I posted this on Peegs ---worth it to show how poorly Allen's staff recruited for a significant period of time:
Matt Weaver and Jared Kelly touched on some of the recruiting failures of IU--in particular on the DL on their podcast. I went back and looked through the 2020 (which would be the covid year provided to players), as the starting point. In theory, that would also be the first class after Allen achieved some success.
2020 Class
Rashawn Williams WR (gone after a year)
Christopher Keys DB (gone after two years)
Dexter Williams QB (gone after multiple injuries.
AJ Barner TE (transfer to Michigan)
Bryson Bonds S (still here)
Damjarjhe Lewis DT (gone to purdue)
Kahlil Benson OT (gone to Colorado)
Tim Baldwin RB (gone after two)
Jalen Mayla DE (gone after a year, transferred to UAB and then to Valdosta State and has 1 tackle....)
Brady Feeney OG transferred to Colgate and then stopped playing
Ty Wise LB Transferred after a year to Miami of Ohio and is now a star
Lem Whatley-Neeley CB Transferred to Kent State after a year and then never played.
David Baker WR Never played and signed a medical hardship waiver
Caleb Murphy SDE Moved to Center, started two games and never played again
Luke Haggard OT Juco guy, good player finished at IU
Luke Wiginton OT Never played gone after two years
Javon Swinton WR Barely played, caught a few balls, transferred to Eastern Michigan and saw limited minutes
Randy Holtz OG Never played left after a two or three years and doesn't play football anymore
Chris Bradberry OT Never played.
A LOT of misses especially on the OL and every Grant Heard WR recruit. Big misses at the DL as well. Only Barner and Bonds stuck for 4 years. Only 3 transfers came in
2021 Class
Donven McCulley QB-WR switch was a good one. Struggling this year but lots of ability
Malachi Holt-Bennett WR- another Heard recruit. Transferred out to UAB and still doesn't produce
Jaquez Smith WR-another heard recruit. Never played transferred to Missouri State and still doesn't play
Maurice Freeman LB/ S transferred out first year to liberty and doesn't play
Aaron Steinfeldt TE: Not playing anymore--I think gone because of injuries
Trent Howland RB: not much of a player until last year, but he transferred out. Decent enough.
Larry Smith CB: Transferred/left. No clue what he is or was doing.
Joshua Sales OT: Transferred to Purdue where he gets lit up every game
Cooper Jones DL: lots of position switches back and forth. Depth player
Jordyn Williams WR: Once again, another Heard recruit who never played. Transferred to Jax state then to central. Bit player
Vinny Fiacble OG: Hasn't really played out this year.
Transfers that came were mixed bags--DJ Mathews, Carpenter, Carr and Anderson were good, the rest were just guys and the much needed DL help, especially at tackle, was from Kramer-not a BIG10 player
David Holloman RB: transferred to GVSU and barely plays
Jordan Grier S: Transferred out to Memphis and barely plays
James Evans P: Great punter.
So Heard continues his magnificent recruiting efforts in 2021, and we follow up terrible DL recruiting with even worse DL recruiting
2022 Class
Dasan McCullough LB: gone after a year
Carter Smith OT: Great player
Brady Foley TE: Still on the roster but doesn't play
Phillip Dunnam S: Transferred
Trevell Mullen CB: Transferred to James Madison. Didn't play last year and doesn't appear to have played yet this far (no stats recorded)
Nick James DT: Transferred to Pitt
Isaiah Jones LB: He's finally starting to get minutes and doing okay
Omar Cooper WR: doing well in a crowded room
Vensen Sneed DE: Not much contribution
Richard Thomas DE: Transferred away, barely plays now at Florida Atlantic
J'Mari Monette DL: No contribution
Bray Lynch OT: He's gonna be good
Jamari Sharpe CB has some ability--could be a good one
DJ Moore G: Gone--don't even think he is playing football
Ryan Miller TE: Tight end--retired for medical reasons
James Monds CB: Transferred
Jaylin Lucas RB: Transferred
Cam Camper WR: Good player, hurt a lot and then transferred
Kaiden Turner LB: started one game. Not much else
Brendan Sorsby QB; started for a chunk of last season and transferred
Kam Perry WR: never played and transferred
Louis Moore S: Good player, transferred
Brought in 15 transfers that year and guys who were legit BIG 10 players were Tevis, Henderson, Shivers, Simmons and Jennings. Not a great group of transfers-and it showed up on the field
2023 Class
The 2023 class is probably too young to judge, but it is important to note that of the 17 HS recruits, 8 transferred out within a year. Of the 23 Transfers we took in, 7 transferred out after a year, and of the remaining 16, ten were quality players. Allen had to to hit on nearly all these transfers and it just didn't work out.
You could see the recruiting unravel contemporaneously with it happening, but when you look back, it is astounding how poor recruiting went coming off of two good seasons-- in particular the DL, WR and OL positions --just not enough contributors (or in the case of Grant Heard's recruits, just one whiff after the next that left Allen in a huge hole--and it showed up the last two years of his tenure--not good enough receiver play and slow--what many of us pointed out, and that is exactly what Cignetti said.
