Phil Steele Blog • June 19, 2017

Share on Twitter 

% of Tackles Returning

Today’s blog continues my in-depth look at my NCAA Experience Chart. For eight years I had listed an experience chart, which broke down the number of seniors, juniors, sophomores and freshmen each team had in the two deep and rated the teams experience level with a formula I devised. In 2009, I made the experience chart FIVE TIMES better by adding new categories like Career Starts on Offensive line, % of Offensive Yards returning, % of Defensive Yards returning and % of lettermen returning.

Dont forget that the 2017 College Football Preview is up and available right now on iTunes, Google Play and also we now offer a browser version. (see bottom of page).

Today I will look at the % of tackles returning. I took all of the tackles made by the team a year ago and then took all of the returning tackles from 2016 and divided it into that number for the percentage.

Last year at the top of the list was Arkansas, which had 86.76% of their total tackles returning from 2015 and their record surprisingly went down from 8-5 to 7-6! Army West Point was #2 with 84.95% and their record went from 2-10 to 8-5!

At the bottom of the list last year was #128 Utah St, which had just 27.25% of their tackles returning and #127 Illinois, which had just 35.35% back. Utah St went from allowing 332 ypg to 380 while Illinois went from yielding 23.3 ppg all the way up to 31.9 ppg. Akron was #126 with just 35.67% back and they imploded going from 21.5 ppg & 332 ypg allowed in 2015 to 33.6 ppg & 466 ypg in 2016!

This year the most veteran defenses are all teams I expect to improve their records this year. Syracuse leads the way with 89.2% of its tackles returning. #2 Florida St (87.2%) and #3 Georgia (86.6%).

At the bottom of this years list are #130 UAB which has just 17.9% of its tackles returning. As I mentioned in Friday’s blog UAB is back after they did not have a football program the last 2 years. The Blazers bring back only 4 defensive players from their team in 2014. Air Force at #129, which has just 25.0% of its total tackles back. #128 UNLV (27.6%) rounds out the only 3 teams under 30%.

Here is the complete list.
NCAA % TKL NCAA % TKL
Rank Team Return Rank Team Return
1 Syracuse 89.2% 66 Duke 63.7%
2 Florida St 87.2% 67 Hawaii 63.3%
3 Georgia 86.6% 68 Minnesota 63.0%
4 Eastern Michigan 86.0% 69 Arizona St 62.6%
5 Texas 82.9% 70 Oklahoma 62.6%
6 Oregon 82.6% 71 Vanderbilt 62.5%
7 FIU 81.0% 72 Missouri 62.0%
8 Indiana 79.8% 73 North Texas 61.8%
9 Buffalo 79.0% 74 Charlotte 61.0%
10 North Carolina 78.8% 75 Tulsa 60.5%
11 Wyoming 78.8% 76 Bowling Green 60.2%
12 Washington St 77.8% 77 Appalachian St 60.0%
13 Kentucky 77.7% 78 East Carolina 59.9%
14 Miami, Oh 77.6% 79 Arkansas 59.8%
15 Nevada 77.3% 80 Nebraska 59.5%
16 California 77.2% 81 South Carolina 59.3%
17 New Mexico St 76.8% 82 Ohio 59.2%
18 Western Michigan 76.3% 83 Troy 59.1%
19 Virginia Tech 75.3% 84 Coastal Carolina 58.9%
20 Maryland 75.2% 85 Memphis 58.6%
21 Massachusetts 75.2% 86 Georgia St 58.3%
22 Iowa 75.0% 87 Toledo 58.2%
23 Tennessee 75.0% 88 Louisiana 58.1%
24 Florida Atlantic 74.9% 89 Louisiana Tech 57.9%
25 TCU 74.9% 90 Cincinnati 57.9%
26 ULM 74.8% 91 Alabama 57.6%
27 Stanford 74.0% 92 Arizona 57.5%
28 USF 73.7% 93 Connecticut 57.1%
29 Marshall 73.4% 94 Florida 57.0%
30 Rice 73.1% 95 Mississippi St 56.9%
31 Rutgers 73.1% 96 Fresno St 56.7%
32 Georgia Tech 73.0% 97 Texas A&M 56.6%
33 Wisconsin 72.4% 98 Army West Point 56.0%
34 Auburn 71.9% 99 Michigan St 55.5%
35 Notre Dame 71.8% 100 Old Dominion 55.4%
36 UTSA 71.6% 101 Southern Miss 55.0%
37 Navy 71.6% 102 Illinois 54.2%
38 Middle Tennessee 71.1% 103 Wake Forest 53.8%
39 Tulane 70.6% 104 Texas Tech 53.5%
40 San Jose St 70.0% 105 Oklahoma St 53.4%
41 USC 69.5% 106 WKU 53.3%
42 Colorado St 69.4% 107 Iowa St 52.3%
43 Virginia 69.3% 108 Kansas St 51.3%
44 Louisville 69.1% 109 San Diego St 51.1%
45 Northwestern 68.7% 110 UCLA 50.9%
46 Akron 68.4% 111 Utah St 50.6%
47 Texas St 68.1% 112 Arkansas St 49.8%
48 Purdue 68.1% 113 Idaho 49.5%
49 Miami, Fl 67.9% 114 Temple 49.0%
50 NC State 67.9% 115 Utah 48.8%
51 UTEP 67.8% 116 Kansas 46.9%
52 Oregon St 67.6% 117 Georgia Southern 43.7%
53 Houston 67.5% 118 Kent St 43.2%
54 SMU 67.4% 119 Pittsburgh 42.0%
55 Penn St 67.4% 120 LSU 41.7%
56 BYU 67.0% 121 UCF 41.4%
57 Boston College 66.9% 122 Boise St 40.2%
58 Ohio St 66.8% 123 New Mexico 39.3%
59 Central Michigan 65.6% 124 Ball St 39.1%
60 Baylor 65.5% 125 West Virginia 38.9%
61 Northern Illinois 65.3% 126 Colorado 38.2%
62 Clemson 64.8% 127 Michigan 36.5%
63 South Alabama 64.5% 128 UNLV 27.6%
64 Mississippi 64.4% 129 Air Force 25.0%
65 Washington 64.0% 130 UAB 17.9%

 


Three easy ways to get a copy of
Phil Steele's 2017 College Football Preview


** NEW Available now: You can now get a copy of  Phil Steele’s 2017 College Football Preview that will work on any Computer, Laptop, Phone or Tablet using it's internet browser. Just click the Link below then click where it says Phil Steele’s 2017 College Football for $9.99. You will set up your own username and password and you be able to take the Magazine wherever you go and on any device. Click Here to purchase the Browser Version.

2017 College Football Preview
available right now on iTunes & Google Play!

Also Available: The digital copy on the Phil Steele 2017 College Football Preview is now available on the iPhone/iPad app store and on your Android device thru the Google Play Store. Just search for the Phil Steele Football app in your respective devices store, download the app and purchase the 2017 College Magazine there for just $9.99.

1). it will save you wear and tear on your printed magazine. If you get both you can use it as your mobile version of the magazine and that will keep your actual magazine from getting dog eared and torn up early in the year. The NFL version will be available Mid July.

2). It’s easy to use and works for both the iPhone, iPad, Android Devices and now on any device with a browser. The download process may take up to 10-15 minutes but that’s because we have over 350 pages jam-packed with information!

3). It’s only $9.99! On the newsstand, the magazine will cost you $12.99 + $7.20 shipping.

Please note: after downloading and purchasing the App, please make sure you search for 2017 if the old 2016 cover/edition comes up on your screen.