 #2 WVU

2007 #1 WVU

2006 #5 WVU

2005 #1 WVU

2004 #2 WVU

They've been the #1 BE class more than they've been anything else combined. It's not surprising to me they've also been the conference torch bearer.

The difference between WVU and Cincy is that when they played BCS level teams they were able to compete because they had BCS talent on the field not just on the sidelines. The sideline talent of Kelly and Edsall was no match for the programs they faced in their bowl games.