National Signing Day: Winners and losers
National Signing Day is in the books, and while most top prospects now sign in December there was still a significant amount of news that came out Wednesday. Here is a look at some winning and losing programs from the day.
*****
MORE: Texas A&M wins 2022 recruiting title
ONE-ON-ONE COACH INTERVIEWS: Oklahoma's Brent Venables | Rutgers' Greg Schiano | Clemson's Dabo Swinney | Vanderbilt's Clark Lea | Illinois' Bret Bielema | West Virginia's Neal Brown | Virginia's Tony Elliott | Indiana's Tom Allen | Utah's Kyle Whittingham | South Carolina's Shane Beamer | Arizona's Jedd Fisch | Stanford's David Shaw | Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman | Florida State's Mike Norvell | Michigan State's Mel Tucker | Missouri's Eli Drinkwitz
*****
CLASS OF 2022 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State | JUCO
CLASS OF 2023 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
TRANSFER PORTAL: Stories/coverage | Message board
RIVALS CAMP SERIES: Info for 2022 series
*****
WINNERS
Clemson
From Jan. 16 until signing day, Clemson landed eight commitments and the Tigers were busy on Wednesday by adding four-star DL Caden Story, four-star linebacker TJ Dudley and three-star running back Keith Adams Jr. Once an Auburn commit, Story picked the Tigers over Auburn and Florida and Dudley had Florida, Texas and others involved. Adams is a legacy prospect, a big, physical back who will be a nice addition in Clemson’s backfield.
*****
Georgia
The Bulldogs closed out another epic recruiting class with three solid additions on Wednesday, led by Ellenwood (Ga.) Cedar Grove four-star defensive tackle Christen Miller, who was also being pushed by Ohio State, Miami and others. Teaming up with close friend Mykel Williams in Georgia’s class was too much to pass up. Former Florida commit and three-star LB EJ Lightsey could be a big sleeper in this class and then three-star RB Andrew Paul is a nice addition in the running back room as he picked the Dawgs over Clemson, Michigan and others.
*****
Miami
The new Miami coaching staff under Mario Cristobal was very active in the closing days before the Late Signing Period, and the Hurricanes ended up with a lot of impressive wins and some misses, as will happen. Miami has to be thrilled it added four-star RB TreVonte’ Citizen, who seemed to be favoring LSU or Florida late. Four-star DT Ahmad Moten and three-star offensive linemen Matthew McCoy and Anez Cooper round out the class. The biggest miss was when five-star DE Shemar Stewart picked Texas A&M over the Canes after the staff poured everything it had into getting him.
*****
Michigan
When news broke on Tuesday that coach Jim Harbaugh was going to interview for the Minnesota Vikings job, there was a feeling that it was inevitable he was headed back to the NFL. That move could have precipitated significant issues in recruiting, and things picked up even more when the Detroit News reported that Will Johnson’s father told the newspaper that Harbaugh informed his five-star son that if he was offered an NFL job he would take it. By Wednesday evening, Harbaugh said he was returning to Michigan, which is a big win for the program.
*****
Nebraska
It was not a massively busy day for the Huskers, but coach Scott Frost and his staff flipped two important pieces to move into the top 40 of the team recruiting rankings nationally. Four-star WR Janiran Bonner was a former Georgia Tech commit and three-star running back Ajay Allen Jr., flipped to Nebraska from TCU, where he had been committed since the summer.
*****
Oklahoma
Lots of teams had quiet days because they signed their entire classes in December. Not Oklahoma. The Sooners closed very strong by flipping three-star DE R Mason Thomas from Iowa State, getting three-star DE Kevonte Henry, a former Michigan pledge, signing four-star DL Gracen Halton, a former Oregon commit, and landing three-star DB Jamarrien Burt, who had been committed to Florida. Four-star DT Ahmad Moten ended up with Miami, so he was a miss, as was four-star OL Devon Campbell, but Texas was the leader there forever.
*****
Oregon
Four-star running back Jordan Bryant-James flipped from Georgia on signing day as the Ducks emerged as the frontrunner in the last few weeks, and then Oregon beat out Miami for four-star OL Dave Iuli, which was a big win because Iuli was a massive fan of former coach Mario Cristobal. The Ducks also landed three-star linebacker Emarrion Winston. In the days leading up to signing day, Oregon got four-star cornerback Jahlil Florence to pick the Ducks over USC and three-star DB Khamari Terrell from Killeen (Texas) Shoemaker joined the class, too.
*****
Texas A&M
The Aggies finished with the No. 1 class nationally for the first time in Rivals history dating back to 2002, and they accomplished that by signing five-stars Shemar Stewart and Jacoby Mathews, who was a rare five-star from the state of Louisiana that did not pick LSU. The loss of four-star LB Harold Perkins to LSU seems like an afterthought now. Some of the excitement was blunted Wednesday as coach Jimbo Fisher had to answer questions about an alleged NIL fund that helped Texas A&M land such superstars, but overall the Aggies loaded up in a huge way.
*****
LOSERS
Arizona State
Where does Arizona State go from here? That’s the big question as the Sun Devils signed no new players on Wednesday and news broke that defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce resigned, joining four other coaches who were either fired or resigned amid an NCAA investigation. Arizona State is dead last in the Pac-12 team rankings right now and the Sun Devils do not make the top 100 list nationally.
*****
Florida
There were some wins, like getting four-star DE Jack Pyburn late over Miami and Auburn, beating LSU for three-star receiver Caleb Douglas and keeping three-star OL Jalen Farmer in the class. But the Gators struck out on all their biggest targets in five-star safety Jacoby Mathews, four-star linebacker Harold Perkins and four-star running back TreVonte’ Citizen. The Gators are No. 24 in the team recruiting rankings, tied for No. 10 in the SEC.
*****
LSU
Only Texas A&M, Alabama and Georgia finished with more five-stars in the SEC than LSU and the Tigers did finish with Harold Perkins, which was huge because Florida and others were making a huge push, and the Tigers also landed four-star DB Jaelyn Davis-Robinson. But the day was a mixed bag. In-state prospects Jacoby Mathews, TreVonte’ Citizen and Danny Lewis and three-star receiver Caleb Douglas all went elsewhere. Only three of the top 11 players in the state of Louisiana signed with the Tigers.