Yesterday was a monumental day for a lot of teams around college football, and whether it be good or bad, the 2020 classes are starting to take shape. Let’s see who won and who lost.
Winner: Will Muschamp
South Carolina is the big winner of the day, and nobody should be surprised. After landing hometown kid and 5-star Jordan Burch, Muschamp has inked six of the top ten recruits from South Carolina, including 4-star QB Luke Doty. Considering Dabo Swinney has one of the best classes of all time, this is pretty impressive. Time to see if Muschamp can do anything with it and get South Carolina contending in the SEC East.
Loser: Ed Orgeron
Even though Ed O has been the biggest winner of the 2019-2020 College Football Season… Early National Signing Day did not go well for him. They missed out on the aforementioned Jordan Burch, then they saw 5-star WR Rakim Jarrett flip to Maryland, WR Jermaine Burton flip to UGA, and S Malcolm Greene flip to Clemson. Call me crazy, but I think LSU will be just fine. The National Championship is a decent consolation prize.
Winner: Jimbo Fisher
Even after a rough season, Jimbo does what he does best. Currently sitting at the 6th best class overall and the 4th best in the SEC, this is a deep group for the Aggies. Even though Fisher only has one 5-star, he has an astounding 12 4-stars, setting up the Aggies for success. It’s about time for Texas A&M to cash in on his gaudy contract.
Loser: Clay Helton
After barely saving his job, Clay Helton needed to nail this class. He did the opposite of whatever nailing is. He currently has the 79th rated recruiting class in the country, sandwiched between Bowling Green and Louisiana-Lafayette. Some other names in front of USC: Rutgers, North Texas, Toledo, Western Michigan, Louisiana Tech, & Illinois. They lost 5-star linebacker Justin Flowe out of their own backyard to Pac-12 rival Oregon. Helton has to have the hottest seat in all of college football.
Winner: Dabo Swinney
Dabo is once again busting the recruiting trail. After inking four of the top twenty recruits, he is putting together one of the best classes of all time. Six 5-stars is almost unheard of, not to mention the 11 4-stars. One of his biggest wins is signing safety Tyler Venables, which could go a long way in keeping DC Brent Venables in town.
Loser: Dan Mullen
Sorry, Gator nation. Yesterday was not your day. As good as Florida’s class is (8th overall, 6th in the SEC), they were expecting a handful of flips and commitments – none of which came to fruition. Even though they struck out, they still have a solid class and should be alright.
Winner: Jeremy Pruitt
Things are looking up in Rocky Top. Sitting with the #15 class (7th in SEC), Pruitt landed Len’Neth Whitehead from Athens Academy in the morning, then managed to beat out Florida for Morven Joseph. These are the kind of moves Tennessee has to make if they want to get back to prominence. Yesterday was a big step in the right direction.