On Signing Day 2013

It's National Signing Day.  All across the country, college football fans are collectively drooling at the meat-market parade of new talent lining up to join their favorite programs.  In Boulder, however, the reception is, well, rather muted.

Not once since the rise of the recruiting age has the first Wednesday in February landed with such a thud in Chief Niwot's valley.  There will be no televised signing extravaganzas featuring Ralphie this afternoon, no Black and Gold hats being plucked off of tables on ESPNU.  A product of the program's declining fortunes, a harried transition class, and a lack of nationally ranked recruits, Signing Day has been reduced in the eyes of many in BuffNation to mild distraction worthy of only a shoulder shrug.

Coach Mike MacIntyre is expected to put the finishing touches on a class considered by most to be the worst in the Pac-12 by signing 17 or 18 kids today.  Of that group, none are rated higher than 3-stars by Rivals, and only three are nationally ranked amongst their position. The Buffs famously failed to even get a visit from a four or five star recruit this cycle, with even in-state talent taking a pass.  This underscores not only who was (or, more importantly, wasn't) listening, but who the coaching staff was targeting.

Coach MikeMac had precious few slots to fill, and few impact players would take his call.  From: the Post

Sure, recruiting services are in the business of selling an image circle-jerk, but image has an unhealthy habit of influencing reality over a large sample size.  If recruiting were fishing, this would be a haul of minnows and guppies.

That's not to say these bait fish can't eventually grow up to be whoppers.  Plenty of unheralded recruits have come to Boulder and done well in recent years - Scotty McKnight, Jordan Dizon, Rodney Stewart, Jalil Brown, David Bakhtiari to name a few.  I'd rather not have to depend on a diamond-in-the-rough crapshoot, but it is what it is.

Despite the lack of national attention, there are a few commits who catch my eye.  WR Devin Ross, QB Sefo Liufau, WR Bryce Bobo, DE Markeis Reed and OL Gunnar Graham all look promising on paper.   Local (Denver South) RB product Phillip Lindsay also intrigues me, and comes to CU after a record-setting high school career.  Unfortunately, an ACL tear has set his growth back.

Lindsay is a rare local star who will sign with CU.  From: Maxpreps

Additionally, Coach Mike MacIntyre lured former San Jose State commits/targets ATH Kenneth Olugbode, ATH Ryan Severson, and RB Michael Adkins to Boulder, beefing up the class over the last month.  Another, DB Chidobe Awuzie, made for a nice Signing Day surprise.  (Another SD surprise was the signing of safety Tedric Thompson.  Nice get for the staff)

I'm sure they're all great kids, and I'm proud that they've chosen to attend my alma mater, but I can't help but look at the group as gap-fillers, rather than impact players.  I wouldn't expect too many of them to contribute as freshmen, even with playing time available up-and-down the depth chart (Wideout and defensive backs are notable exceptions).

Outside of a few players, like QB Sefo Liufau, I'm unimpressed by this class.  From: TRR

Regardless of the success or failure of this group, both in the immediacy, and the long-term, I'm not going to hold it against MikeMac.  Transition classes are usually shaky, and, unlike Embree's transition, MacIntyre has had relatively few available scholarships to play with (He chose to honor the previous staff's commitments, eating many possible spots).  This class was, and is, mostly an Embree production.  I'll give him the credit/blame accordingly.

Next year will be far more telling in terms of Mac 2.0's recruiting skill, or lack thereof.