I bring this up because we in part face this situation now. Cornerback has seen some particular problem recently -
Commitments:
2018 (4): Al Blades, Gilbert Frierson, DJ Ivey, Nigel Bethel
2019 (2): Te'Cory Couch, Christian Williams
2020 (2): Isaiah Dunson, Marcus Clarke
2021 (1): Tyrique Stevenson
The end result is a need to over-sign to compensate for previous recruiting failures. Two corners were signed in the 2022 ESD, and more are expected (and needed) by spring. What this can in turn lead to is a challenge to sign players in follow-on classes, as over-signing leads to a glut of players of the same age at one position. Which in turn leads to the problem repeating itself.
An example of this challenge in a more extreme scenario was wide receivers. Under Larry Coker, Miami's signings for this position were few and far between. This was especially baffling as this was a team coming off of a national championship appearance, and a program that was in national championship contention each year in 2003 through 2005. Following the 2002 class, Miami was never able to sign more than two wide receivers in a single year, and one year completely failed to sign any:
2002 (3): Ryan Moore, Sinorice Moss, Akieem Jolla
2003 (1): Darnell Jenkins
2004 (2): Khalil Jones, Lance Leggett
2005 (0): None
2006: (2): Sam Shields, George Robinson
When Miami entered the 2006 season the program had but six scholarship wide receivers, having successfully recruited only five wide receivers over the previous four years. Coker signed Shields in 2006, but lost Preston Parker at the last moment to Florida State. Coker responded by converting four star cornerback Ryan Hill to wide receiver and using punter Brian Monroe at the position during practice.
2006 Season: (6 WRs): Ryan Moore (5th yr), Darnell Jenkins (4th yr), Khalil Jones (3rd yr), Lance Leggett (3rd yr), Sam Shields (1st yr), George Robinson (1st yr)
By mid-season in 2006 the Hurricanes were down to just three healthy wide receivers, and the already struggling offense ground to a halt. Miami went 2-4 over its final six games, and scored no more than 23 points in any single game. Following the conclusion of the season Coker departed. Ryan Moore's eligibility expired and George Robinson left Miami, reducing the returning scholarship players to just four players (along with the converted Ryan Hill). Randy Shannon brought in transfer Kayne Farquharson and signed Jermaine McKenzie and Leonard Hankerson for the 2007 season. However depth was minimal, and it took a hit when McKenzie was injured in an automobile accident and missed his freshman season.
2007 Season: (6 WRs): Darnell Jenkins (5th yr), Khalil Jones (4th yr), Lance Leggett (4th yr), Sam Shields (2nd yr), K. Farquharson (1st yr), Jermaine McKenzie (1st yr), Leonard Hankerson (1st yr)
Following the 2007 season Randy Shannon faced his first full recruiting class with a dilemma. He had only four wide receivers returning for the 2008 season (Shields, Farquharson, McKenzie, and Hankerson). Shannon was now forced to oversign in the 2008 class to bring numbers up to full, and brought in more wide receivers in one class than Larry Coker had been able to sign in four.
2008 Season (11 WRs): Khalil Jones (5th yr), Sam Shields (3rd yr), K. Farquharson (2nd yr), Jermaine McKenzie (2nd yr), Leonard Hankerson (2nd yr), Aldarius Johnson (1st yr), Davon Johnson(1st yr), Tommy Streeter (1st yr), Kendall Thompkins (1st yr), Thearon Collier (1st yr), Travis Benjamin (1st yr), LaRon Byrd (1st yr)
This surge was only temporary. Farquharson's eligibility had been expended, Shields was moved to defense and McKenzie transferred, leaving the large group of 2008 signees as the only wide receivers on roster. Because he had signed seven in 2008, Shannon was ultimately unable to bring in anyone in the 2009 class.
2009 Season (8 WRs): Leonard Hankerson (3rd yr), Aldarius Johnson (2nd yr), Davon Johnson(2nd yr), Tommy Streeter (2nd yr), Kendall Thompkins (2nd yr), Thearon Collier (2nd yr), Travis Benjamin (2nd yr), LaRon Byrd (2nd yr)
The giant 2008 class again had an impact the following season, as Shannon was able to secure just one new wide receiver for the 2010 class (a second signee failed to qualify). Miami remained at 8 wide receivers, but now the bulk of position was composed of upper classmen. By signing so many two seasons earlier, Randy was now beginning to replicate the recruiting issues that Coker had.
2010 Season (8 WRs): Leonard Hankerson (4th yr), Aldarius Johnson (3rd yr), Davon Johnson (3rd yr), Tommy Streeter (3rd yr), Kendall Thompkins (3rd yr), Travis Benjamin (3rd yr), LaRon Byrd (3rd yr), Allen Hurns (1st year)
After Shannon departed new head coach Al Golden faced a nightmarish prospect. The entire wide receiver corp save Hurns was NFL eligible, and at maximum had 1-2 years of college eligibility left. With little time left between joining the program and National Signing Day he was able to bring in two freshmen recruits, maintaining the position's numbers at 8 wide receivers after Aldarius Johnson and Leonard Hankerson departed. But the majority of the position remained upper classmen whose eligibility was running out:
2011 Season (8 WRs): Davon Johnson (4th yr), Tommy Streeter (4th yr), Kendall Thompkins (4th yr), Travis Benjamin (4th yr), LaRon Byrd (4th yr), Allen Hurns (2nd year), Philip Dorsett (1st yr), Rayshawn Scott (1st yr)
This lopsided roster led to conditions similar to what existed after 2007. Entering his first full recruiting class in February 2012, Al Golden now found himself in a situation reminiscent to what confronted Randy Shannon before the 2008 National Signing Day. He now needed to oversign in order to get numbers back up to par. Golden landed five wide receivers in that class, and at one points had a sixth (4 star Angelo Jean-Louis) who never played.
2012 Season (11 WRs): Davon Johnson (5th yr), Kendall Thompkins (5th yr), Allen Hurns (3rd yr), Phillip Dorsett (2nd yr), Rashawn Scott (2nd yr), Malcolm Lewis (1st yr), D'Mauri Jones (1st yr), Herb Waters (1st yr), Jontavious Carter (1st yr), Robert Lockhart (1st yr)
After that wide receiver recruiting finally stabilized. We would have one more class that would feature only one signee (2015 - Lawrence Cager), but never again a three year stretch where only three players were successfully recruited in a position that generally requires that a team maintain ten players.
Ultimately, what we saw in the example of the wide receiver recruiting misfires was that failures to secure commitments can have a continuing effect long after the initial miss or misses. Consecutive years with under-recruiting or failure to land any players at a given position creates over-signing afterwards, which in turn discourages future recruits from signing with the program because of the horde of similarly aged talent at the position. This is something that to watch for in the next two cycles as Miami continues to fill out the cornerback position.
