NSD 2023: How new Power Five coaches fared with their recruiting classes
Nine Power Five programs experienced a change at the head coach position coming into the Early Signing Period, and each program signed a recruiting class that signaled a transition into a new era.
Here are grades for each program's performance this week on the recruiting trail.
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MORE NSD: Ten biggest recruiting stings of the 2024 cycle | Gorney Awards | How each Power Program announced its signees | Five teams with work left to do | Latest on the top unsigned offensive players | All the news, analysis and interviews | Winners and losers | Who's still left? | UGA leads the race for No. 1 | National Signing Day Studio Show
NSD INTERVIEWS: Florida signee Gregory Smith | Georgia Tech signee Anthony Carrie | Rutgers coach Greg Schiano | NC State coach Dave Doeren | Oregon State coach Trent Bray | TCU coach Sonny Dykes | Florida State coach Mike Norvell | Stanford coach Troy Taylor | Arizona coach Jedd Fisch | Illinois coach Bret Bielema | Washington State coach Jake Dickert | Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith | Auburn signee Amaris Williams | Syracuse coach Fran Brown | Georgia Tech coach Brent Key | No. 1 prospect Jeremiah Smith | West Virginia coach Neal Brown | Virginia Tech coach Brent Pry | Auburn coach Hugh Freeze | Amaris Williams announces live on Rivals | Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham | Clemson coach Dabo Swinney | Nebraska coach Matt Rhule | Purdue coach Ryan Walters | Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire | Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea | Larry Tarver discusses flip to Nebraska | Legendary coach Lou Holtz | CFB analyst Yogi Roth | Fitz and Gorney preview the big day | John Garcia Jr. previews signing day in the Southeast
TEAM RECRUITING RANKINGS: ACC | BIG TEN | BIG 12 | PAC-12 | SEC | OVERALL
CLASS OF 2024 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State
TRANSFER PORTAL: Latest news | Transfer search | Transfer tracker/player ranking (football) | Transfer team ranking (football) | Transfer tracker/player ranking (basketball) | Transfer team ranking (basketball) | Rivals Portal Twitter
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FRAN BROWN, Syracuse
It’s an exciting time for Syracuse football right now. Fran Brown has injected a lot of energy and excitement into Syracuse’s program in the short time he’s been on the job. Brown did a nice job gaining signatures from a pair of four-stars with wide receiver Emanuel Ross and running back Yasin Willis. Both are from New Jersey which is going to be a key state for Brown and his staff moving forward.
You can never go wrong getting a potential elite pass rusher like KingJoseph Edwards from Georgia. The Orange’s current class ranking is No. 50 which is already a 36-spot improvement from last cycle. Brown was hired in part to jumpstart recruiting and he’s already doing that.
Syracuse has also been active in the portal which will help the team immediately. I wouldn’t count out Brown from bringing more talent in this offseason both in recruiting and from the portal.
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JONATHAN SMITH, Michigan State
The Spartans finished the cycle with a flurry. On Dec. 12 they only had seven verbal commitments for the 2024 class. They ended the day with 19 total commitments and currently have the No. 51 ranked class in the team rankings. With just one player left unsigned the team should only go up from here with February additions.
Getting four-star wide receiver Nick Marsh was a huge coup for Smith and his staff. Getting three-star linebacker Brady Pretzlaff on signing day is great, too. He has a chance to be a multi-year starter in East Lansing. The biggest addition was not on signing day but in the portal. Quarterback Aiden Chiles has huge star potential and is a major key to the future of Spartans football.
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TRENT BRAY, Oregon State
Bray finds himself in a tremendously difficult position as the new man in charge of Oregon State football. His roster is being poached by the former coach, they are in bowl prep, the portal is open and he has to close his first signing class. It’s tough enough at Oregon State without the extras going on.
Still, the Beavers were able to identify some players that have bright futures in Corvallis. We don’t see teams dipping into JUCO as much but Gyriece Goodman out of Garden City could be a gem. He recorded 59 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles this season. He’s also an early enrollee which helps.
