Advertisement
football Edit

Early Signing Period Wrap-up: Final winners and losers

The first ever early signing period is officially in its waning moments. The activity that took place over the past 72 hours was furious, with most of the action taking place on the period’s opening day.

That said, the week that was went over better for some schools than it did for others. Rivals.com takes a look at the winners and losers of the past three days.

MORE: 2018 Rivals250 | Team Rankings | Farrell Awards

WINNERS

Advertisement
Kirby Smart
Kirby Smart (Radi Nabulsi)

1. GEORGIA

The top spot here wasn’t particularly contested, as UGA had it locked up on the first day of the signing period. Kirby Smart’s program spent the first-ever ESP checking every box. Smart landed five-star lineman Cade Mays, a former Tennessee commit that seemed like a Clemson lean not long ago. And Mays wasn’t the only five-star to choose UGA during the period. In-state guard Jamaree Salyer also picked Georgia on Wednesday. Two five-stars are enough to land a team on this list, but UGA also landed Rivals100 defensive back Nadab Joseph, who was committed to Alabama, singed five-star James Cook despite a late push by Florida State and landed Rivals250 linebacker Channing Tindall.

With UGA now boasting the nation’s top recruiting class and preparing to play in the College Football Playoff, Georgia fans will have to look hard to find reason to be upset.

2. CLEMSON

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney may have used Urban Meyer’s age against him to pull a five-star out of Ohio, and to the victor go the spoils. In this case, the spoils came in form of five-star Jackson Carman who said not thanks to the in-state Buckeyes in favor of Swinney and the Tigers.

Meyer rarely loses this kind of recruiting battle, so Swinney deserves serious praise for win. According to Carman, Swinney suggested that Meyer, age 53, could be on the back end of his career in an effort to seal the deal. And whether or not that’s the reason for how things shook out, it’s become a full-fledged storyline.

Clemson also landed five-star K.J. Henry and snagged high three-star prospect Lyn-J Dixon away from Oklahoma State. No. 1 overall prospect Trevor Lawrence, a quarterback that had been committed to the Tigers for months, made things official as well.

3. TEXAS

Texas landed five-star Anthony Cook on Wednesday giving Tom Herman a recruiting victory over LSU and Ohio State. Cook is now the gem of a Longhorns' recruiting class that includes some major star power in the secondary. Texas’s 2018 haul includes six defensive backs ranked four-stars or higher.

All five prospects are from the state of Texas, and Herman can also boast the fact that he has the Lone Star State’s top six prospects in the fold. Texas (6-6) may not have had the season it wanted this year, but the momentum the Herman hire created in Austin continues.

4. PENN STATE

Just because everyone expected Rivals250 wide receiver Jahan Dotson to switch his commitment from UCLA to Penn State doesn’t make the fact that it happened during the signing period any less newsworthy. And while five-star Micah Parson’s commitment to Penn State marked the second time he pledged his services to the program, getting the elite defensive end back in the fold is certainly notable. The Nittany Lions didn’t have a Georgia-esque Early Signing Period, but their fourth-ranked class is nothing to sneeze at.

5. MIAMI

All Mark Richt wanted was a drama-free signing window, and he got his wish. The Hurricanes have been carrying a top-five class for some time and watched as most of that class signed letters of intent without anything that resembled a signing day scare. All but one prospect in the class made things official during the window. UM hasn't finished in the top five of the Rivals.com rankings since 2008 but seem headed in that direction this year.

LOSERS

1. OHIO STATE

Ok, so the damage here isn’t exactly devastating. Ohio State will land one of the country’s top classes despite having a less-than-ideal early signing window. Alas, this isn’t a list of losers for the recruiting cycle. It’s a list of losers for a three-day window in December.

For that, the Buckeyes qualify. Ohio State saw Emory Jones, who had been committed to the Buckeyes for more than a calendar year, sign with Florida. The Buckeyes also watched four-star Jaiden Woodbey, flip his pledge to Florida State. Wednesday also included a loss in the recruitment of in-state five-star Jackson Carman, who elected to sign with Clemson instead of staying home with Urban Meyer.

On a macro level, everything in Columbus will be fine. On a micro level, the first Early Signing Period was a small disaster.

2. UCLA

The Early Signing Period is tough on new coaching staffs, especially ones led by head coaches that haven’t coached a college game since early 2013. Alas, this is the situation in which Chip Kelly finds himself. The Bruins signed eight players during the period, but the pain came in the form of commitment flips. UCLA saw Rivals250 defensive end commit Abdul-Malik McClain sign with crosstown rival USC and wide receiver Jahan Dotson decide to break his pledge to stay closer to home at Penn State. Chip Kelly will have better weeks in Westwood.

3. TEXAS A&M

Texas A&M hoped to sign longtime commit Bobby Brown during the Early Signing Period. That didn’t happen. Instead, Brown decommitted on the first day of the window. The Aggies hoped to land five-star Terrace Marshall on Friday. That didn’t happen either. Marshall chose LSU on national television.

The Aggies did manage to sign eight of their 14 commits, including five four-star prospects. Still, things didn’t exactly break A&M’s way this week. The week wasn’t a massive disappointment in College station, but it was certainly miles from pleasing.

Advertisement