The Early Signing Period, in which a vast majority of players signed, is now behind us. Today we start a five-day series looking at the winners and losers of each power conference, beginning with the Pac-12.
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MORE NSD: Highest-ranked defensive prospects still available | How new Power Five coaches fared | Top Group of Five signees | 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 | South Carolina coach Shane Beamer | 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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WINNERS
OREGON’S FLIP SUCCESS
Oregon has been working incredibly well in the portal especially at the quarterback position, landing Oklahoma’s starter Dillon Gabriel and former five-star Dante Moore. But on signing day, all the news was about the Ducks’ ability to flip elite receivers.
Ohio State couldn’t keep four-star receiver Jeremiah McClellan as he flipped to the Ducks and then later in the day, Long Beach (Calif.) Millikan’s Ryan Pellum backed off his USC pledge to pick Oregon as well.
The Ducks are currently sitting sixth nationally in the team rankings.
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STANFORD
Coach Troy Taylor was battling a cold on signing day but he has to feel good about keeping this class together after a dreadful 3-9 season with a lot of blowout losses. It’s clear the Cardinal need a lot of help on both sides of the ball and a lot of help is coming with this signing class.
On offense, four-star quarterback Elijah Brown is cool as a cucumber in the pocket and has been a major winner at powerhouse Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei. Four-star running back Chris Davis Jr., four-star receiver Emmett Mosley and four-star tight end Benjamin Blackburn should provide help as well.
On defense, Stanford had success nationally landing top-end defensive ends led by Benedict Umeh from Avon (Conn.) Avon Old Farms and Dylan Stephenson from Miami (Fla.) Columbus. It could have been bad for a team struggling this much but it wasn’t at all.
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JEDD FISCH
Fisch went 1-11 his first year at Arizona. That was followed by a 5-7 season and this year the Wildcats are 9-3. That’s progress.
And Fisch has been excellent on the recruiting trail as well including this year. Four-star quarterback Demond Williams has game-changer ability and he’s a total gamer. Sure, Williams is undersized but Noah Fifita is even more undersized and Williams might even have a better arm.
Arizona also did really well with in-state prospects, which has been historically difficult as many top prospects leave the state for other pastures. Not four-star athlete Dylan Tapley, who flipped from Arizona State because the Wildcats want him on offense.
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DEION SANDERS’ FIVE-STAR SUCCESS
There are reasons for concern when it comes to Colorado’s high school recruiting (more on that later) but there’s no denying that Colorado coach Deion Sanders can convince elite five-stars on his vision.
The biggest one was bringing Travis Hunter with him from Jackson State. Last year, five-star cornerback Cormani McClain chose Colorado after signing day and while there were bumps along the way there, McClain has tons of talent.
And now Sanders has signed five-star offensive tackle Jordan Seaton over Alabama, Tennessee, Ohio State and others.
On signing day, Seaton decided not to sign and it looked like other visits were being set up. But by Friday afternoon, the five-star was locked up with the Buffaloes.
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KENNY DILLINGHAM’S OPINION ON RECRUITING
More than 20 Power Five coaches were interviewed on the Rivals National Signing Day but Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham had some incredible thoughts about where recruiting is going in the age of the transfer portal and what signing day means – or doesn’t mean – anymore.
The 33-year-old doesn’t think signing day is what it once was, that recruiting is really a one-year battle now for every kid in the country and how Arizona State operates between high school recruiting and the transfer portal has been telling.
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LOSERS
COLORADO
Colorado is still rebuilding its roster and it was clear in Year 1 under coach Deion Sanders that depth is absolutely needed at numerous spots but especially among the offensive line. It’s not just about flash commitments like Jordan Seaton (although he’s a humongous recruiting win) but building out numbers. With only six high school signees, that’s a step in the wrong direction.
It looks like the Buffaloes are going to go heavy transfer portal again. That’s certainly one approach but the problem is that transfers aren’t coming in to build depth. They want to play right away. Sanders needs to load up with both high school players and transfers, and right now he’s only having success on one avenue.
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PAC-12 COMPETITIVENESS AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL
There was only one five-star signee in the Pac-12: Seaton.
Miami and Ohio State had three each. The Big 12 landed five with Texas having three. There were 13 five-stars in the SEC. With the conference going away, these numbers will be blended into the other conferences but it’s still striking that there are so few elite players coming to these teams.
Something else that was striking: Oregon was the only program from the Pac-12 ranked inside the top 20 in the team rankings. USC finished second in the conference rankings but No. 21 nationally.
