If Rumph deserves to be fired for recruiting, what about the DL coach who has a total of 3 DT commits in a three year span? The one who took over a team loaded with young DL talent and in year three has a current roster with only a single SDE?
How about the coach who is choosing to bring in just one LB when there are only two proven Miami caliber LB's on the roster (both Junior's)?
When you look at the defensive talent brought in since Richt was hired, Rumph probably ranks first or second in recruiting.
I am not advocating for Rumph as he's an obvious recruiting liability but he's clearly not the only problem.
I'm certainly concerned that Kool may not be a good recruiter. He hasn't exactly lit it up so far. Land Briggs and Chatman and I might change my mind.
However, I am 99.9% convinced Rumph is a weak recruiter.
Third year in a row he has **** the bed down the stretch. And to top it off, he's supposedly a father-figure to Campbell.
LB I'm not too worried. We took 3 in '16 and 3 in '17. One this year is fine. Not nearly the priority that DL is (or CB for that matter).
2016: I get that it's fashionable (and deserved) to throw shade at Rumph right now. But expecting a first-year coach to show up in January and close is an unrealistic and unfair expectation.
2017: Bandy basically falls into our lap (Rumph was involved in his recruitment, but he wanted to be a Cane). I don't recall Dean being primarily recruited by Rumph, and it's been documented Colbert went a long way towards making that happen (though some credit to Rumph on that... Colbert had positive things to say about Rumph's coaching, which arguably helped get Dean). Banda recruited Amari Carter. And Hartley brought in Derrick Smith (using his sick Jacksonville connections). Rumph was Marco Wilson's primary recruiter and he ended up a **** (Choad Wilson factor). Same with BJ Henderson (though I am inclined to give Rumph a partial pass on Henderson considering the diva-attitude BJ displayed). Banda was the primary on Edwards (though Rumph was involved throughout the recruitment and visited). Banda was also the primary on Brini (another fail). Shawn Davis was another miss on the part of both Rumph and Banda (even considering UiF botched his earl enrollment and opened the door for us late). And Billy Gibson was another one I remember the pair losing late (to Mario, which adds to the sting).
2018 (assuming we lose Campbell to UGA and pick up Bethel as a consolation prize): Hall is the prize and that's Banda was his primary. Frierson and DJ Ivey were also primarily on Banda (though Rumph seems to have been involved in both recruitments, DJ more so). Rumph was the primary on Blades, but he was a Cane in the womb. Assuming we get Bethel, Banda is his primary recruiter as well. Judas is an L primarily on Banda. And although Judas is a low character individual, the lack of situational awareness during this recruitment is a little scary. We were late to get serious with Samuel, and while that decision probably came from up above, Rumph was his primary recruiter. Another dude like that this cycle was Trenell Troutman. Rumph was his primary recruiter, we slow played him, and he signed with Louisville. That's garbage. Assuming we lose Campbell, Rumph was the primary and that can't be considered anything but a huge failure on Rumph's part. PS2 seems like a loss at this point as well. Rumph is the primary there, and while we may not have had a huge chance with him, the fact PS2 remains unsigned and uncommitted tells me that a better recruiter might have done something with him (especially considering Rumph coached him).
And I'm sure I'm missing some guys...
It could have been argued some of Rumph's 2017 failures weren't on him or there were extenuating circumstances (and certainly it's not fair to attribute Banda's misses to Rumph, just like it's not right to give Rumph credit for Banda's hits). But if we lose out on Campbell and PS2, after losing out on Troutman and Samuel (both of whom we played games with) in this cycle, Rumph deserves to be criticized harshly for his recruiting failures.
He's a Cane and an above-average (at least competent) DB coach, so I'm rooting for the guy, but at this point we're trying to get this program to the next level and that won't happen without every coach carrying their weight in recruiting. Unfortunately, Rumph hasn't done that.