Anatomy of a Recruiter: Chalmers "Bump" Elliot
After my preliminary Diary, "Anatomy of a Recruiting Class: Bennie Oosterbaan's Last Class", I decided that I was going to take a different route in writing these. I am bunching teams together by coach, in order to give an idea of how each coach operated. I smoothed out my method of class analysis, as well. I am only considering freshmen, not walk-ons that start in their Sophomore or later seasons. As such, I actually wind up skipping a couple of early All-Americans.
The standard calculation I use for the capability of a recruiting class is the ratio of man-games started over total possible games played. Prior to 1965, there were 11 man-games played per game played, and after 1965 there were 22 man-games played per game played. Higher the ratio, better the class. In totaling how good a class was, I am using the formula:
M-G Ratio + .025 * All-Americans + .01 * Drafted Players + .1 * Heisman Players + .0001 * 3-year Players
From what I've come up with, a ratio of over .5 is considered to be a great class.
Chalmers "Bump" Elliot coached from 1959 to 1968, so his recruiting classes spanned the 1960-1969 Freshman classes. In his time as head coach, he only made one bowl game, in 1964.
1960
1960: 60 Freshmen
1961: 24 Sophomores, 9 starts in 9 games.
1962: 23 Juniors, 37 starts in 9 games.
1963: 16 Seniors, 16 starts in 9 games.
1964: 4 Seniors, 10 starts in 10 games.
10 players made 72 starts, for a man-game ratio of .2136
15 players played for all 3 years of their eligibility.
0 All-Americans
1 Drafted:
Tom Keating, DT, Buffalo Bills, 1964
Class Score: .2251
1961
1961: 61 Freshmen
1962: 25 Sophomores, 21 starts in 9 games.
1963: 21 Juniors, 48 starts in 9 games.
1964: 16 Seniors, 53 starts in 10 games.
1965: 0 Seniors
12 players made 122 starts, for a man-game ratio of .3961
14 players played for all 3 years of their eligibility
1 All-American:
Robert Timberlake, QB, 1964
3 Drafted:
Robert Timberlake, K, New York Giants, 1965
Arnold Simkus, DE, Cleveland Browns, 1965
John Henderson, WR, Philadelphia Eagles, 1965
Class Score: .4525
1962
Note: 1965 was the first year that offense and defense were separated, doubling the number of man-games played. There also were 10 regular season games from 1965 onward.
1962: 50 Freshmen
1963: 34 Sophomores, 25 starts in 9 games.
1964: 29 Juniors, 29 starts in 10 games.
1965: 27 Seniors, 46 offensive and 50 defensive starts in 10 games.
1966: 5 Seniors, 14 offensive and 23 defensive starts in 10 games.
16 players made 187 starts, for a man-game ratio of .3535
25 players played for all 3 years of their eligibility
3 All-Americans:
William Yearby, T, 1964&1965
Jack Clancy, E, 1966
4 Drafted:
Jack Clancy, WR, Miami Dolphins, 1966
Thomas Mack, G, Los Angeles Rams, 1966
Steve Smith, OT, San Francisco 49ers, 1966
William Yearby, DE, New York Jets, 1966
Class Score: .4710
1963
1963: 48 Freshmen
1964: 28 Sophomores, 18 starts in 10 games.
1965: 27 Juniors, 47 offensive and 45 defensive starts in 10 games.
1966: 25 Seniors, 54 offensive and 33 defensive starts in 10 games.
1967: 2 Seniors
17 players made 197 starts, for a man-game ratio of .2814
24 players played for all 3 years of their eligibility
1 All-American:
Richard Volk, DHB, 1966
6 Drafted:
Mike Bass, DB, Green Bay Packers, 1967
Jim Detwiler, , Baltimore Colts, 1967
Frank Nunley, LB, San Francisco 49ers, 1967
John Rowser, DB, Green Bay Packers, 1967
Rick Volk, DB, Baltimore Colts, 1967
Carl Ward, DB, Cleveland Browns, 1967
Class Score: .3688
1964
1964: 53 Freshmen
1965: 28 Sophomores, 18 offensive and 15 defensive starts in 10 games.
1966: 24 Juniors, 26 offensive and 28 defensive starts in 10 games.
1967: 21 Seniors, 39 offensive and 52 defensive starts in 10 games.
11 players made 189 starts, for a man-game ratio of .2625
20 players played for all 3 years of their eligibility
0 All-Americans
3 Drafted:
David Porter, , Cleveland Browns, 1968
Ray Philips, , New Orleans Saints, 1968
Rocky Rosema, LB, St. Louis Cardinals, 1968
Class Score: .2945
1965
1965: 55 Freshmen
1966: 31 Sophomores, 15 offensive and 16 defensive starts in 10 games.
1967: 24 Juniors, 35 offensive and 23 defensive starts in 10 games.
1968: 22 Seniors, 41 offensive and 33 defensive starts in 10 games.
1969: 1 Senior, 9 offensive starts in 11 games.
