Yes, there are still more than four months until the early signing period begins, so there’s plenty of time for your favorite program to improve its recruiting class. But make no mistake, some schools have a much bigger deficit than others.
Most classes were assembled in June and July, and now that those months are behind us, it’s time to bring back the Panic Index and evaluate how things stand nationally and which programs should be concerned about their 2025 recruiting class.
Note: All rankings come from the 247Sports Composite.
Panic level: acceptance
Colorado
Colorado’s class ranks 82nd nationally. In the 2024 cycle, the Buffaloes were ranked 95th. It’s well documented that Colorado doesn’t take many high school players; last year the Buffaloes signed 12 and for the 2025 cycle they have seven commitments.
Class size is an issue, but it wouldn’t be as concerning if Colorado landed more top-100 recruits and was extremely selective. But none of the Buffaloes’ seven new additions are ranked in the top 250 nationally. Only three are blue-chip prospects and only two play at the line of scrimmage – the area where Colorado needs the most help long-term.
This type of recruiting does not seem sustainable, but coach Deion Sanders has his approach to roster construction and he sticks to it – for better or for worse
Panic level: Has the excitement passed?
Syracuse
Recruiting hasn’t been easy for Syracuse. The Orange failed to sign a top-50 player in 16 consecutive cycles, from 2008 to 2023 – a period that spanned three head coaches.
When Frank Brown was hired in late November and pulled together to sign the No. 37 seed in the class, there was a lot of optimism about what the former Georgia assistant could accomplish over the course of a full Syracuse recruiting cycle.
For the reasons stated above, the Orange’s national ranking seems good on paper. But that ranking is bolstered by the size of the class — 28 commitments, the second-highest national ranking behind Rutgers (30).
Syracuse’s class of 2024 included four blue-chip recruits. The Orange don’t have a single four-star (or better) recruit in this class. Only one prospect is in the top 500, and more than half of the class is outside the top 1,000. There were two blue-chip players, but both have withdrawn their commitments – edge rusher Sharlandiin Strange of Pennsylvania and safety Demetres Samuel Jr. of Florida, who transferred to his home-state Gators in late July.
The average player rating is 86.26, which ranks 49th nationwide.
Brown has an excellent reputation as a talent scout and does a good job, but it will be an uphill battle to significantly increase the talent level of this roster.
Panic level: Is a break-in coming?
Texas Tech
Joey McGuire’s first full class at Texas Tech in the 2023 cycle was ranked 28th nationally. That was followed by a top-25 class in 2024 that finished No. 1 in the Big 12. Those are good numbers for the Red Raiders, who hadn’t finished in the top 30 since 2012.
Texas Tech is currently ranked 44th nationally and 8th in the Big 12 in 2025. The average player rating has dropped significantly, from 89.13 last cycle to 87.16. The lack of a five-star player like Micah Hudson, signed in 2024, contributes to that, but the Red Raiders only have commitments from three blue-chip prospects for 2025 after signing six last year.
It’s not as if Texas Tech’s class is significantly smaller than last year’s, either. The Red Raiders have 17 commitments after signing 21 players last year.
A year ago, Texas Tech was very optimistic about its on-field performance and recruiting, but now the team is projected to finish ninth in the revamped Big 12, right in the middle of the conference’s recruiting rankings.
Could greater success on the field this fall lead to better recruiting results later?
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Panic: Where is the balance?
Louisville
Jeff Brohm is a good coach. He took Purdue to the Big Ten Championship Game in 2022, then went to Louisville and led the Cardinals to the ACC Championship Game in 2023.
Brohm used the portal well in his first offseason in Louisville, fueling a run to the title game. The Cardinals have been active in the portal again this season, with players coming and going.
Brohm’s transition class was ranked 29th nationally in the 2023 cycle, but several key pieces were already in place when he took the job. Louisville finished 58th in its first full cycle (2024) and is currently ranked 64th nationally and 16th in the 17-team ACC in 2025. The class includes just one blue-chip prospect.
