Typically, when a college football coach takes over a new program, recruiting struggles for the first season.
The coach is usually brought in sometime between early-to mid-December, giving him about eight weeks to not only scramble to try and keep the players that are currently committed to the program, but also bring in new players to fill out his class.
Relationships with recruits are cultivated over years of phone calls, letters and in-person visits, typically beginning by a player’s sophomore year of high school at the latest. And when a new coach has just a couple of months to convince players, who have already built relationships at other programs, to come and play for him, it puts the new staff at a severe disadvantage.
But all of that isn’t stopping Mike Norvell, who’s only been the head coach at Memphis since Dec. 3, from putting together the Tigers highest ranked recruiting class since 2010, according to 247Sports. And with National Signing Day on Wednesday, Norvell and his staff still have time to add more commits to a class that already ranks third in the AAC.
The Tigers have 21 commits as of Monday, and they’ve received 10 new pledges since The Daily Helmsman’s last update on Jan. 19.
Two players – quarterback Keon Howard and tight end Noah Barnes – have de-committed from Memphis with Barnes flipping his commitment to Maryland and Howard remaining uncommitted, though he is coming off of an official visit to Southern Miss and some speculate that is where the Mississippi native will wind up.
Previously, Norvell only had one player from the city of Memphis committed for 2016, but he has since picked up three more.
Tim Hart, high school teammate of fellow 2016 commit Thomas Pickens at Memphis University School, flipped his commitment from Tennessee to Memphis on Jan. 31. The three-star inside linebacker is the fourth-highest rated commit the Tigers have, and he’s ranked as the third best prospect in Memphis.
The other two locals who’ve recently pledged their commitments to Memphis are Southwind High School’s Jonathan Timmons, a 6-foot-5, 315-pound three-star offensive lineman, and Briarcrest Christian School’s Hunter Hill, a 5-foot-11, 184-pound athlete.
David Moore, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound three-star, dual-threat quarterback from Alpharetta, Georgia, committed to Memphis on Jan. 31, replacing the recently departed Howard as the Tigers second quarterback of their 2016 class. Junior College transfer Riley Ferguson, former quarterback at Tennessee, is already enrolled at Memphis, and is expected to compete for the starting job right away.
Memphis has received commits from four other three-star commits since Jan. 24.
John Tate, a 6-foot-3, 258-pound defensive end from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, is the highest ranked of those four, and he’s the third highest overall prospect committed to Memphis, behind only Ferguson and Lio Lafaele.
A pair of three-star wide receivers, Coye Fairman, 6-foot-3, 194 pounds and John Williams, 5-foot-9, 165 pounds, and Patrick Taylor, a 6-foot-1.5, 209-pound three-star running back, makes up the rest of the higher-ranked prospects who’ve recently jumped on board with Memphis.
Names to watch on National Signing Day:
Andre Anthony (6-foot-3, 214-pound defensive end) is a four-star prospect currently committed to LSU, but Memphis hosted the New Orleans native on a visit Jan. 28.
Nehemiah Augustus (5-foot-11, 205-pound safety) is a three-star prospect who is currently uncommitted. According to the 247Sports Crystal Ball, Memphis is co-leaders with Nebraska to land the Louisiana defensive back.
DJ Davidson (6-foot-5, 300-pound defensive tackle) is a three-star prospect who is currently uncommitted. Memphis is currently favorites to land the Arizona native, but he is fresh off a visit to UCF.
Jacoby Hill (6-foot-3, 220-pound defensive end) is a three-star prospect who is currently uncommitted. South Carolina, who Hill visited on January 29, leads the Crystal Ball projections for the Atlanta lineman with Memphis, who he visited on Jan. 15, in second.
Irvin Smith (6-foot-4, 230-pound tight end) is a three-star prospect who is currently uncommitted. Alabama is currently in the lead to land the New Orleans native with Texas in second. But the Tigers got a visit from Smith on Jan. 15, and they remain in the mix.
Juwann Winfree (6-foot-2, 195-pound wide receiver) is a three-star JUCO prospect who is currently uncommitted. The former Pittsburgh commit hold eight scholarship offers, but this one may come down to Memphis and Colorado. Winfree was one of Ferguson’s receivers at Coffeyville Community College.
