The early signing period in college football opened on Wednesday, December 15, giving high school class of 2022 prospects their first opportunity to sign with colleges officially. This signing period closes on December 17 before the final signing period in February 2022.
The Texas A&M Aggies were big winners. Before Wednesday, the Aggies recruiting class was ranked third overall in the 247Sports composite team rankings behind SEC rivals Georgia and Alabama. Now, Texas A&M is the top-ranked recruiting class by 247Sports.
The crown jewel of the Aggies recruiting class is Tennessee defensive lineman Walter Nolen, the nation’s No. 2 overall prospect. Nolen is one of four five-star prospects who signed with Texas A&M.
The other five-stars include Frisco Liberty receiver Evan Stewart, Cypress-Bridgeland quarterback Connor Weigman, and Florida defensive lineman Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy.
The Aggies won signatures from four top 100 recruits who entered Wednesday uncommitted. The recruits were Philadelphia defensive end Enai White, Arizona defensive lineman Anthony Lucas, Georgia tight end Jake Johnson and Atascocita offensive lineman Kam Dewberry.
Texas A&M’s recruiting class comes after a tumultuous season that saw the team finish with an 8-4 record. Their record includes handing current No. 1 and defending champion Alabama their only loss of the season in October and losing to 6-6 LSU in the regular-season finale.
Following the season, rumors circulated that head coach Jimbo Fisher was poised to accept the LSU coaching job. The team’s defensive coordinator, Mike Elko, actually departed the team to become the head coach at Duke.
Now coach Fisher has put together the best class in the nation-so far. Texas A&M fans hope this class of prospects will elevate the Aggies to their first-ever appearance in the SEC championship game.
The Texas Longhorns were also big winners of the early signing period. Entering Wednesday, the Longhorns recruiting class was ranked No. 7 overall. Now, Texas sits at No.5 in the team rankings following a successful signing day.
The Longhorns flipped four recruits who were committed to other colleges entering Wednesday. The highest-ranked prospect that flipped to Texas was Little Elm cornerback Terrance Brooks who was committed to Ohio State. The team also flipped Austin Westlake’s defensive end, Ethan Burke, from Michigan.
The Longhorns made a concerted effort to recruit offensive linemen. The effort paid off as they received signatures from six different linemen. None of the linemen are more touted than five-star offensive tackle from Humble, TX, Kelvin Banks, the nation’s No.15 overall prospect.
Texas’ big haul on the offensive line comes after a nonprofit named “Horns with Hearts” was created and plans to pay the team’s offensive lineman $50k annually.
The first player to sign for Texas on the day was Quinn Ewers, a five-star quarterback from Southlake, TX, originally from the class of 2022. Ewers re-classified to the 2021 class to join Ohio State early. After a season in Ohio State, Ewers returns home to Texas to top off the impressive recruiting class for coach Steve Sarkisian.
Sarkisian hopes that the impressive recruiting class on paper will ease some pressure following a bowl-less 5-7 season for the Longhorns.
The No. 5 ranking for Texas’ recruiting class is the best in the Big 12 conference.
The Oklahoma Sooners and new coach Brent Venables are second in the conference with the No.10 ranked class. The Oklahoma State Cowboys are third in the conference with the nation’s No. 25 ranked class.
The Big 12 champions Baylor Bears currently hold the No.33 overall recruiting class. On Wednesday, they picked up a significant commitment from Lewisville’s four-star receiver Armani Winfield.
Texas Tech is the only other Big 12 school ranked in the top 50. New coach Joey McGuire signed 18 players as the Red Raiders currently hold the nation’s No.40 ranked recruiting class.
Nationwide, one of the most shocking signings in the history of the sport happened. The nation’s No. 1 overall prospect, Travis Hunter, flipped his commitment from Florida State to Jackson State. Deion Sanders, a former star Florida State football player, is Jackson State’s head coach.
Jackson State is an HBCU (Historically Black College or University) and competes in the Southwest Athletic Conference (SWAC) at the FCS level, the second-highest level of college football in the US. A highly ranked prospect signing to a lower division college is unprecedented.
Hunter had been committed to Florida State since March 2020. He is viewed as a generational talent that can excel on both sides of the ball. Hunter would have been a much-needed building block for a Florida State program that has gone 8-13 over the last two seasons.
Instead, Hunter will bring a massive boost to the Jackson State football program in what could be the beginning of highly touted prospects spurning Division I colleges for HBCUs.