We do need to keep an eye on unsigned wide receivers Malachi Durant and Eddie Freauff. They’d be nice for Oregon State to keep in the fold.
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MIKE ELKO, Texas A&M
The No. 19 recruiting class won't cut it for Mike Elko in his first full recruiting cycle in College Station but, for now since he just got the job, it’s fair to give him a bit of a pass. We also have to see what happens with the best two prospects in the class. Five-star athlete Terry Bussey and four-star defensive lineman Daelyn Evans are verbal commits that did not sign yet.
I do like what Elko has signed on the offensive line for the 2024 class. The trio of four-stars – Ashton Funk, Isendre Ahfua and Blake Ivy – are good building blocks for the type of hard-nosed program Elko wants to build in Aggieland. Blue-chip defensive end Solomon Williams was also a great signing day win for Texas A&M.
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JEFF LEBBY, Mississippi State
Lebby went to work immediately to help the Bulldogs' 2024 recruiting class. The group is sitting at a respectable No. 30 in the Rivals Team Recruiting Rankings. Lebby got pledges from 10 prospects in the class since Dec. 10 so he’s been busy.
Landing four-star quarterback Michael Van Buren and flipping three-star wide receiver Ricky Johnson on signing day is a good start for Lebby in Starkville.
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MANNY DIAZ, Duke
It was a tough signing day for new coach Manny Diaz. He’s only been on the job a couple of weeks making it tough to pull anything off of substance. By Diaz’ own admission he wasn’t really able to jet around the country doing in-home visits. He did a lot of recruiting over the phone and recruiting to retain current players.
“That’s what’s so different than just four or five years ago, we really were rooted onto our campus,” Diaz said. “So, a lot of it had to be through the phone and old-school ways.”
Georgia four-star athlete Chase Tyler was the highest-rated player that Duke signed and the only four-star in the class. He’s got potential on either side of the ball so kudos to Diaz for holding off Georgia Tech for his signature.
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CURT CIGNETTI, Indiana
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like for a new coach in today’s college football, Indiana’s Curt Cignetti described it perfectly.
“It's been a whirlwind really. I would call this 20 days of 4th and 1,” Cignetti said. “I'm living in a university house a couple blocks from town. I have not seen town during the daylight yet. I leave in the dark. I get home in the dark. It's been a lot of 4:30, 5:00 a.m. mornings till 10:30, 11:30 at night. Was even in the office 12:30 one night. Haven't done that since 1986.”
That hard work paid off especially for the Hoosiers to land their quarterback of the future. In-state four-star signal caller Tyler Cherry is the gem of the class and a player with a bright future in Bloomington. Indiana ended up adding 31 total players including the transfer portal as it completely reshapes the program under Cignetti.
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WILLIE FRITZ, Houston
There aren’t many better examples of the new world of college football than what is happening at Houston. Willie Fritz got all 15 traditional signees letter of intent already. That includes four-star defensive back Maurice Williams out of Pearland, Texas and four-star wide receiver Koby Young from New Orleans.
The even bigger thing for Fritz is that they are bringing in a nice transfer class. Ten transfers are on the way to Houston led by UCLA offensive lineman Jake Wiley. Fritz has been a very successful college coach and I’m expecting him to find the right formula to win at Houston, too.
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DAVID BRAUN, Northwestern
It was a really unique recruiting cycle for Northwestern and David Braun. He took over the job under tough conditions and then led the Wildcats to a 7-5 record while picking up several accolades after the season. It’s a small class for Northwestern with 15 prospects but that doesn’t put a damper on the excitement.
"It's a class we're really excited about," Braun said. "It spans a lot of different areas of the country, still has great roots in Illinois and throughout the Midwest in areas we've had a lot of success for a long, long time."
Tight end Patrick Schaller is a standout in the class. The three-star is the highest-rated in-state player the Wildcats signed. He also has the distinction of being Northwestern’s first commit of the 2024 class. Northwestern is a place that you have to identify under the radar players then develop and retain them. This class falls right in line with that.