Graham, Rodriguez play catch-up in recruiting

When the numbers are tallied on signing day, Wednesday, they wont look pretty for the Arizona State and Arizona football programs. The Sun Devils lost 14 recruits who had committed while Dennis Erickson was still the coach. Depending on what happens in the next two days, the Wildcats could lose seven or more who had committed to former coach Mike Stoops. The final recruiting rankings wont be out until later this week, but recruiting sites Scout.com and Rivals.com project ASUs class to rank ninth in the Pac-12 while Arizona comes in at No. 11, ahead of only Washington State. Gone from Tempe are talented receivers Kenny Lawler, T.J. Millweard and running backs, Russell Hansbrough and Damien Williams. Gone from Tucson are highly rated tight end Taylor McNamara, cornerback Devian Shelton, linebacker A.J. Hilliard and quarterback Nathan Sudfeld. Is this a lost recruiting year that will come back to bite these programs down the road? Maybe, but given the circumstances of the coaching changes, those same recruiting sites believe the Sun Devils and Wildcats have fared better than average. When you look at the number of recruits who decommitted, you always have to ask yourself, how many did the new staff really want, and how many would have been a good fit? said Brandon Huffman, the national football recruiting analyst and West regional recruiting manager for FOX Sports and Scout. Youre always going to lose some key guys when you have a coaching change, but both of these programs did a pretty good job keeping their core and filling in for those losses. Arizona State's recent juco commitment Mike Pennel, a 6-foot-5, 340-pound defensive tackle from Scottsdale Community College, is the classic example of a fill-in who fits a scheme. New ASU coach Todd Graham wants to run a 3-4 defense eventually. To do that, you need a beefy, space- and block-eating nose tackle. Sudfeld was the classic example of a guy who didnt fit the new scheme. Hes a drop-back passer who would have been a fish out of water in coach Rich Rodriguezs spread offense, so he committed to Indiana while Rodriguez has filled in with players more suited to his style. He has done a strong job of finishing in terms of finding guys that fit the system and allow depth, said Jason Scheer, who covers Arizona for Scout. Arizona needed quarterbacks, safeties, and linebackers, and he has done a good job of going out and getting them. Whether those players pan out is an entirely different topic. No matter how many scouting sites agree on a players perceived skills or lack thereof, scouting is a highly inexact science. Sometimes, four-star prospects go belly-up while two-star prospects shine. The only definitive proof of recruiting success comes when these players step on the field and actually contribute to the cause. Whats been interesting to observe has been the different approaches taken by Graham and Rodriguez. Their ability to establish West Coast recruiting ties was a major question when both arrived. But a look at Rodriguezs resume and current crop of recruits has made it clear he can recruit all across the country. Rodriguez's reputation as a spread offense innovator nearly landed the nation's third-ranked dual-threat quarterback in Devin Fuller of Old Tappan, N.J. -- hardly an Arizona hotbed. That Fuller ended up choosing UCLA instead shouldn't detract from the message that Rodriguez can open some doors that were previously locked to the Wildcats. Rodriguez's top-ranked commit is four-star linebacker Dakota Conwell of Pittsburgh. But with the addition of former Scottsdale Chaparral coach Charley Ragel to his staff, he's also made some important inroads closer to home. The wildcats remain in the hunt for four-star cornerback Davonte Neal of Scottsdale Chaparral, who is not expected to make his choice on Wednesday. Rich has a bigger name draw to help him, and I think that will overcome any perceived difficulties in recruiting at Arizona, Huffman said. He has experience putting guys in the NFL, and that carries weight. He doesnt have to focus on Arizona or California. Hes going to spread it all over. While Rodriguez has taken that approach, Graham has made it clear that Arizona is his first, second and third priority. The farther you move away, the less you know about a player so your margin for error increases, he said. If we have a kid down the street, well be able to ask everyone in the community about him and get a better read. The early returns support Grahams stated focus. He just landed the state player of the year in dynamic Scottsdale Saguaro running back D.J. Foster, and last weekend, Graham met with seven of the states top eight rated juniors. Thats unprecedented at ASU, said Chris Karpman, who covers ASUs revenue sports for ASUDevils.com. Theyre not just saying theyre going to focus on Arizona. Its not lip service. Theres no doubt thats what theyre going to be doing and thats a big change from the past two staffs at ASU. Mesa Desert Ridge High School football coach Jeremy Hathcock agreed. I liked Dennis Erickson a lot, and I always went to his clinics, Hathcock said. But we had absolutely no relationship whatsoever. They were too busy in California or whatever. Todd Graham believes in local recruiting. He recruited Oklahoma hard when he was at Tulsa. The real proof will come two years from now, but one of their assistants, Chip Long, already came to see me and it wasnt to recruit kids, it was just to talk and build a relationship. I think thats important. Thats not to say Graham and Rodriguez arent building strong West Coast ties. Huffman estimates that anywhere from 50 to 60 percent of Arizonas kids will still come from California. Graham has several assistants on his staff with ties to the west or the Pac-12. And for proof that Graham is making rapid inroads in the west, Hod Rabino, the Web site publisher of DevilsDigest.com, a Scout affiliate, points to the Sun Devils ability to keep at least four, possibly all five of Ericksons highly touted recruits from Long Beach Polytechnic. When you consider the man who recruited them, Steve Broussard, left for UCLA when Erickson was fired, thats pretty amazing, Rabino said. The fact that hes establishing West Coast ties can be seen in the fact that he has preserved some pretty good California players. As for those who left, there has been some conjecture that Grahams nomadic reputation has hurt him. But Karpman said only one of the ASUs decommitments, Hansbrough, cited that as a reason. I dont think anybody should be so naive to think there werent Pac-12 teams that brought up Grahams nomadic reputation in recruiting battles, Rabino added. Negativity has always been a part of recruiting and it always will be, but everybody does it, so how much of an effect it has is hard to say. In this instance, Huffman said Grahams timing helps. Take a look around the Pac-12, Huffman said. There was so much coaching turnover this year that you really cant call anybody a stable guy. Its hard to call anybody a nomad when the entire conference, and in many ways, the entire college football world is full of nomads. I think were a short-term memory society anyway and this will be forgotten, but if there were ever a year for Todd Graham to come in, this was it.