The situation is not identical to Colorado, but the foundation of a program must be built through high school recruiting. The portal can be volatile. It can lead to a good season (Michigan State in 2021 and USC in 2022), but it is extremely difficult to sustain that success.
Brohm will continue to get a lot out of his players, but Louisville’s potential will be limited unless he starts recruiting more heavily at the high school level.
Panic: Is the momentum gone?
South Carolina
Shane Beamer has signed three top-25 classes in three full recruiting periods as South Carolina coach. That’s solid. The Gamecocks are currently ranked 30th, so he could be on track to land another top-25 class this year.
But context is needed. South Carolina has twice as many three-star players (12) as four-star players in the class of 2025. And that has led to a pretty significant drop in average player rating, from 90.74 a year ago to 87.91 in this class.
The Gamecocks signed five top-200 players last year, including two five-stars — edge rusher Dylan Stewart and offensive tackle Josiah Thompson. The highest-ranked player in that class is four-star receiver Lex Cyrus, No. 250 overall. Four-star corner Shamari Earls, the No. 85 player nationally, was a member of that class until he transferred to Georgia in July. That was a blow.
Beamer has recruited very well in the state over the past two cycles, signing eight of South Carolina’s top 11 players. This year, however, the Gamecocks have commitments from only three of the top eight players in the state — and only one hasn’t committed yet.
South Carolina is coming off an encouraging 8-5 season in 2022 and a 5-7 record last year, and it will be an uphill battle to avoid a similar setback in recruiting when it comes to attracting top-tier talent.
Panic level: What is happening here?
North Carolina
The Tar Heels have been relatively stable in recruiting players over the past two decades. By and large, it’s safe to assume that North Carolina will sign a class in the 30s at worst and occasionally in the teens — as Mack Brown did from 2020 to 2022. So it’s a bit surprising to see the Tar Heels now ranked 53rd nationally.
North Carolina’s class is small, with just 13 pledges, which contributes to the lower ranking. That would be fine if the average player rating was similar to classes in recent years (91.76 in 2022, 92.04 in 2021). But it’s quite far from that — currently at 88.38 — and only three of the 13 pledges are blue chippers.
So the class isn’t big and it’s not filled with elite talent. It probably doesn’t help that while Brown brought elite talent to Chapel Hill, the program didn’t produce a lot of NFL talent and didn’t have a lot of wins on the field. So there was a lack of development and team success.
Not to mention that Brown turns 73 later this month, something he has been accused of doing when recruiting players. Not surprisingly, Brown went on the defensive at ACC media days last month.
Mack Brown is absolutely cooking:
“Every coach who recruits against us says ‘I’m going to quit.’ And six of them who have already said that have been fired. So they should be worried about themselves.”
Mack turns 73 two days before UNC’s opening game. pic.twitter.com/OGWBbynXZc
— Travon Miles (@TrayABC11) July 25, 2024
It’s clear that Brown is still passionate about what he does, but what’s unclear is what his program needs to turn things around on the trail.
Panic Index: The painful cycle
Florida
This is pretty self-explanatory. Florida is in a cycle that no team wants to be in. Billy Napier, entering his third year, has had two consecutive losing seasons and there is nonstop talk about his job status. The way to win is to attract more talent. But it’s hard to attract more talent when you’re not winning.
When initial confidence wears off early in a coach’s tenure and there are no results to back up his vision, it becomes difficult to recruit new players – unless you can kick people out with NIL, but the Gators have a rough history in that regard.
The result is what you’re currently getting from Florida’s recruiting campaign – a class that ranks 41st nationally and has an average player rating of 89.85. It’s extremely difficult to escape the uncertainty of recruiting. Many coaches have tried and many have failed.
Napier’s first two classes weren’t bad – he finished 13th in 2023 and 2024 – but he was expected to improve the program’s recruiting after replacing Dan Mullen. And while he’s added some talent, he’s not recruiting at an elite level.
Florida faces the toughest schedule in the country this fall, so the task ahead is daunting. We’ll see if Napier can handle it.
(Photos by Shane Beamer, Joey McGuire: David Yeazell, Michael C. Johnson / USA Today)
