Okay, here's what I did, I went to the 247 Sports and Rivals trying to build a complete list of every recruit who signed a LOI between 2011 and 2015 to calculate how many of those that signed completed their eligibility as a Marshall University football player. I'm not drawing distinctions among the reasons they left, just the fact that they did not play their senior year at Marshall. I didn't count the 2010 class because it was a rush job and had horrorific attrition. I didn't include 2016 because we won't know how the props work out until next year. The years 2013, 14 and 15 are still active as to who may not finish, so counts are as of today.
Number of LOIs each year, # of 4 stars, # of 3 stars, # of 2 stars
2011 - 26 - 0 - 17 - 9
2012 - 22 - 1 - 7 - 14
2013 - 22 - 2 - 11 - 9
2014 - 26 - 1 - 14 - 11
2015 - 26 - 0 - 14 - 12
Tot. - 122 - 4 - 63 - 55
Number that won't be Seniors here, 4s, 3s, 2s
2011 - 11 - 0 - 7 - 4
2012 - 15 - 1 - 5 - 9
2013 - 10 - 1 - 5 - 4
2014 - 10 - 0 - 6 - 4
2015 - 9 - 0 - 6 - 3
Tot. - 55 - 2 - 29 - 24
Attrition rate
2011 - 42%, 8% a year based on 5 years for eligibility.
2012 - 68%, 13% per year
2013- 45%, 11% per year (4 years)
2014 - 38%, 13% per year (3 years)
2015 - 34%, 17% per years (2 years)
Overall 45% of the players who signed an LOI between 2011 and 2015 (55/122) are already assured of not playing a senior season here. That includes 7 three star or higher defensive backs or safeties. I think it's no coincidence that 2011 was our best retained class and 2014 was our best season. It is very concerning that our annual attrition rate is increasing as that is what will keep us perpetually young from an experience POV.