It’s not too fair to judge new college football coaches on their first recruiting classes because most are hired with very little time to close out the class. The coaching carousel starts only weeks before the early signing period in December, and coaches can’t be expected to do much in those first weeks, or even the short period of time leading into February’s signing day.
The second recruiting class is where we can really examine what kind of excitement is building around the program and if the coaches are having success convincing prospects to join their team.
There were quite a few coaches who fell into this category, recruiting their second class in the 2020 cycle, so here is a look at how they did compared to the first class.
Ryan Day, Ohio State Buckeyes
Day took over for Urban Meyer only weeks before the early signing period and didn’t have a ton of time to make a huge impact on the 2019 class. It was a smaller class, anyway, for the Buckeyes, and it finished ranked No. 16 overall. That didn’t mean it lacked talent, though, as there were nine ESPN 300 commitments, including five-star defensive end Zach Harrison and four-star wide receiver Garrett Wilson, both of whom contributed in their freshman season.