When 247Sports National Recruiter of the Year Fran Brown was hired as the head football coach at Syracuse following the SEC Championship game in early December, that could’ve been a big blow to the Bulldogs regarding their 2024 class.
Having guys like Director of Recruiting Relations David Cooper on staff helped Kirby Smart and his on-field assistant coaches calm any storm.
Miami never let up recruiting top-ranked cornerback Ellis Robinson IV. Oregon took another swing at top-ranked linebacker Justin Williams, but the Bulldogs have staffers like Cooper in the building that also have strong relationships with these blue-chippers. Following Brown’s departure, Robinson quickly told Smart, Cooper and Will Muschamp that Georgia had nothing to worry about.
“The relationship with Coop has been building throughout the recruiting process,” Robinson’s father said. “Coop was normally our lead recruiter on every visit so the transition was very smooth for Ellis because Coop just slid right into that mentor/uncle roll when Fran left. He gives Ellis a person he trusts and someone he can sit down and talk too about anything. Ellis has that at home with us but having that at school is important for a freshman trying to get adjusted and dealing with the rigors of school and football. We are extremely focused on Ellis’s mental health and Coop helps with that.”
In today’s landscape of college football, a team of off-field recruiting staffers is pivotal in maximizing talent acquisition on the trail. We see programs from coast to coast bolstering their respective armies with more and more personnel and increasing salaries for those most vital.
Cooper is as vital to a football program as they come and he’s not the only.
“He would always be one of the first guys you see getting through the door,” top-ranked safety KJ Bolden’s father Kai said. “He worked with us a lot getting us set to travel on an official visit and stuff like that. Even now to this day he texts us KJ is doing good, I’ve seen him he’s making his meeting. He’s definitely been a big part of the process. He even helped KJ move in the first day we got on campus, helped get his stuff in. He’s going to be one of those people we need something we can depend on him.”
247Sports highlights some of the many other dependable folks in those off-field roles that helped build many of the nation’s Top 25 classes.
The Bulldogs finished atop the standings for the third time in the Smart era and in addition to Cooper they also got valuable contributions from the likes of Montgomery VanGorder (recruits often mention him by his nickname Gummy), Pryce Tracy, Jeremy King who is now the Western Carolina offensive line coach and Manrey Saint-Amour. The Bulldogs put together one of the country’s best hauls on the offensive line and King and Saint-Amour were pivotal in that.
“Manrey is a good catalyst for those six players, bringing them together,” said Vincent Calhoun, the father of 247Sports No. 5 offensive tackle Daniel Calhoun.
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Nick Saban obviously had the reputation of being college football’s best closer on the trail but it helped having people like Ashleigh Kimble in his corner in securing 247Sports’ No. 2 ranked class. Kimble was there the entire Saban era and is a crucial holdover for Kalen DeBoer and this new staff. As Associate Director, Recruiting Operations, Kimble is the parent liaison, and she does a terrific job in making the folks of these blue-chippers feel comfortable about their son’s respective situations in Tuscaloosa. An Alabama native, she connects parents of committed players with those parents of uncommitted targets, which creates that family environment everyone is looking for. She is also the liaison for the current team’s parents so it’s a smooth transition once a prospect signs. The team of Kimble and Carrigan Johnson are as good as it gets in college football of answering all the parents questions and making sure these families have what they need. Harding Harper who is no long with Alabama, was the off-field personnel guy that kept in communication with nearly all the top targets. Bob Welton was there to help get five-star receiver Ryan Williams back in the fold.
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Oregon’s No. 3 class marks the program’s highest-ranked recruiting haul in the 247Sports era dating back to 2010. There might not be a duo who works closer than head coach Dan Lanning and Chief of Staff Marshall Malchow who have been plotting this all out dating back to their days working together at Georgia helping build the Bulldogs into a superpower.
This Ducks class was a group effort with several coming up big off-field including Kamran Araghi.
“He is thee guy,” George Rushing, the father of five-star defensive lineman Elijah Rushing said. “Not the guy, thee guy. Oh man, the kid, he appears to be such a genuine soul. Builds such great rapport with the recruit and the family. If he says something it’s gold. That being said, he was instrumental in us flipping (from Arizona) to Oregon.”
