Tuesdays with Gorney: Reacting to big headlines and bigger rumors
There is so much going on around the college football recruiting landscape that in today’s Tuesdays with Gorney, Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney offers his thoughts on some big headlines and other rumors floating around a little more than a week before signing day:
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RECRUITING RUMOR MILL: Latest buzz as National Signing Day approaches
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CLASS OF 2023 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State
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CLASS OF 2025 RANKINGS: Rivals100
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THOUGHTS ON DANTE MOORE
If Kenny Dillingham stayed at Oregon, it’s almost a virtual lock that Moore would have stayed in the class. But Dillingham left, Will Stein is the new offensive coordinator and now the five-star quarterback is coming off an interesting visit to UCLA.
No one is talking much which makes me think the Bruins have a real chance to flip him. Chip Kelly certainly has a unique way of recruiting and he spent a good amount of time with Moore this weekend as the Detroit Martin Luther King standout doesn’t need the red carpet rolled out for him but is looking for the best spot to be the best player he can be.
Oregon coach Dan Lanning flew to Detroit after Dillingham took the Arizona State job to spend time with Moore and keep him locked up. A little while later, the five-star is in Westwood looking at another Pac-12 program. This one could definitely go either way.
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BROHM HAS BIG WEEKEND
New Louisville coach Jeff Brohm and a handful of assistants flew across the country for Saturday night’s state title game between Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco and San Mateo (Calif.) Serra and it could have saved the Cardinals’ recruiting class.
A source told me that four-star quarterback Pierce Clarkson, who was also being heavily pursued by Arizona State, UCLA and others, four-star cornerback Aaron Williams and three-star athlete Jahlil McClain loved the gesture and will probably remain locked in with Louisville. Williams had considered trips to Michigan and Oregon but we’ll see if those happen.
The wild card is four-star receiver Deandre Moore. His brother, Tye, plays for the Cardinals already so that’s a major draw but Georgia, Texas and others have been pushing. With Clarkson remaining in the fold, the feeling is that Louisville has a real shot to keep him.
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BIG FLIP FOR WILLIAM WATSON
It was a phenomenal weekend for Virginia Tech coach Brent Pry and his staff as the Hokies landed commitments from former Appalachian State running back commit Jeremiah Coney, former Cincinnati receiver pledge Ayden Greene and especially from former Nebraska quarterback commit William Watson, who brings an electricity and dynamic ability to the position.
Yes, he’s undersized. But Watson has a surprisingly strong arm, he’s a playmaker, he can escape pressure and he flipped from the Huskers as first-year coach Matt Rhule looks to put that thing together.
It was a rough first year for Pry in Blacksburg but this weekend gave the Hokies a lot of momentum heading into next week’s Early Signing Period.
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MIAMI ADDS SERIOUS SPEED
He flirted with Ole Miss. He said the Clemson visit is the best one he’s ever taken. But in the end, Christopher Johnson always wanted to play at Miami and so his commitment is huge to coach Mario Cristobal, who now has a home run hitter with legit track speed to let things happen with the ball in his hands.
Johnson is a state track champion in Florida, he’s versatile in the offense and can be used all over. He provides a much-needed weapon for the Hurricanes’ offensive attack. He loved his trip to Clemson but Cristobal did a great job of keeping South Florida talent home and Johnson is a big piece to this recruiting class.
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STANFORD COMMITS LOVE HIRE
Troy Taylor is not exactly a household name across college football but after talking to numerous Stanford commits, they love the hire.
Taylor was an excellent high school coach at Folsom, Calif., and then has been in the college game for years most notably at Sacramento State where he’s 30-8 with only one conference loss. He’s known as an offensive innovator and that’s what dusty Stanford needed - a fresh start with a new vision.
Tre Williams said Taylor was his No. 1 choice and the guy he wanted. JShawn Frausto-Ramos loved Taylor getting the job. Same with many others. Stanford has endured some significant recruiting losses in four-stars Walker Lyons and Hunter Clegg but the remaining pledges seem to love the direction Stanford went with hiring Taylor.
