Two stories ruled Signing Day's first 24 hours: A star recruit who could swing No. 1, and a program in crisis

The first 24 hours of Signing Day 2025 could best be described as chaotic. That is not surprising given how college football's 2025 coaching cycle has played out. 

While a majority of the nation's top recruits made commitments back during the summer months, a changing of the guard at multiple SEC and Big Ten schools had blue-chip recruits re-evaluating their options down the stretch. So did an influx of cash from the new revenue share model in college athletics as non-traditional powers have been given the opportunity to push all of their chips in for program-changing talent.

Just how different have things gotten?

• Georgia signed just one five-star recruit on Wednesday after quarterback Jared Curtis flipped to Vanderbilt. Yes, Vanderbilt! The Bulldogs had signed 18 different five-stars over the past five recruiting cycles. The Commodores had never signed a five-star prospect.
• Houston inked the nation's No. 1 overall player in quarterback Keisean Henderson. Travis Hunter is the only other top-ranked recruit in the past seven years to not land somewhere in the SEC as the future Heisman Trophy winner spurned FSU for Deion Sanders and Jackson State at the buzzer.
• West Virginia introduced a whopping 46 signees. That's by far the largest recruiting class in the 247Sports era, which dates back to 2010. And the Mountaineers aren't the only ones with a monster group of incoming freshmen as Bill Belichick's first full recruiting class at North Carolina has grown to 39 players.

Times are certainly changing and The Talent Tracker does its best to recap the initial wave of action during the three-day signing period, which closes after Friday, Dec. 5. 

The race for No. 1: USC or Oregon?

The 247Sports War Room was in a frenzy early Wednesday morning running different scenarios through our class calculator. We knew USC was a heavy favorite to sign the nation's No. 1-ranked class for the first time since 2006, but there was a path for Oregon to jump the Trojans if they could flip five-star wide receiver Chris Henry Jr. from Ohio State. USC ended Signing Day with the No. 1 class, but Oregon still has a belated path to jump the Trojans. 

As of early Thursday morning, Henry has yet to be announced as a signee by the Buckeyes. 247Sports national insider Tom Loy believes that's because Henry is still processing the news that Ohio State offensive coordinator and ace recruiter Brian Hartline is going to be the next head coach at USF. Here's a good look at the latest with Henry. 

If Henry flips to Oregon, we will have a recount of sorts -- and the Ducks are in line to have the top-ranked class. If he sticks with the Buckeyes, it will be USC. But Texas is also making things interesting according to Loy, and West Virginia -- where Henry's late father played in college -- has been throwing a ton of money around over the past few days. 

Henry is a 6-foot-5 monster with a huge catch radius and impressive long speed. If he is as good as we think he could be, it's not a hyperbole to wonder if his decision could alter the balance of power in either the Big Ten -- as it relates to Ohio State, Oregon and USC -- or even the 2026 College Football Playoff, if he decides to catch passes from Arch Manning in Austin. This, right here, is a crystallization of why recruiting matters. 

Even if the Trojans don't win an unofficial recruiting title in the coming days, USC's outlook in the Big Ten has gotten much brighter. After leaning heavily on the transfer portal the past few years, new general manager Chad Bowden and his staff signed 16 different players ranked inside the Top247. That group included four-star wide receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, who flipped from Ohio State on Wednesday after the Hartline news broke.

Lane Kiffin already feeling the pressure?

One of the main reasons Lane Kiffin chose LSU is because of all the in-state talent. After all, Louisiana churns more NFL players per capita than any other state in America. But Kiffin's honeymoon in Baton Rouge could come to an abrupt halt if five-star defensive linemen Lamar Brown (No. 4 nationally) and Richard Anderson (No. 12) end up elsewhere.

The Tigers almost always get the best players The Boot has to offer, but the situation with Brown and Anderson is certainly worth monitoring as they are potential Day 1 contributors. The buzz early Thursday morning was that both Brown and Anderson will eventually be introduced by LSU as signees and this could be a case where the agents representing both players are using the staff turnover as leverage for more money.

