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Set the Stage:

Recruiting Map

Mini Recruiting Board Lives Here:

The 1981 class was recruited coming off of the wings of a great 1980 season, which culminated in a Rose Bowl win. The class included 12 offensive and 12 defensive players, a very balanced 24-man class. The lack of a quarterback is explained by the presence of Steve Smith, who was the starting QB for most of the games for the first 3 seasons of this class. There was obvious weakness in both the linebacker and offensive line cores, which Bo hoped to fill with this class.

How They Did:

Notable Honors:

• Kevin Brooks, All Conference 1983 1984
• Brad Cochran, All-American 1985, All-Conference 1985
• Mike Hammerstein, All-American 1985, All-Conference 1985
• Eric Kattus, All-Conference 1985
• Mike Mallory, All-Conference 1984 1985
• Clay Miller, All-Conference 1985
• Alan Sincich, All-Conference 1983

• Kevin Brooks, 1985, 1st Round, 17th Overall
• Brad Cochran, 1986, 3rd Round, 80th Overall
• Mike Hammerstein, 1986, 3rd Round, 65th Overall
• Eric Kattus, 1986, 4th Round, 91st Overall
• Clay Miller, 1986, 12th Round, 306th Overall

Of the 24 players recruited, 18 made it to graduation as members of the team. 15 made starts, and 11 played for their full four years.

The worst year for this class was in its senior year, 1984, when 12 players from the class made 114 starts and the team went 6-6. 1985 was an excellent year, in which 5 of the 8 remaining redshirt senior players made All-Conference and two made All-American honors (both of whom could have gone on to be cops). The 1985 team made it to the Fiesta Bowl, which they won, bringing their final record to 10-1-1. The caliber of the players in this class was sub-par compared to years surrounding it, shown by the general mediocrity of the team’s record.

Unfortunately for Bo, only 3 of the 7 OL recruits made any starts, one of which made one, one of which was a starting senior, and one of which converted to a DT and became an All-American. 5 of the 7 LB recruits made impacts on the team.

The shining point of this class was the defense. Of the 322 starts the class made, 201 were on defense. The two All-Americans were Brad Cochran, DB, who made 36 straight starts in his last 3 years, and Mike Hammerstein (Magnum, P.I.?), DT, who was MVP of the 1985 defense, which allowed a whopping 8.1 ppg. The three defensive players who were drafted went in the 1st, 3rd, and 3rd rounds.

Overall, the 1981 class built a strong defensive core, which allowed Bo to focus on the offense in the next year's class. 

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.