(Note:  All numbers for this article were compiled by Chris Coleman.)

We’re back with our annual "Top Gun Recruiter" article,
to find out which of VT’s assistant football coaches brought in the
highest-rated recruits, and more of ’em. This is the sixth year that we have
data for the Top Gun competition, and in the first five seasons, Jim Cavanaugh
was the undisputed Top Gun, winning three out of five seasons and coming in
first in total points and points per player over the five-year span. Will Cav
successfully defend his crown this year, or will it go to someone else?

The concept behind Top Gun is simple: Take the player rankings we calculated
in Inside the Numbers: Ranking the 2006 Recruits,
and assign the scores for individual players to the coaches who were their
primary recruiters. Add them all up, see which coach scored the most total
points, and that’s your Top Gun recruiter for the year.

Here are the results for the last five recruiting classes — there will be
more details coming later, when we calculate the 2006 winner and include him in
the table.

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