Araghi has a pinned post on his X accounting saying “it takes a village” and Oregon had one putting together this class. Rashad Wadood, Tyler Dean, Pat Biondo and Lydia Gibbs were all crucial for this Ducks class that finished No. 1 in the Big Ten.
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Miami signed 247Sports No. 4 ranked recruiting class and while Mario Cristobal goes as hard as any head coach in the country on the trail, he is first to salute his off-field recruiting department for their significant contributions.
Miami’s Executive Director Dennis Smith is as much a face as any off-field recruiting department in the county, impacting all facets of the operation including talent acquisition. He was pivotal in the Hurricanes landing class jewels in edge rusher Marquise Lightfoot, defensive lineman Armondo Blount, receivers Joshisa Trader and Ny Carr and defensive lineman Artavius Jones.
Miami’s Director of Player Personnel on Defense Steven Schrum did “an unbelievable job” with the top player in the class, five-star defensive lineman Justin Scott. The Chicago product flipped from Ohio State.
“He’s the person that kept Justin Scott alive,” a source said.
Todd Stroud, Stephen Field and Mike Rumph are key when prospects get on campus and Tia Joseph and Mackenzie Rizzi are tremendous with parents, and they also do the heavy lifting when putting together the visits.
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With Alabama making a late push to sign Buford (Ga.) High Top247 defensive lineman Eddrick Houston, Ohio State’s staff led by Ryan Day were all hands on deck working to keep the long-time pledge in the fold. That included Assistant Director of Recruiting Strategy Nick Murphy and Program Assistant Gerren DuHart.
“We were scrambling,” a source inside Ohio State’s facility told 247Sports. “We were like this is gonna be fight.”
A fight Ohio State won en route to signing 247Sports No. 5 class. Murphy has been big behind the scenes for the Buckeyes the last two cycles and DuHart quickly showed his recruiting chops in his first year in Columbus. Both also helped recruit Aaron Scott and Bryce West, while DuHart was a factor in recruiting Jaylen McClain and Murphy pushed for Leroy Roker after tracking his senior film.
General Manager Mark Pantoni runs the department and nobody is respected more by their peers in the space.
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Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian invests a lot of his own time and puts a lot on his on-field assistant coaches to stay on top targets and get it to the finish line, challenging them daily on the recruiting trail to be the best they can be. The off-field standout in Austin is Brandon Harris who Sarkisian just promoted to his General Manager position. Harris does a great job keeping in contact with prospects, particularly when coaches can’t, whether that’s because they’re on the practice field or getting ready for a game. He develops great relationships early with kid, getting on them as underclassmen and it sets the tone for the Longhorns to sign top-notch recruiting classes like they did again in 2024 (finishing No. 6).
“I call him the president,” Ryan Wingo’s father Ronnie said. “That’s my dude. He’s got to me passion for his job and does a good job. He’s always just 100 about everything. He does a good job of selling Sark’s vision of what the players can do to help their program.
“He’s the president.”
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Notre Dame’s Chad Bowden assisted on so many of the Irish’s biggest wins from linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa to receiver Cam Williams to offensive tackle Guerby Lambert. Those were some of the jewels of a class that checks in at No. 9 nationally. One of Marcus Freeman’s biggest wins this off-season was keeping Bowden on staff as rival programs came after him.
A source inside the Irish facility called defensive assistant Nick Sebastian “our secret weapon” on the trail. He was key with Top247 defensive end Bryce Young among others.
The Irish have a good off-field staff from Dre Brown to Carter Auman to Mackenzie Zanow to Zaire Turner to Caleb Davis who now runs the shop at Troy.
“They all killed it,” a source said.
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Texas A&M held together a Top25 class with guys like Tony Jerod-Eddie, Bryant Gross-Armiento, Mason Smith, Rohan Gaines and Andrew Bather helping make the transition for Mike Elko and this new staff easier as they arrived in College Station with the pre-existing relationships they had with the commits in the Aggies class.
