Food for Thought: How to Evaluate and Rank UCF Football Recruiting

Should UCF’s recruiting class be ranked differently based on how many transfers the Knights take? How about other college programs like Alabama that take college transfers?

Author:
Brian Smith
Publish date:
Aug 18, 2021 7:16 AM EDT

There’s always debate about which programs bring in the top recruiting classes, and it’s a fun exercise. With the advent of transfers being eligible immediately, however, grading recruiting classes needs to change. That’s especially true for a program like UCF that brings in more than 10 transfers in one year.

There’s no one formula for success, but each college football program goes about recruiting a little bit differently. Some steer clear of transfers unless it’s a really specific situation like Notre Dame that only took two graduate transfers, while other programs want younger undergraduate players to join their rosters in addition to graduate transfers. UCF fits the latter profile.

With UCF being a program that represents many programs from Alabama (four transfers) to Illinois (nine transfers), and then on to Boston College (six transfers) and Oklahoma State (five transfers), there needs to be a new way of ranking recruiting classes.

It’s math. There are 85 scholarship players for a Division I football program. If a college football team only signs 15 high school players, then no, it’s going to really look the same as say a team that signed 23 high school players like Oregon did for its class of 2021. That’s not apples to apples.

Creative analysis will be needed. Before diving into the written aspect of the article, here's a YouTube video explaining the situation overall:

Scouts Need to actually Scout and Provide Details to College Football Fans

As someone that’s been around high school football scouting since the 1990s, do note that many scouts simply copy what other scouts and recruiting services report, at least in some fashion. Few scouts truly go against the grain with an evaluation.

Further, some scouting services will not proclaim a “no-name” or lowly ranked prospect as the top player at an event even if it’s obvious that prospect played the best because it does not drive clicks and subsequently advertising revenue (there’s a major network that works directly from this model, and they know who they are).

So, there are some snafus with the current rankings around the country. There could be many more avenues to explore as it relates to scouting issues, but for the new way of recruiting, one simple thing needs to happen.

When a player transfers from one college to another college, simply pull up his college film. If there’s little film, make some phone calls to college coaches. For those that already do this, bravo! For those that do not, and there are many based on the 2021 rankings, shame on you.

Did this young man perform? Why or why not? Yes, it’s research. Yes, it takes time. There may be difficult moments when a player transfers after being injured. That still does not mean a scout should be lazy and rank a player low for the school he’s transferring to. Take the time to make a proper evaluation. If the scout does not feel like doing that, too bad.

Do it anyway!

Behind the Numbers

Once a baseline for evaluations can be made, it’s simply adding them up. The issue is still drawn from the commentary above, but in theory, there can be different ways to create a true evaluation that’s placed in numerical relevancy.

Bottom line, the addition of transfers needs to be evaluated better. Too much emphasis was placed on high school recruits for the class of 2021. Sure, some of the obvious big-name transfers help to spike a program’s ranking. It’s just that some of the other transfers, while they were not necessarily highly rated coming out of high school, truly improved while playing at a smaller college program. Not every transfer is like now UCF player Big Kat Bryant.

Big Kat Bryant Hits the Tennessee Quarterback — Big Kat Bryant Playing for Auburn
John Reed, USA Today Sports

Take UCF transfer Ricky Barber. He’s expected to impact UCF’s defensive line rotation this fall. Considering the amount of raw talent UCF possesses up front, that’s a good football player. No recruiting service really gave any thought to Barber joining UCF, however.

247 ranked Barber, like all the other transfers, by his high school average. As for Rivals, their UCF recruiting list does not even include the transfers. That’s truly odd, and misleading.

Transfers are now a major part of the recruiting process. Everyone needs to evaluate the recruiting process differently. Will the recruiting services like 247 and especially Rivals rethink their rankings? Time will tell.

How UCF Fans Should Evaluate the Knights and other Programs that Accept Several Transfers

Be objective. Look these young men up. Take any one of the transfers that enrolled at UCF. Anyone can at least watch a little film and enjoy watching the next UCF player that’s coming to Orlando.

Do a search with your favorite search engine and read about that young man. One would be surprised how much information and film can be found in less than one second. It’s also a blast because there will be several areas that can be learned about with just a few clicks on the keyboard.

Inside The Knights Takes a New Approach

Already looking towards the final 2022 rankings, there will be a special emphasis towards defining how good the transfers for UCF truly are, as well as doing the same with several other programs. Since UCF is in Florida, a closer look at the transfers that decide to attend FSU, Miami, Florida, and USF will be in order. Remember that once the December signing period comes and goes. Inside The Knights will break down key transfers for UCF, as well as for other programs around the country.

Final Thoughts

Understanding recruiting rankings is subjective and difficult just with high school and junior college players. Now that college transfers are such an important piece of the puzzle, it’s time for recruiting services to adjust. Inside The Knights will adjust accordingly as well.

You will find Inside The Knights information on Twitter @fbscout_Florida and @UCF_FanNation

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