Every coach claims to have a great national signing day. Nick Saban actually does — every year.
By lunchtime Wednesday, the Alabama coach had most of his latest highly rated recruiting class locked up.
“He’s the best at (recruiting) in the country,” said Tom Lemming of CBS Sports Network. “Over the last five years, nobody has been better at it than Nick Saban.”
The national signing period for high school football players opened with the usual plethora of pick-a-cap news conferences and a few high-profile flip-flops.
New Ohio State coach Urban Meyer showed that a year away from coaching didn’t hurt his ability to recruit. Meanwhile, Meyer’s old school, Florida, followed a mediocre season with a promising signing day — despite having USC pluck a couple of blue-chippers from Gator country.
Missouri didn’t need to leave the state to make the biggest grab of all on signing day, getting a letter of intent from receiver Dorial Green-Beckham, a top prospect from Springfield, Mo.
“There was little intrigue or drama to this class,” Allen Wallace of SuperPrep Magazine said.
The Tide swept through the South to reload with 26 signees. Alabama went to Baltimore to get wide receiver Cyrus Jones, down to Lynchburg, Va., for defensive tackle Korren Kirven, scooped up eight players from Georgia, three from Florida, picked up quarterback Alec Morris from Texas, and dipped into LSU territory to grab safety Landon Collins from Geismar, La.
Collins’ selection of Alabama over LSU last month on national TV was memorable for his mother’s vocal disapproval (“Tigers No. 1,” she said, eyes rolling at her son’s choice). On Wednesday, with mom by his side, Collins signed his letter of intent at Dutchtown High School.
SPECIAL ASSISTANT
Minnesota coach Jerry Kill said his wife, Rebecca, accompanied him on some of his recruiting visits because of his history of seizures. They had special clearance from the NCAA to go together to players’ homes.
Kill said his wife “knows what to do” and can “take care of it” if he has another episode. Kill jokingly added that after spending so much time together recruiting, they need some space.
EXTRA POINTS
Quarterback Jameis Winston from Hueytown, Ala., said in an interview on ESPNU: “I’m a Nole.” But he also said he won’t sign a letter of intent with Florida State until at least Friday because Stanford has at least caught Winston’s attention. … Green-Beckham, born in St. Louis and adopted by a family from Springfield, Mo., was first offered a scholarship by Missouri when he was 15. … Receiver Deontay Greenberry from Washington High in Fresno changed his commitment from Notre Dame to sign with Houston. Greenberry’s cousin and high school teammate, cornerback Tee Shepard, kept his commitment to the Irish. … ESPN The Magazine asked 45 recruits to name the best recruiter. Saban was the easy choice, named by 25 percent. But Saban was also the runaway winner as most overrated recruiter, with one-third of the recruits naming him. “When I talked to him, I couldn’t believe how cocky he was,” a defensive lineman said.
NATION’S BEST
Rivals.com’s top 20 football recruiting classes as of 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, with number of recruits and total points:
SchoolNo.Pts.
1. Alabama262,621
2. Texas282,481
3. Florida232,421
4. Ohio State252,382
5. Stanford222,297
6. Michigan252,132
7. Southern Cal152,040
8. Florida State182,013
9. Miami, Fla.331,975
10. Oklahoma251,937
11. Auburn191,753
12. UCLA261,731
13. Clemson201,680
14. Texas A&M191,647
15. Oregon211,641
16. LSU211,572
17. Tennessee201,558
18. South Carolina251,534
19. Georgia181,526
20. Washington251,452
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