On another thread, Ville '77 had the following quote responding to the loss of Strong's defensive players:
Looking back on the Rivals recruiting, I was surprised how little widely recognized defensive talent Bobby Petrino has recruited the last 3 or 4 seasons.
Louisville's 2011 class had four 4 stars, two on defense. (I assume they are all gone)
Their 2012 class three 4 stars, with all three on defense (Keith Brown, Nick Dawson and Gerod Hamilton).
The 2013 class two 4 stars, with one on defense . . . . James Hearns.
The 2014 class, had no Rivals 4 stars.
The 2015 class had three 4 stars, with one on defense, Devonte Fields, at Defensive End.
The 2016 class had three 4 stars, none on defense.
And the 2017 class had six 4 star players, with none listed as defensive players.
I don't know enough about Louisville's roster to directly refute Ville 77's argument, that most of Charlie's top defensive talent did not play in the '16 game.
But we can say for certain that Louisville in 2017 will have on defense only one or two highly recruited 4 star rivals players on defense.
Oddly, while Petrino's classes have marginally trended better than Charlie's (well at least 2017 did) that trend is almost entirely based on offensive talent.
2. You guys have played the Strongs defensive players too long. Most of Strongs players were gone before last season. Petrino has actually had higher ranked classes than most of Strongs.
Looking back on the Rivals recruiting, I was surprised how little widely recognized defensive talent Bobby Petrino has recruited the last 3 or 4 seasons.
Louisville's 2011 class had four 4 stars, two on defense. (I assume they are all gone)
Their 2012 class three 4 stars, with all three on defense (Keith Brown, Nick Dawson and Gerod Hamilton).
The 2013 class two 4 stars, with one on defense . . . . James Hearns.
The 2014 class, had no Rivals 4 stars.
The 2015 class had three 4 stars, with one on defense, Devonte Fields, at Defensive End.
The 2016 class had three 4 stars, none on defense.
And the 2017 class had six 4 star players, with none listed as defensive players.
I don't know enough about Louisville's roster to directly refute Ville 77's argument, that most of Charlie's top defensive talent did not play in the '16 game.
But we can say for certain that Louisville in 2017 will have on defense only one or two highly recruited 4 star rivals players on defense.
Oddly, while Petrino's classes have marginally trended better than Charlie's (well at least 2017 did) that trend is almost entirely based on offensive talent.