Feb. 2 is national signing day, and although the early signing period in December has taken some of the luster and mystery away, it’s still a huge day in college football recruiting.
Recruiting determines who controls the college football landscape, and this year it was the Georgia Bulldogs, winning the program’s first national title since 1980.
The matchup between the Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide happened to be the two most talented programs in college football, based on recruiting numbers. In the last four seasons each has had the No. 1-ranked recruiting classes twice, with both winning a national title.
It’s been 11 years since Alabama or Georgia has been dethroned from the top recruiting class.
So far, Texas A&M has 11 of #SI99’s top recruits — four of which are top 20.
Welcome to Jimbo Fisher’s SEC and new recruiting giant. https://t.co/xwfyMzwPtV pic.twitter.com/GfjEg0k5m8
— Cole Thompson (@MrColeThompson) December 16, 2021
Recruiting matters, and Georgia head coach Kirby Smart let it be known.
“There’s no coach out there who can out-coach recruiting,” Smart said. “No coach is going to out-coach players.”
If you look at the way recruiting has gone over the last 10-15 years, he’s not wrong. Since the early 2000s when the internet recruiting craze began to take off, every single national champion has had at least one five-star recruit on its roster.
Landing top-level talent is two-fold; you’re getting elite game-changers on and off the field. Those elite recruits lead the way for those future impactful players to follow in their footsteps. To compete you need them and in abundance. National signing day is like Christmas morning when it’s family gift-opening time.
Coaches Know Of The Importance Of Recruiting: Yes Rankings Do Matter
If recruiting rankings didn’t matter there’d be no need to talk about who’s winning championships. In the past 11 years Alabama has won the recruiting rankings nine times, and the Crimson Tide has won five national championships.
Georgia has won it twice and they have one national title. LSU and Ohio State each have one title and have finished in the top five of the rankings consistently. Clemson has won two titles, and coach Dabo Swinney has repeatedly stated he’s “not trying to win any recruiting wars.” Funny he’d say that when he was once the Tigers’ ace recruiter prior to being named head coach.
https://twitter.com/usatodayhss/status/1472295859979182082?s=20&t=cBJQZZWHVV23eYWvzcr7Dw
Alabama head coach Nick Saban prides himself on recruiting top talent from successful programs.“I think, first of all, players that come from successful programs usually have the mindset for what it takes to be successful. That’s kinda what they come from. But also, a lot of successful programs … players really develop a little bit more in successful programs.”
Cool Signing Day Pic #Alabama Signee @iamtylerbooker Nations Top OT #ClassOf2022 pic.twitter.com/bm3JVPYWa3
— InsideBamaRecruiting Alabama Football (@RTRnews) December 18, 2021
Deion Sanders Lands No. 1 Overall Recruit Travis Hunter: Leads To Other Top Talent Coming To Jackson State
Coach Prime landed five-star recruit and No. 1-ranked player Travis Hunter in a surprise during the early signing period. He then followed that up with Kevin Coleman, a four-star recruit and No. 53-ranked player in the class. Sanders also hit the portal and added former four-star recruits in Mark Pope (WR/Miami), Keveon Mullins (TE/South Carolina), and Antonio Doyle (Edge/Texas A&M).
Sanders, may not be done after tweeting and deleting at five-star recruit Shemar Stewart, a game-changing defensive lineman who recently committed to Texas A&M.
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