As the first day of the Early Signing Period wanes, we have a better picture of where teams stand. Which won the day, and which teams finished the afternoon feeling worse?
Rather than praising top classes and downing poor ones, College Football Network takes a more nuanced approach. Our winners are the teams that should feel better about their classes than they did ahead of the Early Signing Period, while the losers are left thinking what could have been after missing key targets.
Early Signing Period Day 1 Winners
Oregon Ducks
One of the teams running for the top overall class, the Oregon Ducks had the best day of any team in the country. It was almost perfect. Intel just 24 hours ago suggested that the Ducks could end up losing one or even two five stars. Instead, they added two.
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Dan Lanning’s team survived late pushes for five-star receivers Dakorien Moore and Dallas Wilson, who seemed destined to join the Florida Gators. Later, they flipped former California Golden Bears commit Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele and Ne’eem Offord, who was expected to flip from the Ohio State Buckeyes but not to the Ducks.
Texas Longhorns
There are two ways to be winners on the opening day of the Early Signing Period:
- Flip some players or
- Keep the guys you weren’t expected to maintain.
The Texas Longhorns have done the latter, landing uncommitted five-star Michael Terry, one of the top athletes in the 2025 class.
The Longhorns also got a big win early in the day when five-star receiver Jamie Ffrench signed with Texas amid rumors he could flip to Florida.
South Carolina Gamecocks
The South Carolina Gamecocks didn’t have the flashiest class, but they finished with more momentum than most experts expected earlier this week.
Shane Beamer pulled off three flips: one expected, one that initially looked unlikely, and one out of nowhere. While they missed on a couple of other flip targets, they hit on players at positions of need, headlined by top junior college defensive lineman Zavion Hardy.
The Gamecocks closed the day with a flip of highly-ranked offensive tackle prospect Damola Ajidahun from the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. While South Carolina’s pursuit was known, most pundits had given up on even tracking Ajidahun as a potential flip candidate until minutes before he signed with the Gamecocks.
It’s not flashy, but it’s another smart class from Beamer and his coaching staff.
Early Signing Period Day 1 Losers
Tennessee Volunteers
It wasn’t all bad for the Tennessee Volunteers as they flipped corner Timothy Merritt from the Miami Hurricanes, but they also lost two recruits: safety Lagonza Hayward and defensive lineman Darrion Smith, both to in-conference foes.
The biggest news, though, was five-star offensive tackle David Sanders’ decision to delay his signing. The Volunteers haven’t lost him, but they’re in a dogfight with Ohio State.
Georgia Bulldogs
It’s hard to call the Bulldogs losers, especially when they have an opportunity to sign one of the top players in the country when Justus Terry announces his commitment on Friday. But Georgia did lose two potential running backs.
Highly-ranked running back Ousmane Kromah flipped to the Florida State Seminoles, while target Anthony Rogers chose Ohio State. Sometimes, a team has more chances to miss on prospects when they’re in on seemingly every other prospect. That might be the case here.
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