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Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney and national recruiting analyst John Garcia Jr. along with Mark Passwaters of AggieYell.com and Tracy McDannald of BruinBlitz.com tackle three topics and determine whether they believe each statement is FACT or FICTION.
1. Dylan Raiola should stay as the No. 1 quarterback in the 2024 class.
Gorney’s take: FACT. By midseason, I was not sold that Dylan Raiola was the No. 1 quarterback in the class especially as Alabama commit Julian Sayin was putting up impressive numbers and Florida pledge DJ Lagway was blowing the competition away with insane stats. But Raiola finished his senior season strong with great numbers, he has all the physical tools to be elite at Georgia and I don’t see any particular reason why we should move him down in the quarterback rankings. The all-star events will be the final arbiter but Raiola has been incredibly impressive this season.
Garcia’s take: FACT. Raiola assimilated into a new system and churned out a 34-touchdown, 1-interception season against strong Atlanta-area completion. Independent of that, few would argue he came into his senior season with the most gifted set of physical traits compared to the five-star candidates in the class, only showing them off with the added pressure of moving across the country and playing that much closer to his collegiate home. If Rivals is about the NFL projection, Raiola brings the right combination of floor and ceiling to the next level.
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2. The hiring of Mike Elko, a defensive-minded coach, locks up Terry Bussey in Texas A&M’s class.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. The hiring of Mike Elko does not lock up Terry Bussey but it could certainly help – especially if Elijah Robinson stays on staff as expected. LSU continues to make a major push for the two-way standout and others are trying to get involved as well but the feeling I get from the Timpson, Texas, standout is that he wanted clarity in this situation and he finally has it. Good or bad, Bussey will almost definitely be playing for Elko throughout his college career – and with Jimbo Fisher on the hot seat for a while, that wasn’t as clear. Locked up? Not yet. But close.
Passwaters’ take: FACT. For a guy who is known for a relatively laid-back demeanor, Elko was pretty direct in his plans for the Aggie program at his introduction Monday. He’s almost certainly keeping Elijah Robinson on staff — a huge deal — and he has a long record of success to lean on. Add in A&M’s need for corners and I see him signing early.
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3. UCLA was right to give Chip Kelly another season.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. I wonder if Jonathan Smith would’ve taken the UCLA job if it was clearly available before he got Michigan State. Or if Jedd Fisch would have bounced out of the desert for the Bruins in a similar situation. We will never know now but Kelly really has done nothing to prove he should be retained for another season.
He has a worse record than Jim Mora, Karl Dorrell, Bob Toledo and Terry Donahue. But the real issue here is that Kelly doesn’t give a hoot about recruiting. He doesn’t regularly go out to schools to see players and for years it’s been said UCLA just recruits in a different way. Not really. It’s not an aggressive approach and it shows on the field.
The Bruins could have started fresh moving to the Big Ten. He’s literally lost as many games as he’s won in Westwood both overall and in the Pac-12. There’s no question Kelly is a smart football coach and he’s had a history of being a great play-caller but it’s clearly not working right now. If you get blown out by Cal in the regular-season finale, it’s clearly not working.
McDannald’s take: FICTION. The smoke was there following back-to-back losses to the Arizona schools. UCLA’s decision to stick with Kelly for another week offered fool’s gold in the form of a win over defensively challenged rival USC. After gleefully ringing the Victory Bell, the Bruins again got their bell rung by a California team that only further magnified all of UCLA’s weaknesses before the first half was over in a 33-7 loss — a second consecutive woeful performance at home to close out the regular season.
Making a decision to move on nearly three weeks ago would’ve given UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond a head start on a coaching search with full support of the fanbase. Jonathan Smith and Jedd Fisch would’ve still been available. Instead, the win over USC led Kelly to reveal after the game that he had the support of the UCLA administration, Smith was pulled away from Corvallis hours before the Bruins kicked off against Cal and Fisch was gladly taking questions about a contract extension.
Now, the Bruins have a fed up fanbase that has vocally started to question Jarmond’s job, a 2024 recruiting class with just 12 commitments as the Early Signing Period approaches and a steep climb ahead as they await key roster decisions with the Big Ten move on the horizon.
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