Ranking SEC Recruiting Staffs

If you had to rank the SEC Staffs in terms of their recruiting success/ability, how would you do it? Here would be mine.

1. Alabama, This staff has signed two Rivals.com Number 1 classes in two full recruiting years, hard to argue with results.

2. Florida, Signed the nation's number one class in 2007 by Rivals and Scout. The staff also signed two Top 3 classes in '06 and '08. They had a decent class in 2009 (ranked number 11 by Rivals.com and number 21 by Scout.com), and they're off to a great start in 2010.

3. LSU, Signed the nation's number 1 class by ESPN in 2009. The staff has done a great job in its time in Baton Rouge. The staff also had Top 10 classes in 2006 and 2007. In any other conference, they would be at the top of the class. This just shows the depth of the SEC.

4. Georgia, In the last 8 years has never had a class ranked worse than 10th nationally. The staff has only two Top 5 classes (including a No. 3 class in 2002) but is the model of consistency.

5. Tennessee, Signed the nation's number 1 player, 5* RB Bryce Brown, in their only class. They added to the class with 5* DB Janzen Jackson and 4* RB David Oku. Their inaugural class was ranked number 8 by Scout.com and number 10 by Rivals.com. In only one year, its tough to judge how the staff will mesh but they're off to a decent start in 2010.

6. Auburn, Hired a very solid staff in 2009, and it showed in their only recruiting class. Ranked number 16 in by Scout and 19 by Rivals they got a solid RB in 4* Onterio McCalebb. They also reeled in a 4* QB commitment in Tyrik Rollison. This staff showed they were up to the challenge of SEC recruiting by signing a solid class in a short time period.

7. South Carolina, has shown a little inconsistency during their stint in Columbia. They signed the nation's number 6 class in 2007, but before and since then they've struggled to crack the Top 20. They did sign a Top 12 class in 2009 but they haven't signed any other premier classes. Again, a very solid staff who would be near the top of most conferences but due to the depth of the SEC, they are in the bottom half.

8. Mississippi State, tough to judge with less than a full year on the job, but it was a good first recruiting class for Dan Mullen and staff. Scout.com ranked the class Number 19 nationally and they cracked the Top 25 in Rivals' rankings. Add that to the fact that Mullen learned from recruiting guru Urban Meyer and the future looks bright for Bulldog fans.

9. Arkansas, A decent year in Bobby Petrino's first full year as Razorbacks' head coach, ranking 16th nationally by Rivals and 20th nationally by Scout. This came on the heels of a disappointing first class by Petrino and staff. Nothing outstanding about Arkansas' first two classes, but they've done a solid job.

10. Ole Miss, Signed 37 prospects in Houston Nutt's first full class. Quanity is not always the answer though. The average star of those 37 players was 3.11. Though they did get some gems in the class (5* Bobby Massie, 4* Patrick Patterson) the amount of players they signed seems like it will take some quality away from the roster. Obviously all the players won't qualify but the sheer numbers would alarm me as a Rebel fan. Plus, in the previous season Nutt's class wasn't exactly spectacular (ranked 29th nationally by Rivals). Again Nutt is a decent recruiter but his first two years haven't met the standards of other SEC coaches.

11. Kentucky, They have done a decent job in Rich Brooks' tenure at Kentucky considering the lack of facilities and winning in Lexington. They even came close to signing a Top 25 class this season (27th by Scout). Still, nowhere near the other programs in the SEC, recruiting wise.

12. Vanderbilt, have never cracked the Top 50 nationally in Recruiting. However, Bobby Johnson has a tough job picking recruits who feels can meet the lofty academic requirements to get into the Nashville Private school and are still SEC level players. However, they do sometimes find a diamond in the rough, like Jay Cutler.

Edit: After thinking looking at average stars I decided to take the advice of posters. Georgia bumped behind Florida and LSU. Plus, Georgia has never had a number 1 class, something Florida and LSU have done.