College football's 2022 recruiting class has had quite the journey to get to the early signing period, which starts on Wednesday.
Recruits this cycle had to navigate a mandated dead period for nearly a year due to COVID-19, which made the process difficult. It wasn't until June that recruits could visit campuses and make decisions. That delay in the process threw off the timing for plenty of prospects, as coaches thought there would be a large number of elite recruits to commit in July.
That didn't happen. As visits continued, recruits started to get more and more comfortable with the schools and coaches pursuing them. Now, recruits are dealing with coaching changes days before the early signing period, trying to make decisions without knowing where some coaches will end up.
Regardless of how they got to this point in the process, the early signing period is here. There is a tight race for the No. 1 class, with a few teams in the mix, six uncommitted five-stars and plenty of last-minute decisions coming down the stretch.
This class won't lack excitement when it comes to the early signing period, and to get you caught up on where we're at, how we got here and what to expect next, we have a signing day primer with everything you need to know for Wednesday.
Who has committed so far?
As it stands, 234 ESPN 300 recruits have already announced a commitment. Within those numbers:
Nine of the 15 five-stars have made a commitment.
37 of the top 50 prospects are committed.
75 of the top 100 players are committed.
Texas A&M currently has three five-stars committed in defensive tackle Walter Nolen (No. 1 overall), defensive tackle Gabe Brownlow-Dindy and wide receiver Evan Stewart.
Florida State has the No. 2 overall recruit committed in defensive back Travis Hunter. The Seminoles were able to fend off other programs, including Georgia, to keep him in the class up to this point.
Alabama currently has two five-stars committed: offensive tackle Tyler Booker and defensive end Jeremiah Alexander, the Nos. 7 and 11 players, respectively. Missouri has a commitment from five-star wide receiver Luther Burden, North Carolina has five-star offensive tackle Zach Rice and Georgia has five-star Malaki Starks to round out the list of committed five-stars.
Jimbo Fisher and his Texas A&M staff are tied with Alabama for the most top-50 commitments with six. Georgia has five top-50 recruits, followed by Florida State, which has three.
The top-100 commit list looks similar with Alabama and Georgia each holding nine and Texas A&M with eight. Ohio State has six commits in the top 100, while Penn State and Texas are next with five apiece.
Some recent movement has impacted those numbers. ESPN 300 offensive linemen Kelvin Banks and Cameron Williams both decommitted from Oregon only to flip to Texas. Linebacker Jaishawn Barham committed to South Carolina. Alabama added athlete Isaiah Bond, while wide receiver Antonio Williams chose Clemson. Iowa beat out Notre Dame and Ohio State for in-state ESPN 300 safety Xavier Nwankpa.
The coaching carousel's impact
With LSU, Oklahoma, USC, Miami, Florida, Oregon and Notre Dame among the top programs with new head coaches, it has been an unusual coaching carousel cycle.
Some of those hires played out in the past few weeks -- some over the past few days. The coaching carousel has made such an impact that some recruits are unsure if they'll announce on Wednesday or instead sign during February's signing period.
ESPN 300 defensive lineman Derrick Moore decommitted from Oklahoma and is now considering Michigan and Ole Miss. Moore will announce his commitment on Wednesday at 2:45 p.m. ET.
Oklahoma suffered some big decommitments once Lincoln Riley left and before the Sooners hired Brett Venables. Brownlow-Dindy flipped to Texas A&M, ESPN 300 running back Raleek Brown flipped to USC to follow Riley, and offensive lineman Demetrius Hunter also decommitted.
Venables' departure from Clemson meant the Tigers have also lost a few big commitments in ESPN 300 linebacker Jihaad Campbell and ESPN 300 defensive backs Daylen Everette and Keon Sabb, who said he is planning to announce a commitment to either Michigan, Georgia, Ohio State or LSU on Wednesday.
After replacing Dan Mullen with Billy Napier, the Gators lost commitments from Isaiah Bond (Alabama), ESPN 300 quarterback Nick Evers (Oklahoma), wide receivers Chandler Smith and Jayden Gibson, running back Terrance Gibbs and linebacker E.J. Lightsey, among others. Florida went from No. 17 in the class rankings in mid-October to outside of the top 50 entering Wednesday.
In addition to losing Kelvin Banks and Cameron Williams to Texas, Oregon lost commitments from four-star corner Jahlil Florence, safety Landon Hullaby and ESPN 300 linebacker Emar'rion Winston after coach Mario Cristobal left to take the Miami job.
Offensive lineman Billy Schrauth became the first commitment for new Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman.
Which top uncommitted prospects will and won't announce on Wednesday?
A few big names are announcing their commitment on Wednesday, and we could see quite a bit of movement in the class rankings.
Five-star safety Kamari Wilson will be announcing his commitment between Florida State, Georgia, LSU and Texas A&M during the signing day broadcast (3 p.m. ET, ESPN2/ESPN App). Five-star wide receiver Shazz Preston will also make his commitment on ESPN and is considering Alabama, LSU, Georgia and Texas.
