‘Best Coast’ Mailbag: If you were a five-star wide receiver, which Pac-12 school would you choose?

I spent all of last week on the East Coast and I’m glad to report that there’s really nothing to report. My recap: New York is full of tourists who aren’t watching where they’re walking because they’re staring at iPhones, Philadelphia is old and New Jersey has a surprisingly beautiful pastoral and rural side (who knew? I assumed it was all  MTV’s Jersey Shore).

But, it feels good to be back West.

Thanks to all who sent in questions. We’ll have three more of these mailbags this summer so please send in questions in the forums or email them to me at [email protected].

If you were a five-star WR which Pac-12 school would you choose?

Elizabeth K.

Elizabeth, I appreciate your confidence in my athletic abilities. However, if I were to be a five-star football player, it would most certainly be at the DB position. In college, our student newspaper (The Michigan Daily) would scrimmage the Michigan State student newspaper (The State News) every year in a game of “touch” football (I say “touch” because there’s always at least one ER trip every year). I was a lockdown corner and you can ask my colleague Chris Vannini how those games ended up… #14StraightWinsForTheDaily

But, your question brought up an interesting thought because my first instinct was, obviously, USC. But I was curious if that were true, and if so, how many more five-star WRs end up there than elsewhere? And has that trend changed in recent years? This is what I found:

Since 2010, there have only been 32 five-star wide receivers in the 247Sports Composite. USC leads the way, having signed five of those players. Alabama and LSU have inked four apiece. Clemson and Oklahoma have signed three and two, respectively, while no other college program has signed more than one over that time span (surprisingly, the only other Pac-12 school to sign a five-star WR was Cal in 2016). So, history tells me that I might pick USC.

But the current status of programs (and what that means for the future) matters, too. And if I were a five-star player in the 2020 class, I would probably wait a little bit to see about the job security of USC coach Clay Helton and offensive coordinator Graham Harrell. If it looks like Harrell’s Air Raid is picking up in Los Angeles, then that probably wouldn’t be a bad place to be considering how the NFL is trending toward more spread-centric offenses. That would benefit me in both the present and the future.

But, there’s also the fact that since 2010 more than half of the five-star wide receivers have gone somewhere where no other five-star receiver had gone before or has gone since, which means that it’s OK to be an individual and have personal choices along this recruiting path. For me, the two pieces that would matter the most would be picking a place where the coach seems to have a lot of job security and the program or current staff has a history of producing great passers. There aren’t many Pac-12 schools that can boast about that.

So that said, if I were a free-thinking recruit that wasn’t swayed by others, I might pick … UCLA, and really surprise some folks. Chip Kelly has job security in Westwood. He has shown that he can develop quarterbacks. I think his program is on the rise in a division of the conference that’s up for grabs right now. He has NFL experience and contacts (if I want to get to that level).

To close, good thing I’m not a five-star WR recruit.

With Marvin Lewis joining Kevin Mawae, Antonio Pierce and others on Herm Edward’s staff, do you think that Ray Anderson’s vision for Arizona State as NFL modeled program is gaining momentum?

Bob M.

I don’t see how having a 16-year NFL head coaching veteran on your staff is anything other than helpful. For players, he’s another (of which there are many) voice in the program that can provide advice and counsel on what a player needs to do and be to succeed at the next level. For coaches, especially some of the younger ones on staff who are spending so much time with the players, he’s someone from which they can learn. Both of those pieces are very good not only for the on-field product of the program but also the off-field product as well.

And that was a piece that Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson emphasized to me earlier this week when I called him to ask about this.

“Marvin can come here and help coach the coaches, help them evaluate, mature and learn from his experience, and frankly, Herm as well,” Anderson said. “Marvin gives us an opportunity to bring additional NFL experience to help us with the new model, the hybrid model that we’re working on here.”

Lewis’ official title is “special advisor to Sun Devil football,” so I asked Anderson to clarify what he means by that and how he sees Lewis’ job on a day-to-day basis within the program because he can’t hands-on coach the players since he’s not a position coach.

