During the modern era of college football recruiting coverage, assistant coaches have become superstars by signing elite talent to rosters on an annual basis.

After all, it’s the assistants that put in the work on the trail to build the relationships with players, high school coaches, parents, mentors, family members and anyone else that is needed during the process. While head coaches certainly are involved (some more than others), NCAA rules severely limit the time the head man can spend contacting and putting in the legwork. So, it’s up to the assistant coaches.

That’s why having a coaching staff that can recruit often makes or breaks a head coaches’ tenure, regardless of how great the actual coaching is. If you don’t have players, you aren’t going to win as much as your program is capable of in college football these days — it’s as simple as that.

So assistant coach hires are more significant now than ever.

With that, while there are still more moves to be made, here are the five most impactful assistant coach hires in terms of recruiting so far this offseason in the Southeastern Conference.

1. Jeremy Pruitt, Alabama

Pruitt, a former National Recruiter of the Year, returns to his alma mater and his previous employer as defensive coordinator and is one of the best on the trail in the recent history of the SEC.

His ability to recruit the talent-rich I-10 corridor (start in Jacksonville, Fla., and head West) is virtually unrivaled (Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry was among his recruits during his first stint at Alabama). He has ties and in-roads in the entire talent-rich states of Florida and Georgia thanks to his recent stints at Florida State and UGA. Pruitt is a rising star in the coaching industry and his ability to build great relationships, the foundation for any successful recruiter, is nearly unrivaled.

Though Alabama recruits at a high level regardless, the fact that he’s coming from a job in Athens and the fact that he’s replacing the new Georgia head coach (and the Tide’s ace state of Georgia recruiter) Kirby Smart as the Crimson Tide’s defensive coordinator makes for several intriguing story lines along with the immediate impact he should make in this and future cycles.

2. Sam Pittman, Georgia

Pittman, who heads to Athens after coaching under Bret Bielema at Arkansas, is one of the under-appreciated recruiters for a specific position in the college game. During stints at North Carolina and Tennessee, along with the work he’s done in Fayetteville, he’s shown the ability to assemble a talented offensive line by casting a wide net and recruiting the position nationally. (Arkansas, for example, signed elite offensive line prospects from Minnesota, Hawaii and elsewhere during his time there.)

Though UGA always seems to recruit well up front, the Bulldogs have not been dominant on the offensive line for years. Given that Georgia is always going to recruit well at running back and the fact that the Dawgs have No. 1 quarterback Jacob Eason coming in, if Smart is going to have an early run at a National Championship at his alma mater, Pittman repeating history and upgrading his position in short order will be key.

It should not be too terribly difficult given that recruiting to Fayetteville and Chapel Hill is a tougher sell than Athens for elite offensive line prospects.

3. Bryan McClendon, South Carolina

McClendon, who is Georgia’s interim head coach for the forthcoming TaxSlayer Bowl and is a former National Recruiter of the Year, was named co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach by new Gamecocks head coach Will Muschamp.

McClendon is outstanding at building relationships and certainly can help South Carolina’s efforts in the always-important Peach State. He also has had success in two more areas that South Carolina must recruit well — the state of North Carolina and south Florida.

This was a gigantic hire by Muschamp. His program is in dire need of roster upgrades across the board, so the more proven, skilled recruiters on the staff the better. McClendon should get the Gamecocks in the game for some prospects they would not have otherwise had a chance with.

4. Tracy Rocker, Georgia

Retaining Rocker, after it appeared as though he may not be, was a brilliant move by Smart. Rocker not only is great at developing the relationships needed to be successful on the recruiting trail as far as landing talented prospects, he’s also an outstanding evaluator of his position and developer of talent (going back to DeMarcus Ware at Troy).

The former SEC defensive lineman (Auburn) has put in a lot of work at Georgia since joining former coach Mark Richt’s staff and likely can continue that work under Smart. He’s a Peach State native with longstanding ties to the entire state (especially Atlanta) and we all know that given the talent level in Georgia, recruiting the state always is the top priority for UGA. This is going to give that a boost.

5. Chris Wilson, Missouri

While this certainly isn’t an upgrade (and there are none, really) in terms of coaching and development from former Tigers defensive line coach Craig Kuligowski, new Mizzou head coach Barry Odom made a shrewd hire in terms of recruiting by landing Wilson.

Wilson, who comes to Columbia from Southern California, has experience in the SEC having coached at Mississippi State and Georgia. Given those ties and the Tigers’ need to continue to dip in to talent pockets in the Southeast, this is a big hire for Odom and company.