12 players made 172 starts, for a man-game ratio of .2522
21 players played for all 3 years of their eligibility
1 All-American:
Ronald Johnson, HB, 1968
3 Drafted:
Ronald Johnson, RB, Cleveland Browns, 1968
Tom Stincic, LB, Dallas Cowboys, 1968
George Hoey, DB, Detroit Lions, 1968
Class Score: .3093
1966
1966: 50 Freshmen
1967: 30 Sophomores, 23 offensive and 25 defensive starts in 10 games.
1968: 33 Juniors, 40 offensive and 34 defensive starts in 10 games.
1969: 26 Seniors, 43 offensive and 44 defensive starts in 11 games.
1970: 3 Seniors, 2 offensive and 6 defensive starts in 10 games.
14 players made 217 starts, for a man-game ratio of .2924
22 players played for all 3 years of their eligibility
2 All-Americans:
Thomas Curtis, S, 1969
James Mandich, E, 1969
6 Drafted:
Brian Healy, , Minnesota Vikings, 1970
Thomas Curtis, DB, Baltimore Colts, 1970
Garvie Craw, , Boston Patriots, 1970
Barry Pierson, , St. Louis Cardinals, 1970
Cecil Pryor, , Green Bay Packers, 1970
James Mandich, TE, Miami Dolphins, 1970
Class Score: .4046
1967
1967: 36 Freshmen
1968: 23 Sophomores, 13 offensive and 20 defensive starts in 10 games.
1969: 17 Juniors, 39 offensive and 32 defensive starts in 11 games.
1970: 16 Seniors, 32 offensive and 34 defensive starts in 10 games.
1971: 1 Senior
11 players made 170 starts, for a man-game ratio of .2408
16 players played for all 3 years of their eligibility
2 All-Americans:
Dan Dierdorf, T, 1970
Marty Huff, LB, 1970
6 Drafted:
Jack Harpring, , New York Jets, 1971
Jim Betts, , New York Jets, 1971
Don Moorhead, , New Orleans Saints, 1971
Marty Huff, LB, San Francisco 49ers, 1971
Pete Newell, , Detroit Lions, 1971
Dan Dierdorf, T, St. Louis Cardinals, 1971
Class Score: .3524
1968
1968: 52 Freshmen
1969: 28 Sophomores, 24 offensive and 34 defensive starts in 11 games.
1970: 26 Juniors, 58 offensive and 56 defensive starts in 10 games.
1971: 21 Seniors, 81 offensive and 86 defensive starts in 12 games.
1972: 3 Seniors, 22 offensive starts in 11 games.
17 players made 361 starts, for a man-game ratio of .4826
21 players played for all 3 years of their eligibility
5 All-Americans:
Thomas Darden, DB, 1971
Reggie McKenzie, OG, 1971
William Taylor, HB, 1971
Mike Taylor, LB, 1971
Paul Seymour, OT, 1972
12 Drafted:
Paul Seymour, TE, Buffalo Bills, 1973
Fred Grambau, , Kansas City Chiefs, 1973
Thomas Darden, DB, Cleveland Browns, 1972
Mike Taylor, LB, New York Jets, 1972
Reggie McKenzie, G, Buffalo Bills, 1972
Glen Doughty WR, Baltimore Colts, 1972
Tom Beckman, DE, St. Louis Cardinals, 1972
Mike Keller, LB, Dallas Cowboys, 1972
William Taylor, , Atlanta Falcons, 1972
Mike Oldham, , Washington Redskins, 1972
Guy Murdock, C, Houston Oilers, 1972
John Seyferth, , New York Giants, 1972
Class Score: .7297
1969
1969: 36 Freshmen
1970: 23 Sophomores, 8 offensive and 4 defensive starts in 10 games.
1971: 19 Juniors, 36 offensive and 35 defensive starts in 12 games.
1972: 16 Seniors, 44 offensive and 47 defensive starts in 11 games.
1973: 3 Seniors, 10 offensive starts in 11 games.
15 players made 184 starts, for a man-game ratio of .2323
15 players played for all 3 years of their eligibility
1 All-American:
Randy Logan, DB, 1972
6 Drafted:
James Coode, , Atlanta Falcons, 1974
Larry Cipa, QB, New Orleans Saints, 1974
Randy Logan, DB, Philadelphia Eagles, 1973
Bo Rather, WR, Miami Dolphins, 1973
Clinton Spearman, , Los Angeles Rams, 1973
Bill Hart, , Chicago Bears, 1973
Class Score: .3188
In order, the scoring of Bump Elliot’s classes is as follows:
1968: .7297
1962: .4710
1961: .4525
1966: .4046
1963: .3688
1967: .3524
1969: .3188
1965: .3093
1964: .2945
1960: .2251
Bump had 193 of 501 Freshman players use their full eligibility, 16 All-Americans and, 49 Drafted Players. His best recruiting class saw 5 (!!) All-Americans (1968), though they were awarded under Bo.
Tune in next time for an analysis of Bo’s classes, and their placement in the rankings.
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