Recruiting progress report: How new coaches are faring on the trail
There were 11 head coaches in new jobs across the power conferences once the dust finally settled on college football’s latest coaching carousel in mid-February.
From Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer, Michigan’s Sherrone Moore and Texas A&M’s Mike Elko in some of the biggest jobs in the country to intriguing fits for Syracuse’s Fran Brown, Michigan State’s Jonathan Smith and Houston’s Willie Fritz, the cast of newcomers won’t be properly judged until fall Saturdays roll around. Until then, early returns and insights into the newest faces in new places across the sport can be found in their work on the high school recruiting trail.
As of Thursday, 157 of the prospects ranked inside the 2025 ESPN 300 had made commitments, including 24 pledged to programs with coaches in their first cycle. That leaves 144 of the nation’s top prospects uncommitted with just under six months to the start of the early signing period on Dec. 4.
Auburn’s Hugh Freeze was the only first-year coach to land a top-10 class in 2024. However, we’re only two years removed from the 2023 cycle that saw a whopping six first-year coaches deliver top-10 classes to their new school. In 2025, both Alabama and Texas A&M appear poised to crack the top 10. Meanwhile, the likes of Syracuse and UCLA reach mid-June in position to secure their highest-ranked signing classes of the decade.
Let’s dive into how each of the new coaches have settled in on the recruiting trail, where they stand in the 2025 class and what’s left for them to do as the 2025 recruiting cycle hits full steam.
Kalen DeBoer, Alabama Crimson Tide
Nick Saban landed top five classes in 12 of the 13 recruiting cycles from 2012-24. DeBoer, conversely, never landed a class higher than 28th in two cycles at Washington before taking the Crimson Tide job in January.
Yet, if there were doubts in Tuscaloosa over his ability to maintain the momentum as an SEC newcomer operating in Saban’s wake, DeBoer has provided some early assurances.
DeBoer’s first recruiting win came when he kept five-star wide receiver Ryan Williams in the 2024 class just 13 days after he landed on campus. In the months since, DeBoer has pulled pledges from seven states on his way to refurbishing a 2025 class that initially lost all but one of its Saban-era commits, including top-50 prospects Jaime Ffrench (No. 16 in ESPN 300) and Zion Grady (No. 45).
The rebuild began in March when Alabama secured six commitments in 23 days, headlined by in-state athlete Derick Smith, No. 30 in the ESPN 300 and the top prospect in the Crimson Tide’s current class. That flurry of activity also saw DeBoer gain pledges from outside linebacker Darrell Johnson (No. 34 in ESPN 300), athlete Zymear Smith (No. 114), and defensive tackle Antonio Coleman (No. 177), a previous member of Saban’s class who had decommitted from the program late last year.
While DeBoer, 49, has hit familiar recruiting hotbeds in Alabama, Georgia and Texas, he’s also used his West Coast connections for a pair of commitments from Southern California power Mater Dei in inside linebacker Abduall Sanders Jr. (No. 153) and cornerback Chuck McDonald III (No. 166). Earlier this month, DeBoer gained his first quarterback commit, flipping Keelon Russell, an Elite 11 finalist and a dual-threat prospect, from SMU. Russell who has drawn comparisons to former Washington Heisman Trophy runner-up Michael Penix Jr.
