Nine Power Five schools hired new coaches over the last couple months, and they just went through their first Early Signing Period. Only two coaches have their teams in the top 50 of the team rankings, and one isn’t even in the top 100. Rivals.com graded the new coaches on their Early Signing Period haul.
MORE EARLY SIGNING PERIOD: Five teams that can still make noise | Headlines from the second day | The Farrell Awards | Big surprises | Winners and losers | Mind of Mike | 10 predictions | Blog | Bama at No. 1 | James Franklin talks NSD
OHIO STATE - No. 20 in the team rankings
New coach: Ryan Day, former Ohio State offensive coordinator
Previous coach: Urban Meyer, first recruiting class (2012) ranked No. 4
Grade: A
Analysis: Day was given the keys to the Ohio State program a few weeks ago, and he hasn’t disappointed Buckeye fans. The must-sign prospect of this recruiting class for Ohio State was five-star defensive end Zach Harrison, and Day did not miss. Michigan had the momentum with Harrison about a month ago, but it slowly turned back toward the Buckeyes. Ohio State also added defensive tackle Jaden McKenzie to the mix on Wednesday. The news wasn’t all good for Ohio State, though, as the Buckeyes lost Rivals250 defensive back Jordan Battle to Alabama and Rivals250 quarterback Dwan Mathis to Georgia. This Ohio State class won’t make it to the top five like Meyer’s first class did, but it is still a very good haul.
NORTH CAROLINA - No. 42 in the team rankings
New coach: Mack Brown, former TV analyst and Texas head coach
Previous coach: Larry Fedora, first recruiting class (2012) ranked No. 44
Grade: A
Analysis: Brown and his staff kept a decent recruiting class together and brought in some major pieces to the puzzle. Flipping Rivals100 quarterback Sam Howell from Florida State was the most significant flip on Wednesday and in the future it will be viewed as the first major recruiting win of Brown’s second stint as head coach for the Tar Heels. Landing the signature of former NC State offensive line commit Triston Miller was also a big win for Brown. This North Carolina recruiting class is already ranked higher than the one Fedora first brought into Chapel Hill.
Georgia Tech - No. 52 in the team rankings
New coach: Geoff Collins, former Temple head coach
Previous coach: Paul Johnson, first recruiting class (2008) ranked No. 49
Grade: B
Analysis: Collins has a tall task in front of him as he tries to move Georgia Tech away from the option offense. He added a couple tight ends to the mix in Dylan Deveney, a former Rutgers commit, and UConn grad transfer Tyler Davis. Defensive lineman Sylvain Yondjouen flipped from Arizona on Wednesday as well, a move that had been brewing for a few days. Collins got Ahmarean Brown to pick Georgia Tech instead of Iowa State, but lost defensive back Briton Allen to USC. Holding on to quarterback Jordan Yates was huge for the Yellow Jackets. Other teams were circling Yates, but Collins made sure he didn’t get away.
Texas Tech - No. 57 in the team rankings
New coach: Matt Wells, former Utah State head coach
Previous coach: Kliff Kingsbury, first recruiting class (2013) ranked No. 51
Grade: B
Analysis: The Red Raiders signed 11 of their 14 commits on Wednesday and all their paperwork was in before 10 a.m. local time. Led by quarterback signee Maverick McIvor, Wells has a lot of offensive firepower in this recruiting class, including two wide receivers and two tight ends. The most important and highest-rated signee for Texas Tech was four-star defensive end Gilbert Ibeneme. Wells has some work to do to at least match Kingsbury’s first recruiting class at Texas Tech. He was able to get commitments from McIvor and tight end Travis Koontz in the days leading up to the Early Signing Period and there are surely many more additions coming in January and February.
Colorado - No. 60 in the team rankings
New coach: Mel Tucker, former Georgia defensive coordinator
Previous coach: Mike MacIntyre, first recruiting class (2013) ranked No. 67
Grade: B
Analysis: Tucker took over as head coach of the Buffs earlier this month after MacIntyre was fired. There were some de-commitments, but Tucker did a pretty good job of keeping four-stars Braedin Huffman-Dixon and Jaren Mangham in the fold while bringing back defensive back KJ Trujillo after he de-committed earlier in the process. Tucker missed on Darius Robinson on Wednesday when he signed with Missouri, and Jaylen Martin flipped to Cal as well. With only 17 players in this class so far, Tucker has plenty of room to add more talented players to this class as he works to reshape this roster.
Maryland - No. 86 in the team rankings
New coach: Mike Locksley, former Alabama offensive coordinator
Previous coach: D.J. Durkin, first recruiting class (2016) ranked No. 39
Grade: B
Analysis: Maryland will be in a bit of a tough spot once the dead period ends in January because it only signed six prospects. Locksley and his staff flipped West Virginia four-star commit Isaiah Hazel and UConn tight end commit Malik Jackson, both in-state prospects. Locksley is expected to try to flip a lot of local prospects and the Terps will surely be active in the transfer market. The Maryland faithful will need to hope Locksley and his staff can make some major moves if they want to get close to matching the ranking Durkin did in his first recruiting class.
Louisville - Outside the top 100 in the team rankings
New coach: Scott Satterfield, former Appalachian State head coach
Previous coach: Bobby Petrino, first recruiting class (2015) ranked No. 32
Grade: B
Analysis: Cardinals fans (and Satterfield) can blame Petrino for the poor shape this recruiting class is in. There is virtually no chance this recruiting class reaches the level of Petrino’s first class with Louisville. The Cardinals have by far the smallest recruiting class in the Power Five conferences, with five commitments and only four signees. Satterfield and his staff did do a tremendous job of keeping offensive lineman Zach Williamson in this class. Penn State and a few other schools wanted him to flip. Satterfield did pull off one of the most important flips of the Early Signing Period when he got quarterback Evan Conley to flip from Appalachian State.
Kansas State- No. 80 in the team rankings
New coach: Chris Klieman, former North Dakota State head coach
Previous coach: Bill Snyder, first recruiting class (2009) ranked No. 92
Grade: C
Analysis: Klieman and his staff went heavy on the offensive side of the ball in their first recruiting class at Kansas State. About half of this class was already committed to the Wildcats when Klieman arrived, but he did a good job of keeping them on board. Quarterback Chris Herron, wide receiver Keenan Garber and defensive back William Jones are the highest-rated prospects in this class. Klieman already has a better recruiting class than Snyder did when he returned to Kansas State, but he needs to address a lot of other needs once January hits.
Kansas - No. 96 in the team rankings
New coach: Les Miles, former TV analyst and former LSU head coach
Previous coach: Dave Beaty, first recruiting class (2015) ranked No. 66
Grade: C
Analysis: There is pretty much nowhere for Miles to take the Jayhawks but up. He got to Lawrence with next to nothing in this recruiting class, but got off to a decent start in the Early Signing Period. Quarterback Thomas MacVittie, a junior college prospect that was previously at Pittsburgh, is the highest rated prospect Miles signed, but he is also bringing in a few offensive skill players that will help move the chains. Expect Kansas to be very active leading up to the February signing period and get much closer to the ranking of Beaty’s first class.