Matt Weaver and Jared Kelly touched on some of the recruiting failures of IU--in particular on the DL on their podcast. I went back and looked through the 2020 (which would be the covid year provided to players), as the starting point. In theory, that would also be the first class after Allen achieved some success.
2020 Class
Rashawn Williams WR (gone after a year)
Christopher Keys DB (gone after two years)
Dexter Williams QB (gone after multiple injuries.
AJ Barner TE (transfer to Michigan)
Bryson Bonds S (still here)
Damjarjhe Lewis DT (gone to purdue)
Kahlil Benson OT (gone to Colorado)
Tim Baldwin RB (gone after two)
Jalen Mayla DE (gone after a year, transferred to UAB and then to Valdosta State and has 1 tackle....)
Brady Feeney OG transferred to Colgate and then stopped playing
Ty Wise LB Transferred after a year to Miami of Ohio and is now a star
Lem Whatley-Neeley CB Transferred to Kent State after a year and then never played.
David Baker WR Never played and signed a medical hardship waiver
Caleb Murphy SDE Moved to Center, started two games and never played again
Luke Haggard OT Juco guy, good player finished at IU
Luke Wiginton OT Never played gone after two years
Javon Swinton WR Barely played, caught a few balls, transferred to Eastern Michigan and saw limited minutes
Randy Holtz OG Never played left after a two or three years and doesn't play football anymore
Chris Bradberry OT Never played.
A LOT of misses especially on the OL and every Grant Heard WR recruit. Big misses at the DL as well. Only Barner and Bonds stuck for 4 years. Only 3 transfers came in
2021 Class
Donven McCulley QB-WR switch was a good one. Struggling this year but lots of ability
Malachi Holt-Bennett WR- another Heard recruit. Transferred out to UAB and still doesn't produce
Jaquez Smith WR-another heard recruit. Never played transferred to Missouri State and still doesn't play
Maurice Freeman LB/ S transferred out first year to liberty and doesn't play
Aaron Steinfeldt TE: Not playing anymore--I think gone because of injuries
Trent Howland RB: not much of a player until last year, but he transferred out. Decent enough.
Larry Smith CB: Transferred/left. No clue what he is or was doing.
Joshua Sales OT: Transferred to Purdue where he gets lit up every game
Cooper Jones DL: lots of position switches back and forth. Depth player
Jordyn Williams WR: Once again, another Heard recruit who never played. Transferred to Jax state then to central. Bit player
Vinny Fiacble OG: Hasn't really played out this year.
Transfers that came were mixed bags--DJ Mathews, Carpenter, Carr and Anderson were good, the rest were just guys and the much needed DL help, especially at tackle, was from Kramer-not a BIG10 player
David Holloman RB: transferred to GVSU and barely plays
Jordan Grier S: Transferred out to Memphis and barely plays
James Evans P: Great punter.
So Heard continues his magnificent recruiting efforts in 2021, and we follow up terrible DL recruiting with even worse DL recruiting
2022 Class
Dasan McCullough LB: gone after a year
Carter Smith OT: Great player
Brady Foley TE: Still on the roster but doesn't play
Phillip Dunnam S: Transferred
Trevell Mullen CB: Transferred to James Madison. Didn't play last year and doesn't appear to have played yet this far (no stats recorded)
Nick James DT: Transferred to Pitt
Isaiah Jones LB: He's finally starting to get minutes and doing okay
Omar Cooper WR: doing well in a crowded room
Vensen Sneed DE: Not much contribution
Richard Thomas DE: Transferred away, barely plays now at Florida Atlantic
J'Mari Monette DL: No contribution
Bray Lynch OT: He's gonna be good
Jamari Sharpe CB has some ability--could be a good one
DJ Moore G: Gone--don't even think he is playing football
Ryan Miller TE: Tight end--retired for medical reasons
James Monds CB: Transferred
Jaylin Lucas RB: Transferred
Cam Camper WR: Good player, hurt a lot and then transferred
Kaiden Turner LB: started one game. Not much else
Brendan Sorsby QB; started for a chunk of last season and transferred
Kam Perry WR: never played and transferred
Louis Moore S: Good player, transferred
Brought in 15 transfers that year and guys who were legit BIG 10 players were Tevis, Henderson, Shivers, Simmons and Jennings. Not a great group of transfers-and it showed up on the field
2023 Class
The 2023 class is probably too young to judge, but it is important to note that of the 17 HS recruits, 8 transferred out within a year. Of the 23 Transfers we took in, 7 transferred out after a year, and of the remaining 16, ten were quality players. Allen had to to hit on nearly all these transfers and it just didn't work out.
You could see the recruiting unravel contemporaneously with it happening, but when you look back, it is astounding how poor recruiting went coming off of two good seasons-- in particular the DL, WR and OL positions --just not enough contributors (or in the case of Grant Heard's recruits, just one whiff after the next that left Allen in a huge hole--and it showed up the last two years of his tenure--not good enough receiver play and slow--what many of us pointed out, and that is exactly what Cignetti said.
