Why Are More College Football Recruits Leaving Their Home States?
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Cover photo of Miami signee Francis Mauigoa from American Samoa and IMG Academy; credit to All Hurricanes.
Back in the 1980s and 1990s, when people truly began to follow college football recruiting, most prospects stayed within their home state or a nearby state.
That’s changed quite a bit.
Here are a few examples from Power 5 programs that used to attempt to keep everyone at home, but have since taken a different approach.
Let’s use Georgia, Miami, and Ohio State as examples. Three college football programs that have resided in states with rich high school football talent pools so they did not necessarily need to travel far for talent.
For this exercise, let’s look back at the 2010 recruiting class, and then this past recruiting class of 2023. Let’s see just how different in-state recruiting has changed, and then ponder as to why.
Georgia Bulldogs
2010 in-state signees: 13.
2010 signees from outside of their region: zero.
2023 in-state signees: five.
2023 signees from out of their region: five.
Georgia did not even try to recruit outside the South. Talk about change. The Dawgs were able to have really good teams with just players from their own backyard and surrounding states.
Miami Hurricanes
2010 in-state signees: 16
2010 signees from outside of region: nine.
2023 in-state signees: 16.
2023 signees from out of their region: 4
Miami hit IMG Academy hard (four signees) in 2023, so the in-state numbers were skewed a bit. Still, the Canes wanted to hit talent-rich Florida hard. Difficult to argue with considering the NFL talent Florida produces. On the other side of this equation, the Canes have always recruited more nationally than the majority of other programs down South.
That’s especially true with quarterbacks dating back to Gino Torretta (California) and Vinnie Testaverde (New York) being among many that hailed from outside of the Sunshine State. From this list, the Canes were the outlier.
Ohio State Buckeyes
2010 in-state signees: 10.
2010 signees from outside of their region: 4.
2023 in-state signees: seven.
2023 signees from outside of their region: 12.
Ohio State used to gobble up 10 or more in-state recruits each year. That’s just not the case any longer. The OSU staff knows there’s not the same overall talent within the Buckeye State that there used to be during most years.
The Bucks have adjusted and done so well. They’ve hit big in Florida, Georgia, Texas and California in recent years and it’s helped them reach the College Football Playoffs.
So what’s changed from a general perspective for each of these programs?
The numbers above show a resolve to find prospects further from home for UGA and OSU, and Miami has changed slightly as well.
A couple of things that should not be taken for granted, first and foremost. Our country has changed. The state of Ohio has seen a lot of people move down South, as one example. That’s hurt OSU’s recruiting base, and then the coaches adjusted accordingly.
Additionally, the absolute “Win now!” attitude of boosters. Based on numerous conversations with college coaches and administrators, make no mistake, there’s less loyalty to in-state recruiting and much higher desire to find talented and polished prospects no matter where they come from.
To clarify, prospects that are as close to ready-made as possible to help that program win, well, right now. That’s how some (and likely most) coaches believe they can stay in the college game.
Finally, just people exploring more and at an earlier age. People move more frequently, travel more often, and have more desires to try new places. Just look around at your own neighbors and friends and think about it for a moment.
That has certainly impacted how college coaches hit the recruiting trail at nearby high schools, as well as what those same prospects at those schools want to do with their time in college.
For college programs like Georgia, Ohio State and Miami, It’s been about adapting when needed. In fact, most college football programs have adjusted to recruiting more and more outside their home states, as well as their own regions. Times have changed and it’s something that’s probably here to stay.
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Fan Nation High school football recruiting analyst covering the state of Florida, as well as across the Southeastern United States and the state of Texas.
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