Cornerback Denver Harris, the No. 22-ranked recruit overall, will decide between Alabama, Texas and Texas A&M on Wednesday as well. Defensive tackle Khurtiss Perry, the No. 56 prospect, is considering Auburn, Alabama, Texas, Clemson and UCF, and will announce his commitment on Wednesday.
Linebacker Marvin Jones Jr. is considering USC, Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma and Florida State, and he, too, will announce on Wednesday. Jones' teammate, Earl Little Jr., will also announce his decision on the broadcast and is considering Alabama, Florida State and Miami.
Safety Zion Branch will commit live on ESPN during the broadcast. The No. 76 recruit has Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma and USC in his top group.
ESPN 300 offensive lineman Kam Dewberry and defensive lineman Anthony Lucas will round out the commitments on ESPN's broadcast Wednesday, as well.
Missouri defensive end D.J. Wesolak is deciding from a list that includes Alabama, USC, LSU, Missouri, Georgia, Oregon and North Carolina.
Athlete Shemar James is expected to commit on Wednesday and is still considering Georgia, Alabama and Florida. Defensive linemen Nyjalik Kelly, Anthony Lucas and Quency Wiggins are all expected to announce on Wednesday, as well. Kelly is considering Florida State, Georgia, Florida, Auburn and Miami.
There will be some recruits waiting to announce their commitments at the All-America games at the beginning of January, including five-star linebacker Harold Perkins, safety Jacoby Mathews, linebacker Cyrus Moss, defensive end Omari Abor, running back Trevor Etienne and defensive tackle Hero Kanu.
Current class rankings
Alabama currently holds the No. 1 class, one spot ahead of Texas A&M. The Aggies have made a move up from No. 3 to No. 2 in a matter of a few weeks and are lurking behind the Crimson Tide.
Georgia moved down to No. 3, with Notre Dame, Ohio State and Texas behind the Dawgs. The Longhorns have also made a move up, going from No. 9 to No. 6 after landing a few big commitments in the past week. Penn State is next at No. 7, followed by North Carolina, Missouri, Florida State and Stanford.
Michigan, sitting at No. 12, has gained some momentum since beating Ohio State and winning the Big Ten. The Wolverines can move up if they add Keon Sabb and Derrick Moore, so Jim Harbaugh and his staff could close out this class in a strong way.
Kentucky, Oklahoma and Clemson round out the top 15 in the class rankings.
Teams to watch
The race at the top for the No. 1 spot is as tight as it has been in a long time. Alabama, Texas A&M and Georgia all have a realistic shot at finishing on top depending on how things play out. Ohio State still has a shot as well, but the other three have more on the table.
The Aggies could finish with five five-stars in this class if things go their way. They still have Denver Harris, Kam Dewberry, Anthony Lucas, Harold Perkins, Jacoby Mathews, Shemar Stewart and Enai White, among other big-name prospects, listed.
If Fisher can beat Nick Saban on the field and the recruiting trail in the same year, it would send quite the message about the state of the program.
That said, Alabama is going to have a big day as well, and it could be like two heavyweights dealing body blows to each other all day with commitments going back and forth.
Alabama is still in it for Marvin Jones Jr., Shazz Preston, Denver Harris, Khurtiss Perry, Shemar James, Anthony Lucas, Cyrus Moss, Devon Campbell, Earnest Greene III, Kendrick Law, Domani Jackson and a handful of other top recruits. Saban is going to end up closing strong, and he has a good shot at landing the No. 1 class after this week.
It's incredible to think USC could have just three total commitments this class so far, and Lincoln Riley has a lot of work to do. He doesn't have enough time to move this class into the top of the rankings, but there is a chance he could still add some big names.
Five-star cornerback Domani Jackson decommitted from the Trojans after they fired Clay Helton. He took visits to Alabama and Michigan and is listing Alabama and USC as his top schools. The Trojans are also in it for Zion Branch and could very well be the landing spot for the ESPN 300 safety.
Texas is another team that has made a lot of progress in this class and got some good news on Sunday night when former five-star quarterback Quinn Ewers announced he is transferring into the program. Ewers was the top-ranked quarterback in the 2022 class, but reclassified to 2021, enrolled at Ohio State in August and is now transferring to Texas.
That factors into this recruiting class, especially because Ewers still has four years of eligibility left. The staff has added Kelvin Banks, Cameron Williams and Jaylon Guilbeau over the past few weeks and will finish this class up strong.
The Longhorns have five ESPN 300 defensive linemen, three four-star offensive linemen, Ewers and ESPN 300 quarterback Maalik Murphy and a handful of other talented recruits in the class.
Michigan is a team to watch on Wednesday, as well. The Wolverines got a big boost in recruiting the past few weeks with the win over Ohio State, winning the Big Ten Championship and making it to the College Football Playoff.
The staff has a shot at Moore, Sabb, as well as ESPN 300 wide receiver Darrius Clemons and a few others that could help Michigan rise in the rankings once the dust settles.
There will be plenty of other movement throughout the day, and as always, it should be an exciting finish to this cycle.