Utah is one of the best teams in the nation and one of the two best in the PAC right now...
Oregon almost always out-recruits the Sun Devils while the Devils almost always out-recruits the Utes, based on annual recruiting sites' team rankings...
So, no mystery as to why the Ducks are resurgent under Christobal, who inherited a good situation from his predecessor and now has the Ducks recruiting almost as well as any other team in the country, so the Ducks will be a favorite to win the PAC regularly, if I don't miss my guess...
If Herm was loading up the Devils with that kind of Duck talent, he could run almost any offense and win without too much of a problem, IMHO...
But, as we all know, that isn't going to happen anytime soon at ASU based on our past history...
Now, let's take a look at the Utes who almost never recruit better than the Devils, according to the national and PAC rankings, but are a title contender, almost every year, despite that drawback...
Here are the Utes national and PAC recruiting rankings over the past five years according to 247Sports and I'm sure that the Rivals rankings would be very similar...
Note: I got this info from the Daily Star this past Saturday when they compared Utah's and AU's recruiting rankings...
2015 Utah = 45 nationally and 10th in PAC
2016 = 37 and 8
2017 = 33 and 7
2018 = 33 and 5
2019 = 42 and 7
I don't have the Sun Devils rankings but I'm pretty sure that our rankings, both nationally and in the conference, were better than the Utes most of the time during those years...
So, why are the Utes winning at a significant clip given their fairly so-so, on paper, recruiting efforts..??
Part of the reason is that Whittingham is a really good HC that has probably the best overall staff in the PAC based on how they recruit and maximize their talent in Utah...
He's also been at Utah since 1994, when he became a DL coach there and was promoted to DC, after one year, where he remained until becoming the HC in 2005...
That's a lot of stability and continuity, to say the least, as he is now the Dean of Coaches in the PAC, who still has not reached retirement age...
The Utes also have a Poly pipeline that restocks both their offensive and defensive lines on a regular basis...
Whitt also changed offensive gears five years ago in order to win championships at Utah...
And, now they are on top of the PAC due to what he has done there...
Their offensive LT is 6-5 315, LG 6-4 300, C 6-4 340, RG 6-5 324 and RT 6-7 305...
And their DL are LE 6-3 265, LT 6-2 333, RT 6-5 335 and RE 6-3 258...
Doesn't take a genius to figure out why they win all of the time...
Herm isn't going to be able to recruit like the Ducks but he might be able to recruit like the Utes, right..??
But, is he the same caliber of coach that Whittingham is at Utah..??
Also, will Herm open up the Sun Devil offense enough to overcome some deficits on that side of the ball or will he keep to the right lane, slow down offense that he prefers..??
Loved those explosive plays that beat the Ducks on Saturday night...
Was that just a happy coincidence..??
Lots of food for thought when comparing the Ducks to the Utes to the Devils related to the various levels of coaching and recruiting...
Go Devils!!!
Oregon almost always out-recruits the Sun Devils while the Devils almost always out-recruits the Utes, based on annual recruiting sites' team rankings...
So, no mystery as to why the Ducks are resurgent under Christobal, who inherited a good situation from his predecessor and now has the Ducks recruiting almost as well as any other team in the country, so the Ducks will be a favorite to win the PAC regularly, if I don't miss my guess...
If Herm was loading up the Devils with that kind of Duck talent, he could run almost any offense and win without too much of a problem, IMHO...
But, as we all know, that isn't going to happen anytime soon at ASU based on our past history...
Now, let's take a look at the Utes who almost never recruit better than the Devils, according to the national and PAC rankings, but are a title contender, almost every year, despite that drawback...
Here are the Utes national and PAC recruiting rankings over the past five years according to 247Sports and I'm sure that the Rivals rankings would be very similar...
Note: I got this info from the Daily Star this past Saturday when they compared Utah's and AU's recruiting rankings...
2015 Utah = 45 nationally and 10th in PAC
2016 = 37 and 8
2017 = 33 and 7
2018 = 33 and 5
2019 = 42 and 7
I don't have the Sun Devils rankings but I'm pretty sure that our rankings, both nationally and in the conference, were better than the Utes most of the time during those years...
So, why are the Utes winning at a significant clip given their fairly so-so, on paper, recruiting efforts..??
Part of the reason is that Whittingham is a really good HC that has probably the best overall staff in the PAC based on how they recruit and maximize their talent in Utah...
He's also been at Utah since 1994, when he became a DL coach there and was promoted to DC, after one year, where he remained until becoming the HC in 2005...
That's a lot of stability and continuity, to say the least, as he is now the Dean of Coaches in the PAC, who still has not reached retirement age...
The Utes also have a Poly pipeline that restocks both their offensive and defensive lines on a regular basis...
Whitt also changed offensive gears five years ago in order to win championships at Utah...
And, now they are on top of the PAC due to what he has done there...
Their offensive LT is 6-5 315, LG 6-4 300, C 6-4 340, RG 6-5 324 and RT 6-7 305...
And their DL are LE 6-3 265, LT 6-2 333, RT 6-5 335 and RE 6-3 258...
Doesn't take a genius to figure out why they win all of the time...
Herm isn't going to be able to recruit like the Ducks but he might be able to recruit like the Utes, right..??
But, is he the same caliber of coach that Whittingham is at Utah..??
Also, will Herm open up the Sun Devil offense enough to overcome some deficits on that side of the ball or will he keep to the right lane, slow down offense that he prefers..??
Loved those explosive plays that beat the Ducks on Saturday night...
Was that just a happy coincidence..??
Lots of food for thought when comparing the Ducks to the Utes to the Devils related to the various levels of coaching and recruiting...
Go Devils!!!