Marvin Lewis spent 27 years coaching in the NFL including the last 16 as head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals. (Photo: Andy Lyons / Getty Images)

“You can’t get on the field, but we all have the capacity to advise and to mentor and to talk about what is expected at the next level and what are the best practices,” Anderson said. “We really see Marvin as a utility educator, if you will, on many levels. That’s why bringing him on makes so much sense because we can honestly tell people that if you’re looking to go to the next level, Arizona State — it’s football department and athletic department — have a bunch of folks who have touched that world and they can give you some advice and counsel and mentoring on how to get there.”

Anderson said that he’s still having meetings every other week with Edwards and different advisors within the program to understand how they can better tweak and adjust every tiny part of the program. A voice like Lewis is going to be heard in that room.

So, do I think it’s gaining momentum? Hard to say since we’re only starting year two of this deal. But, I think if the product improves on the field and Edwards continues to attract NFL coaching talent and experience, it’s one more boon to the recruiting efforts of Arizona State, which feeds the whole program.

Lewis’ arrival is a good sign, but it’s too early to return a verdict on anything big picture in the long term.

Of the Mountain West teams that did NOT crack the top 25 in a poll last year (so not Boise State, Utah State, or Fresno State), who do you think has the greatest chance of doing so in 2019?

Alexander G.

San Diego State, mostly because you don’t leave me much else.

But, I do think the Aztecs could be the beneficiaries of a healthy and hungry Juwan Washington who will be looking to make up for lost carries a season ago. Defensively, the unit has a few potential all-conference players in linebacker Kyahva Tezino, safety Trenton Thompson and cornerback Darren Hall, as well as the group getting a boost in the return of Brady Hoke as defensive line coach, which is a position that has a lot to replace. I covered Hoke when he was the head coach at Michigan and he is such a D-line-focused coach. I think he’ll have far more success when he’s focused on just a single position than he did in the CEO role of a head coach.

On top of that, eight grad/junior college transfers are joining or have already joined the team this offseason — that kind of older, veteran experience is a good thing even if it just means that they’re pushing the players who are already in place as starters.

Additionally, the Aztecs miss Boise State during the regular season, get Utah State and Fresno State at home, and have an opportunity to grab a Power 5 win at UCLA in Week 2 that could catch some national attention.

How would you rank the teams in the Pac-12 North?

Ryan H.

Ryan, you didn’t specify on what I should rank them, so here’s a very important ranking of the Pac-12 North schools ranked by my favorite places to eat/drink in that city:

1. Washington State (The Black Cypress)
2. Washington (Tavolàta)
3. Cal (The Butcher’s Son)
4. Oregon State (Block 15)
5. Oregon (Vero Espresso)
6. Stanford (Vina Enoteca)

And to be clear, none of these hold a candle to HSL in Salt Lake City.

Which players in the Mountain West would you consider must-watch television this upcoming season?

Alec M.

I’ve chatted with a few folks with connections inside the NFL who are really high on Utah State quarterback Jordan Love. He’ll be facing the challenges that come with a new coach and new offensive system but by most accounts, he’s a very level-headed guy who’s able to weather those things with a steady head.

Boise State has A LOT to replace on the offensive side of the ball, but the Broncos have a solid foundation on the O-line. They return four starters who have 20-plus career starts and a source recently reached out to me and mentioned that he thinks Ezra Cleveland has a chance to be one of the higher picks out of the Mountain West in the NFL Draft next year. On the defensive side, I’m going to keep an eye on Curtis Weaver (as will every MWC offensive coordinator).

This stuff usually flies under the radar, but I love special teams… Marcus Hayes is a defensive back at New Mexico, but last season he led the nation in yards per punt return, and not just by a bit. He averaged 21.2 yards per return while the second-leading returner averaged 16.4. In terms of field position and big plays, that’s huge.

I’ve been super impressed with the job that Bert Watts has done as the defensive coordinator at Fresno State. That unit has made major improvements and there are a few players that could pull some eyes this fall. Keep a look out for defensive backs Jaron Bryant (two-time MWC honorable mention) and Juju Hughes (MWC second-team last season).

(Top photo of Amon-Ra St. Brown courtesy of USC Athletics)

Jun 5, 2025

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