Some Thoughts on Signing Day for the Rest of the ACC

I won't claim to be a recruiting expert, but, since I didn't see it anywhere else, I figured I'd post some thoughts on how the rest of the ACC did in recruiting today. If nothing else, perhaps it will spark a discussion about the competition. Please, any true recruiting experts feel free to weigh in.

Boston College - A small class filled with more sleepers and developmental prospects. Close to a strikeout on the defensive line. Don't know how this class helps Spaziani keep his job.

Clemson - Another good class for Clemson and Dabo Swinney. It perhaps lacks the sex appeal of Clemson's 2011 class, but the Tigers did a solid job loading up in the trenches. Travis Blanks is the consensus top recruit in this class, but DT Carlos Watkins might have been the most critical recruit in the bunch.

Duke - Duke is Duke, and nothing about this class looks like it will change that paradigm. Does that mean these are bad players or that this is a bad class? No, I suppose not by Duke standards. It just means that there were no home runs and a lot of developmental prospects. Duke is Duke.

Georgia Tech - It's not unusual for the Yellow Jackets to dwell near the bottom of conference recruiting rankings, thanks to their academic situation. This year is no different. Still, with all the talent in Georgia and in neighboring Florida, shouldn't they at least be landing a few more studs? Surely there have to be a few more four stars out there that want to be engineers.

Maryland - Signing day is supposed to be the day of great hope for fans - the day a 4 star is measured for his jacket for Canton; the day a 3 star that nobody else offered is a secret diamond in the rough that everyone else will regret missing on. So my apologies to Terps fans, but any way you slice it this has to be viewed as a disaster for Maryland. This is how they're going to improve on Ralph Friedgen? What should make this truly difficult for Terps fans is that there was some elite talent to be had in Maryland and DC this year. According to Rivals, there were nine 4 and 5 star recruits in the state of Maryland and the District of Columbia. Maryland landed one of them -- and didn't seem to be too close with many of the ones they missed out on. Oh, and only three of the 17 Rivals 3-stars from the state of Maryland signed with the in-state school. (This shouldn't come as a surprise to those that have been following Randy Edsall's career; he had big time trouble keeping in-state elite talent when he was at UConn - he eventually blamed the state's high school coaches for not making a big enough effort to reach out to him.) Bringing in Mike Locksley to recruit should help, but will it be too late for Edsall?

Miami - Are the Hurricanes stocking up on row after row of elite talent? Perhaps not yet enough to predict national titles in their immediate future, but us FSU fans should be careful not to misconstrue "not as elite as FSU's class" as "not a good class." Let's be fair: the truth is that Miami put together the best class in the ACC Coastal division and a national top 10 class as ranked by all the major recruiting services. As long as South Florida continues to churn out recruits, Miami is going to have the talent to be in the upper end of the ACC. Now that Al Golden has loaded up on bodies, however, he perhaps needs to show next season that he can produce a more targeted, elite level class. While it didn't seem like Miami won many battles this year where they were up against FSU and UF for recruits those programs really wanted, Golden's ability to close on Tracy Howard was a shot across the bow of the Seminoles and Gators that the Hurricanes can't be completely disregarded. Oh, one other thing: what's with taking 3 QBs? Does anyone really think that's going to work out well?

North Carolina - It is always tough for a new coach to piece/keep together a class in just a few weeks, but Larry Fedora did a solid job. They landed some nice QB prospects and did well on the offensive line. Not special, but not the disaster it could have been. It will be key for Fedora next season to land some elite size on the defensive line and find some difference makers at the offensive skill positions.

NC State - Given that there was talk of Tom O'Brien being on the hot seat much of last year, it isn't a total surprise that the Wolfpack's class is sleeper-heavy. Plus it isn't like O'Brien has a history of bringing home elite recruiting classes anyway. No real home run prospects for NC State fans to hang their hopes on. Still, the class is decent on numbers and should provide some needed depth in the trenches.

Virginia - This is a solid class, but after the recruiting work Mike London did last year and the year the Cavaliers had on the field, I could understand if Virginia fans might be a little disappointed that the program didn't take the recruiting up another notch. London did a good job loading up on the offensive line, but the defensive line class seriously lacks size. And while UVA loaded up on offensive skill position players, none of them really jumps out as likely to be a serious difference maker early on. Only time will tell. While the Virginia Tech "empire" struck back a bit this year, there was enough turmoil in the Mid-Atlantic this year that maybe the Cavaliers could have made a bit more noise.

Virginia Tech - The Hokies did a solid job retaking the higher ground in the state of Virginia. This is a classic Virginia Tech class in that it is in that top 25 range nationally but isn't going to blow anyone away. They didn't really land truly special players in the trenches, and so I doubt that this will be the class to take Tech from consistently good to finally great.

Wake Forest - Wake Forest does what Wake Forest does: line up 3 star sleepers, hit the state of Florida hard, and hope that the developmental process that Jim Grobe has in place pays off in the future. They just can't seem to recruit the kind of size on the defensive line that would change the paradigm for them, but if being a solid team that is regularly in reach of a bowl (with strategic scheduling) is the goal, then this class probably fits in well.

So, everyone else...agree? disagree?