Part II: Which Newly Hired Head Coaches Possess the Biggest Recruiting Upside? Freeman, Napier, & Venables Evaluated

This is a really interesting group. One of the three has head coaching experience, while the other two were considered elite defensive coordinators but no head coaching experience. All three of the newly hired head coaches possess the ability to be a tremendous head coach with recruiting a major staple in the discussion points.

Now can they maximize their opportunities?

PART I CAN BE READ HERE

How each coach is a recruiter, how he’s respected by high school coaches, which coaches they hired, how they relate to prospects, and how much emphasis was placed on bringing on assistant coaches that can recruit at a high level are some of the primary talking points below.

Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame

Known as a true dog along the recruiting trail, Freeman has risen to national prominence in a hurry. Working his way up from Purdue to Cincinnati to Notre Dame, he is the first Notre Dame Head Coach without former head coaching experience since Charlie Weis (2005-2009). Weis failed miserably towards the end of his tenure, but the two individuals are quite different.

Freeman is far more open-minded and also understands the ability to balance coaching and recruiting. Well, that’s the word anyway. Much like Riley, Freeman has a fantastic reputation with top recruits across the country.

The Irish already collected nine commitments from top 2023 prospects and hold the No. 1 ranked class in the country. Can Notre Dame keep it rolling? The way he works, it’s possible.

Those that know Freeman understand that he’s demanding not only of himself but also his assistants. He expects to send out the more talented team onto the gridiron. To do that, everyone must recruit. What’s interesting, is that Freeman has noted that he’s literally responsible for the recruitment of each prospect. Considering Notre Dame’s wide net and national recruiting prominence, that’s an incredibly tall task for Freeman but he’s getting it done to date.

“Coach Freeman, from Notre Dame. That’s my guy.” Those were the words of national recruit Sam M’Pemba when asked about which coach he has a great relationship with.

“With Freeman, that’s been my guy since the beginning,” M’Pemba continued. He’s a top prospect that’s originally from St. Louis but plays for Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy, a powerhouse that recruits and trains top football players.

Good News: Freeman’s track record as a recruiter, as well as a person that’s well rounded with those that work with and for him, is fantastic. Same with recruits. They love him. He’s proven to be really good at what he does because he loves communicating directly with high school prospects as well. Not all coaches want the grind of calling recruits at 9 P.M. on a Tuesday evening. That’s what it takes to win a title, despite the notion that it would be more fun to go home and be normal for a while. Freeman holds himself to that standard, and so too does he hold his assistants to that standard.

big day for the Irish ☘️#POTOFGOLD #GoIrish pic.twitter.com/mc2MLib7jP
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) March 17, 2022

Bad News: He’s never been a head coach. That's a fact. There could be some difficulties on the field, and/or off the field. How does Freeman handle them and how does that impact the Irish? Case in point, the Irish travel to Freeman’s alma mater, Ohio State, for a week one matchup with the Buckeyes this fall. Ohio State will be heavy favorites. Can Notre Dame keep the recruiting momentum rolling if they lose big to Ohio State in week one? If Freeman and his staff survive the first year or two with at least one season of 10 or more wins, look out. Once he starts improving the roster in South Bend, there may not be a coach with more upside on this list. It’s just not a guarantee those first two seasons will go smoothly enough to truly make a major jump in talent the way Notre Dame needs.

Grade: A-

Billy Napier, Florida

After securing a 40-12 record at the University of Louisiana, Napier is now the Head Coach of the Florida Gators. It’s a great opportunity, and one that has been difficult to read thus far from a recruiting standpoint. There are two sides of his recruiting efforts thus far, making him the most difficult to read among these three coaches.

When hired, Napier wanted workout videos for committed recruits. Now, keep in mind the list of commitments included many Florida prep prospects. Some of which had been committed for quite some time and/or were considered elite recruits. To say that this so-called necessary video went over like a led balloon is a major understatement. Napier flat out ticked off recruits, coaches, and parents.

