Whether college football coaches are ready or not, the early signing period is only two months away. The tumultuous few weeks prior to the signing period can result in decommitments, wavering decisions and flips that can change the course of the recruiting class and the future roster.
It's always difficult to measure the impact of losing a commitment, or of gaining a recruit from a flip, because anything can happen once the player gets to college.
But history indicates the decisions recruits make during their recruitment can have a big impact on multiple schools. That ripple effect is usually felt more at quarterback because of the importance of the position.
We have seen flips and decommitments in the past from some of the top quarterbacks that are now affecting this season for multiple teams. Here is a look at some of the top quarterbacks that altered the trajectory of multiple programs by changing their commitments in high school.
When Mack Brown was hired at North Carolina, he almost immediately started recruiting Sam Howell, who was then committed to Florida State in the 2019 class.
Howell was the No. 3 recruit in North Carolina. Brown made it a point to try to keep the top in-state recruits at home, and he started with Howell, the No. 120-ranked prospect overall.
Brown's new offensive coordinator, Phil Longo, had recruited Howell when Longo was coaching at Ole Miss, so there was already a relationship between the two. That level of comfort helped Brown in his pursuit, and it sealed the deal when Brown was able to get in front of Howell and his family in person.
Meanwhile, Florida State offensive coordinator Walt Bell, who had been Howell's recruiter and a big reason why he chose the Seminoles, took the head coaching job at UMass. Howell had been committed to the Seminoles for nearly eight months, but he decommitted during December's early signing period.
Howell had been a huge part of Florida State's recruiting class for then-head coach Willie Taggart. FSU's staff did not sign a quarterback in the 2018 class. With Howell flipping, the Seminoles then did not sign a signal-caller in 2019, as well.
The last quarterbacks Florida State signed were Bailey Hockman and James Blackman in the 2017 class. Hockman transferred, and missing on quarterbacks in two straight classes essentially left Florida State with only Blackman at the position.
As a freshman for North Carolina, Howell led the ACC in passing yards (3,641). He had 38 touchdowns, only seven interceptions and was named the ACC rookie of the year and a freshman All-American.
Florida State's Blackman threw for 2,339 yards, 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in that 2019 season and eventually transferred.
It's difficult to tell how much Howell would've changed the trajectory of Florida State that season, because there were other issues he wouldn't have been able to fix. But adding a prospect of his caliber who could have led the offense undoubtedly would've made a difference.
Howell has given Brown a shot at turning the North Carolina program around, although this season has gotten off to a poor start at 3-2. Florida State and North Carolina play each other on Oct. 9, and when Howell takes the field, his decision to sign with the Tar Heels in that 2019 class very likely will have changed the outcome of the game and the paths of two programs.
Young is in his first season starting for Alabama and has been a star from day one. Through five games, Young has 1,365 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and only two interceptions as the Crimson Tide are undefeated and ranked No. 1 overall.
In his recruitment, Young was the No. 1 quarterback and the No. 5 prospect overall in the 2020 class. He originally committed to USC in July 2018. From Santa Ana, California, he led Mater Dei High School, which has produced plenty of top recruits and USC players over the years.
Alabama had a quarterback committed in that class until Carson Beck, the No. 234 recruit overall, decommitted in February 2019. Roughly a month later, he committed to Georgia.
The Crimson Tide showed some interest in Harrison Bailey, who ended up signing with Tennessee, but their pursuit of Young heated up.
Young decommitted from USC and flipped to Alabama in September 2019, leaving USC without a quarterback in the class. In turn, it left quite a few questions about then-head coach Clay Helton's efforts recruiting the state of California.
The Trojans only had one ESPN 300 commitment in that class, from wide receiver Gary Bryant, as many of the top in-state recruits were flocking to Oregon. Young was the biggest piece that could've made a huge impact on offense and helped persuade other prospects to go to USC.
Not signing a quarterback in that class, especially of Young's level, set the coaches back drastically.
Young wasn't the only quarterback to decommit from USC over the past few years. Corral was the No. 98-ranked recruit in the 2018 class, and was also one of the top prospects from California.
He was two years ahead of Young and committed to USC in February 2016, early in his process. But the further along he went in his recruitment, the more attention he garnered and the more offers he gained. In June 2017, he decommitted from USC in what was probably a mutual decision between the two parties.
Nearly a month after he decommitted from USC, Corral then committed to Florida. He continued to take visits, however, and Florida made a coaching change, replacing Jim McElwain with Dan Mullen.
Corral remained committed and was listening to the new Florida coaches. Still, Ole Miss made a big push to get him. Matt Luke, the head coach at the time, made a timely visit to Corral right before he was scheduled to visit Florida in December.
Luke made enough of an impression for Corral to not visit Florida and eventually flip to Ole Miss on Dec. 14, 2017.
Florida still needed a quarterback, however, and only five days after Corral decommitted from there, Emory Jones decommitted from Ohio State. Jones had taken a few visits while committed to the Buckeyes, and then-coach Urban Meyer wasn't thrilled with the way his recruitment was going.
Jones, the No. 59 recruit in the 2018 class, then committed to Florida. He has been the starter this season for the Gators, while Ohio State has been playing redshirt freshman C.J. Stroud. The Buckeyes ended up signing Matthew Baldwin in that class at quarterback, but Baldwin eventually transferred to TCU.
As for USC, the Trojans got creative. They had J.T. Daniels, one of the top prospects in the 2019 class, committed, and after talking with the USC staff, he decided to reclassify to the 2018 class and enroll early.
The USC coaches replaced Daniels' original spot in the 2019 class with Kedon Slovis, and Daniels ended up transferring to Georgia after Slovis took over as the starter.
McNamara was the No. 253 prospect in the 2019 class out of Damonte Ranch High School in Reno, Nevada.
He attended a Notre Dame camp in June 2017, and threw for quarterbacks coach Tommy Rees. He earned an offer a few days after the camp and committed to the Irish on July 17, 2017.
As he continued to develop in high school, more coaches started to notice McNamara. That included Alabama, Georgia, Michigan and USC, which all came in with interest in 2018.
McNamara then decommitted from Notre Dame on March 2, 2018, in part because the Irish also had ESPN 300 quarterback Phil Jurkovec committed. Notre Dame still signed two quarterbacks in the class, adding three-star Brendon Clark as well.
Jurkovec signed with Notre Dame but eventually transferred to Boston College.
McNamara took over at Michigan in the latter half of 2020 for Joe Milton, who transferred to Tennessee prior to this season. Now, McNamara is the full-time starter for 5-0 Michigan.
Had the Wolverines not signed McNamara, they would be playing this season either with 2020 three-star Dan Villari, true freshman J.J. McCarthy or Texas Tech transfer Alan Bowman.