The college football season never ends. Once the schedule wraps up, coaches are on the recruiting trail doing their best to lock up top young talent ahead of national signing day. After that, it isn’t long after that when spring practices start up and preparations for the new season begins. While some coaches make it seem easy, recruiting is extremely difficult across the country and in particular in the SEC where the top programs are constantly fighting to land the next big prospect. Alabama head coach Nick Saban is considered the class of the SEC – and arguably the college football world – when it comes to recruiting, but not every coach from that conference has excelled in that department. Here is a look at the four worst recruiters in the SEC.
Barry Odom
Missouri Tigers
Odom did a decent job piecing together a recruiting class after taking over for Gary Pinkel in December, but he is clearly at a major disadvantage in the SEC right now. Odom has struggled to land the top prospects out of areas like Georgia and Texas, and it will likely take a little longer before he is able to convince four and five-star recruits from those types of areas to commit to Missouri. Odom gets a pass for 2016 based on the fact that he just took over a program that was already in a tough spot when it came to the recruiting trail, but the new regime will have its work cut out in 2017 as well. They must find a way to upgrade their talent level by convincing young players to sign with them over other top schools. As of right now, the Tigers aren’t a very attractive place to be because of the coaching situation.
Derek Mason
Vanderbilt Commodores
Vanderbilt’s increased academic requirements puts Mason at a disadvantage when it comes to recruiting. However, he can still use the prospect of a degree from the school to his advantage when it comes to convincing players that the Commodores is the best choice for securing a successful future. After all, only a portion of the players that attend college end up in the NFL.
Mason earned a decent grade for signing four-star cornerback Joejuan Williams and four-star pro-style quarterback Kyle Shurmur in this year’s class, but he understands he can’t go head-to-head with the big boys in the SEC. This is one of the main reasons why the Commodores continue to be the SEC’s doormat.
Mark Stoops
Kentucky Wildcats
Stoops has done a good job recruiting as much instate talent as possible – including this year when he locked in a pair of four-star offensive linemen in Drake Jackson and Landon Young – but he hasn’t been able to make nearly as strong of an impact outside of Kentucky. Stoops has increased his recruiting efforts in other areas, including most notably Ohio, but the Wildcats’ lack of depth has been a major issue over the last two seasons. They have worn down in SEC play each time. Kentucky doesn’t have the recruiting power to contend for an SEC title, but Stoops needs to find a way to do a better job bringing in talent from other areas in order to at least remain a competitive team on an annual basis.
Dan Mullen
Mississippi State Bulldogs
Mullen has done a decent job with some home run recruits including five-star defensive end Jeffrey Simmons and five-star defensive tackle Chris Jones, but he has also missed hard in his own backyard. Four-star wide receiver A.J. Brown called out Mullen by telling a reporter on national signing day that, “I was going to stay, but I felt like they didn’t do a good job of recruiting. I didn’t feel wanted.” Those are harsh words from a player that many thought would end up signing on with the Bulldogs. Mullen has done a solid job from a talent development perspective, but he has not been good enough on the recruiting trail to hang with the top coaches in the SEC. The Bulldog are no longer doormats in the SEC but for them to win some of those big games where they’ve failed in recent years, they’ll need better talent.
Want to give your comments about this article? You can either leave them here or you can join us on the Get More Sports Forum and talk about this article and many more! Brag about your favorite team, argue about an athlete’s performance or tell us about a game you saw. Join a new community of sports fans who live and breathe sports and sports entertainment. It’s free! Join now!