Will that haunt him long term? Hard to say. Florida is a different beast when it comes to prospects. When it specifically comes to recruiting the elite prospects from the state of Florida, no coach is going to consistently use even a hint of authoritarian principles and be successful. Florida recruits will jump ship in a heartbeat. That’s what happened to Napier with some of his 2022 recruits, although he also secured some top players as well.

Adding a big-time linebacker like Shemar James, from Mobile (Ala.) Faith Academy, no less, late in the process was a major coup for the Gators. He’s a tremendous recruit and one that could play right away in Gainesville. Adding defensive tackle Chris McClellan from Owasso (Okla.) High School was also big. The Gators need to be much better on defense. Napier and his staff did well to land him as well.

Those are just two examples of how Napier and his staff were very successful at the end of the recruiting class.

A disciple of Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney and Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban, Napier is cutting his own path.

Good News: Napier has proven to be a tremendous one-on-one recruiter as an assistant. He’s been defined as personable, hard working, and understanding how to evaluate top talent. Further, he’s also done it at two major programs plus at Group of Five school, so he knows his way around just about any type of high school program. There’s honestly not much to dislike about the vast array of situations he’s been placed in. Finally, he’s recruited across Dixie - South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and Florida – so he has a tremendous amount of contacts in states that Florida has recruited for decades.

Bad News: There’s still buzz about the workout video. This cannot be stressed enough. ‘Ticked off’ is kind, to be honest, about how some of the coaches, players, and parents felt about what Napier asked for. Will Napier conquer that situation over time? Can he? Some bridges might not be mended. Hard to say. The other issue is recruiting against an upstart UCF program that is gaining ground with recruits across Florida, Georgia and Alabama, and there’s Miami Head Coach Mario Cristobal now in Coral Gables. He will face stiff competition from them, plus Florida State and out of state programs for many of the recruits he covets. That’s life in the SEC East, however. In all, Napier could end up being tremendous or just so-so. Much depends on how he mends fences in the Sunshine State. If he does, Napier could absolutely be the No. 1 coach from the six coaches chronicled in this two-part article.

Grade: B+

Brent Venables, Oklahoma

From 2012-2021, Venables was the Clemson Defensive Coordinator. He was tremendous as a play caller and his schemes kept opposing teams off balance. He only wanted a job that would allow for consistent influxes of talent, and Oklahoma certainly fits the bill as it’s one of college football’s bluebloods.

Like Freeman, but with far more experience, Venables has connections across Dixie and the respect of high school coaches across the country. Could this be a home run hire? Quite possibly.

Still, also like Freeman, he’s never been a head coach. What happens if he struggles out of the gate? Will that thwart all of his momentum? This is an immediate gratification society so there’s a chance for long-term failure if the 2022 and/or 2023 seasons go poorly. With his hiring of Todd Bates on the defensive staff, he has one of college football’s most renowned recruiters on staff. That alone will get recruits to campus for visits; Oklahoma has done well with that aspect of recruiting for the class of 2023 already. Thus, it’s pretty obvious that Venable and his staff understand the recruiting game.

Good News: This is a coach that took his time before taking a head coaching position. He wanted the right fit. He coached at OU from 1999-2011, so he knows Norman and the Texas high schools he needs to win recruiting battles to be a prominent national program. Having those ties to Georgia, Florida, Alabama and South Carolina because of coaching at Clemson, that’s going to pay dividends as well. Oklahoma now has a coach with direct experience as a Sooner and one with a vast recruiting background. That’s a great combination.

Bad News: The Sooners need to win and win early. Going into the SEC as early as the 2023 season will make that very interesting. That could be boom or bust; nobody knows the definitive timeline or how the divisions will play out in the SEC. The other circumstance is handling the transition to being a head coach after being a defensive wizard. Many considered Venables the best defensive mind in the college game during the past several years. Can he still help coordinate the defense and also truly be the Oklahoma Head Coach? Most believe he can, but that’s still a guess at this point. Oklahoma needs significant defensive improvements to reach its ultimate goal of winning a title so that’s an important question to answer.

Grade: A-

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