While Brown and Anderson might have Kiffin sweating (pun intended here), the Tigers did make some noise Wednesday by adding a dynamic wide receiver in four-star Corey Barber, who was previously committed to Ole Miss. LSU was also able to pry four-star tight end JC Anderson away from the Rebels along with three-star center Ryan Miret.

One thing to keep in mind with Kiffin is that he won primarily with veteran transfers at Ole Miss. The Tigers are likely going to be as active as anyone when the portal window opens next month and securing a veteran quarterback will be key with Garrett Nussemier off to the NFL.

Checking in other new head coaches

Virginia Tech

James Franklin put the ACC on alert Wednesday as the Hokies shot up into the top 25 of the rankings following a series of flips. None was bigger than the one from four-star linebacker Terry Wiggins, who was previously committed to Penn State. Franklin told us he hasn't slept much since he arrived in Blacksburg and he deserves a ton of credit for what he was able to do in a short amount of time as his efforts yielded Virginia Tech its highest-ranked recruiting class in the 247Sports era.

From 124 to 22: James Franklin on Virginia Tech's hot Signing Day finish, which included 11 Penn State flips

Brandon Marcello

Florida

It has been a whirlwind few days for Jon Sumrall, who got off Tulane's practice fields Tuesday and quickly put on his recruiting cap for the Gators. Florida had to play more defense than offense on Wednesday and went three for three as Sumrall convinced four-star wide receiver Davian Groce, four-star cornerback CJ Bronaugh and four-star edge rusher KJ Ford to all stick with the Gators. Sumrall might still be trying to get the Green Wave in the College Football Playoff, but he's working.

Auburn

Alex Golesh started swinging for the fences the second he arrived on The Plains. The big score for the Tigers on Wednesday was flipping four-star nose tackle Corey Wells from Texas. They also swiped wide receiver Brian Williams Jr. from Alabama and stole an offensive weapon from Duke in DeShawn Spencer. Golesh has hit on under-the-radar quarterbacks in the past and he's bringing his guy from USF's class with him as three-star Rhys Brush ended up inking with the Tigers.

Wednesday's biggest loser: Penn State

How bleak do things look in State College? West Georgia, which made the transition from Division II to the FCS last summer, currently has a higher-ranked recruiting class than Penn State, who sits No. 150 in the rankings after signing just two players on Wednesday.

The Talent Tracker isn't here to diagnose the on-going coaching search (who knows?), but it can shed some light on the uphill battle for whoever takes over at Penn State. According to the CBS Sports research department, never before has a Big Ten program finished with single-digit signees, at least since the internet recruiting boom.

Penn State's botched coaching search turns signing day into unprecedented disaster

Cody Nagel

The school's next coach will certainly have a chance to add some more bodies to the fold in February, but this year's recruiting class (or lack of one) is going to impact the program for years. Yes, the Nittany Lions can plug some roster holes with transfers, but that can be an expensive practice as there are only so many players out there with the ability to play high-level Big Ten football -- and almost everyone is bidding for them.

What makes the current state of affairs sting even more is the fact that Penn State entered the season with a top 10-ranked recruiting class fresh off a College Football Playoff appearance and was in position to contend for a possible No. 1-ranked class in the 2027 cycle as Pennsylvania is home to a pair of early five-star prospects. Ouch.

Rejoice: Parity is here

A look at the class and players rankings from a time traveler would certainly have them confused as it isn't the same national title contenders at the top of each list.

There will be some more movement over the next few days as prospects continue to lock in decisions, but Washington (No. 13), Texas Tech (No. 19), BYU (No. 20), Illinois (No. 21), Virginia Tech (No. 22), SMU (No. 24), West Virginia (No. 25), Minnesota (No. 29) and Syracuse (No. 30) are all on the verge of signing their highest-ranked recruiting classes in the 247Sports era.

The same goes for Oregon (No. 2) and Notre Dame (No. 3) while Tennessee (No. 7) secured its best haul since 2015 after the Vols had as exciting of a Wednesday as anyone, complete with some old school drama by way of Legend Bay. 

What does all that mean? The top talent is being distributed more than ever and schools that never had a chance for glory now do.