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FIVE-STARS OUT OF ALABAMA-MISSISSIPPI?
There are currently 26 five-stars in the 2023 class so there is some flexibility heading into the final rankings release after the all-star games for about six or so more if that’s warranted. Two could be coming from the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game.
We will see defensive lineman Peter Woods and outside linebacker Suntarine Perkins again in the coming weeks but both made huge statements in Mobile. Woods, a Clemson commit, was completely unblockable throughout the week and even ruined some practice planning because of his domination into the backfield.
Perkins, who solidified his commitment to Ole Miss this weekend despite Alabama trying to flip him for months, is long, lean, athletic and a phenomenal playmaker on both sides of the ball. There are no guarantees but if Woods and Perkins keep dominating then a big bump could be coming.
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DEION ALREADY MAKING IT INTERESTING
I don’t know how successful Deion Sanders is going to be at Colorado. It’s a massive rebuilding job, maybe the biggest in all of Power Five, maybe one of the hardest in all of Power Five as the Buffaloes have lost more games than they’ve won in 16 of the last 17 seasons.
But Sanders is already making it interesting. Flipping Dylan Edwards from Notre Dame. At least being involved with Malachi Coleman, Kadyn Proctor, Arion Carter and others. It’s inevitable that he will get transfers into Boulder and one is likely to be former No. 1 overall prospect Travis Hunter.
I have no idea how Sanders will fare there and neither does anyone else. He’s been a head coach for 32 games, all at Jackson State. Winning in the Pac-12 is an entirely different world. But Sanders has given Colorado football a heartbeat again and to me that’s his first huge victory.
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TEXAS A&M KEEPS LOADING UP
Texas A&M won’t be playing in a bowl game after being a preseason pick to play in the College Football Playoff. From Oct. 1 until it played UMass on Nov. 19, the Aggies lost every game. It was a horrible, no good, very bad season.
Yet, here is A&M flipping the top-rated all-purpose back in the country from Louisville in high four-star Rueben Owens and the Aggies just landed a commitment from four-star receiver Debron Gatling.
Jimbo Fisher and his staff still have the magic touch. And despite all the struggles this season, there were so many glimpses in that LSU season finale where you can see A&M has talent on both sides of the ball. For such long stretches, the Aggies looked terrible this season especially on offense and whether it’s because the offense is too complicated or too predictable, who knows.
But the talent stockpiles keep getting better and better.
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OKUNLOLA KEEPS US GUESSING
Five-star Samson Okunlola was supposed to release his top schools on Monday. Then it got pushed back to Tuesday. It looked like Miami was far-and-away the front-runner for his commitment. Then a great visit to Florida could have changed things.
The Brookline (Mass.) Thayer Academy star offensive lineman is planning to make his commitment on Thursday and coming off that visit to Gainesville, it seems like the Gators have a real shot here but I’m sticking with my first inclination that Okunlola ends up in the Hurricanes’ recruiting class.
Miami targeted offensive line prospects in the 2023 class and Cristobal and his staff are loading up in a huge way. Bookend offensive tackles like Okunlola and five-star Francis Mauigoa don’t come together very often - that is, if Okunlola picks the Hurricanes as he’s known to pull a surprise or two.
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WILL BAIN PULL A SURPRISE?
Reuben Bain has to pick Miami. Right?
The four-star defensive end is expected to commit on Friday and he plays at Miami (Fla.) Central, his brother is a staffer with the Hurricanes and coach Mario Cristobal and his staff have made him a massive priority. He’s a sack machine, unstoppable off the edge and someone Miami absolutely needs in this recruiting class as Cristobal continues rebuilding the program.
But Auburn has really made this interesting and Bain is also coming off a visit to Florida State. The Tigers seem like the biggest competition for the four-star standout but - and this is my guess - it would be a stunner if he turned down Miami for all those reasons above.