FIU’s 2018 recruiting class was ranked No. 1 in Conference USA, and it’s 2019 class is ranked seventh, according to 247 Sports.
Neither ranking means anything to FIU coach Butch Davis.
“[Former Miami Hurricanes safety] Ed Reed just made the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and when we recruited him, we had to beat McNeese State and Grambling to get him,” said Davis, who was UM’s coach from 1995 to 2000. “[Former Hurricanes wide receiver] Santana Moss had no offers.”
There are other examples of lightly-recruited players becoming stars, but Davis said his history of finding hidden gems began when he was one of Jimmy Johnson’s assistant coaches at Oklahoma State.