Top 10 Recruiting Classes That Have Been Busts In the Rivals Era

Dec 30, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Mack Brown reacts during the post game press conference after a game against the Oregon Ducks at Alamo Dome. Oregon defeated Texas 30-7. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

8. 2009 Texas Longhorns Recruiting Class

Rivals Class Rank: No. 5

That’s right, we are still on Texas. And this one gets worse. If you thought the 2007 class had quite a few misses, we have one name for you to describe this class: Garrett Gilbert. The biggest bust the school could have gotten at quarterback never got to shine.

When he had his chance in the national championship game in place of the injured Colt McCoy against Alabama, Gilbert was a disaster. He was then a disaster in 2010 as the Longhorns stumbled to 5-7, and eventually he was out the door on to SMU.

But this whole class can’t be solely put on Gilbert, even if the other two 5-stars, Mason Walters and Alex Okafor, managed to be reliable players. Add in the failures of Tariq Allen, Eric Barnett, Thomas Ashcroft, and so many other elite Texas recruits this year, and this class was a flat-out disaster.

When you combine this class with Brown’s 2007 class, now you really see the seeds being laid for a bad end to his coaching career, and remember that this guys was a workaholic at recruiting. So him missing so much shows that a lot of this is pure luck.

Next: No. 7 Ranked Recruiting Class Bust: 2005 Tennessee Volunteers Class