“Tony, when I became interim I promoted him full time,” Syracuse defensive coordinator Elijah Robinson said. He is a former 247Sports National Recruiter of the Year. “He does a great job with kids, does a great job representing that university. He is A&M. Glad Mike kept him. Rohan did a great job especially helping us with those kids down south. With limited resources, not being able to get on the road they get on campus they trust him. Mason Smith I think he’s versatile. He can recruit poor, rich, white black, he’s a people person and does a great job building relationships as well. BGA does a good job building relationships and connecting with parents. Wake Forest Rutgers guy. Smart. I think parents want their kids around guys that are educated and can articulate their words and carry themselves the right way. Andrew Bather he kept us in the running for a lot of kids. He’s a guy every coach fought to get to host their kids when I was there.”
General Manager Derek Miller who came with Elko from Duke has quickly become one of the most respect young guys in the profession.
Quick Hitters From Around The Top25
-LSU’s off-field army is as integral as any support staff in the country for the contributions they make in helping the Tigers secure top classes, this year finishing No. 7. JR Belton, Sherman Wilson, Jordan Arcement, Bobby Barham, Morgan Phillips, Nick Brossette, Kynjee’ Cotton and Carl St. Cyr are a support-staff dream team when it comes to helping the on-field staff recruit.
-Oklahoma finished with a Top 10 class for a second-straight cycle, coming in at No. 9, and head coach Brent Venables has a strong department of people that stay on top of the recruiting efforts in Drew Hill, J.P. Losman, Xavier Brewer and Clayton Woods.
-Trovon Reed was tapped in with just about everybody in Auburn’s class before Gus Malzahn lured him away to come on-field and coach cornerbacks at UCF. Vontrell King-Williams was also key in helping recruit along the defensive front.
-Tajh Boyd continues to be impactful at Clemson helping the Tigers land the No. 11 class.
-Florida State’s off-field staff led by Darrick Yray with DJ Daniels, Ryan Bartow and Keiwan Ratliff helped the Seminoles close some big wins en route to the No. 12 class. These guys were big in recruiting wins like flipping Landen Thomas from Georgia or securing a signature from Amaree Williams.
-There isn’t much better in the SEC than Tennessee’s Levorn Harbin who was instrumental in the Vols No. 13 class. 247Sports No. 1 edge Jordan Ross was a big one he was involved in. Max Thurmond is huge for the Vols on the offensive side of the ball.
-Joe Hamilton at Florida is one of the best and he was key in the DJ Lagway recruitment, and Chad Lucas helped come up big in the Gators landing five-star LJ McCray. CJ Wilford, Kali James Jr. and David Doeker helped UF land a couple signatures as well.
-Penn State’s No. 15 class came together nicely with Alan Zemaitis and Kenny Sanders being two of their off-field rockstars they count on to help add talented prospects.
-As USC was making transitions with its defensive staff Weston Zernechel was instrumental in identifying and recruiting a lot of the programs targets down the stretch.
-Maurey Bland Jr. had the Midas touch in helping Missouri ink 247Sports No. 20 ranked class.
“Constant communication, organization, making sure we always put the message of Missouri out there, staying in touch,” head coach Eli Drinkwitz said.
-Kelvin Bolden always kills it for Ole Miss and this cycle was no different as he assisted in recruiting the likes of defensive linemen Kamarion Franklin, Kamron Beavers, Jeffery Rush and William Echoles along with Noreel White. Alex Faulk also does good work for the Rebels on the trail and Preston Tiffany is a good young evaluator.
-Over at Wisconsin Pat Lambert leads the charge from an evaluation standpoint knowing what Luke Fickell is looking for from not only a schematic standpoint but how does the young man fit the program’s culture. The staff at Wisconsin sings the praises of Taylor Ewald who organizes visits, creates schedules and itineraries and is the communication piece as prospects and their families come on to Madison. Maximus Steinecker is as tenacious a relationship builder you’re going to find, a detailed, sharp young guy who will be running a shop on another campus soon.
–James Blanchard and Brian Nance at Texas Tech have head coach Joey McGuire’s full trust and they led the charge in the Red Raiders signing the No. 1 class in the Big 12.
Two Bonus Nuggets Outside The Top25
-Molly Jacoby and Alex White continue to be rock stars in the North Carolina recruiting department per their peers.
-Jatavis Sanders was outstanding at NC State and he is now at Alabama. He is relentless in keeping in touch and one of the first faces you see when prospects get on campus. He’ll now work alongside one of the best in the country in Courtney Morgan.
