National Signing Day is the culmination of a months- and years-long recruiting process in college football over a three-day period during this week’s early signing period.
The biggest news of the week came Tuesday night, when Jared Curtis, the No. 1 overall player in the 2026 class according to the 247Sports composite rankings, canceled his commitment from Georgia to sign with the hometown Vanderbilt Commodores in a historic move.
He is the first five-star signee in program history.
The neon Vanderbilt has a different reputation after changing the game on the field the last two years with Diego Pavia at the helm.
No longer an SEC afterthought with revenue sharing on the line, the Commodores also flipped three-star wide receiver Owen Cabell from Alabama on Wednesday.
Ranked 30th in the 247 composite classes (11th out of 16 teams in the Southeastern Conference) as of Wednesday afternoon, it’s not like the Commodores are competing for all the top recruits. But with a quarterback that all the top programs are now pursuing in the fold, they appear poised to remain dynamic in the SEC moving forward.
Here are some other winners and losers from the first day of the early signing period:
–Winners
U.S.C.
Lincoln Riley has yet to bring the level of success expected of him in his first four seasons at USC.
It’s possible that this year’s signing class will be the time you rethink this change. The Trojans clinched the top spot in the 2026 class thanks to a flip from four-star wide receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt from Ohio State on Wednesday.
USC is the first non-SEC team since Miami in 2008 to top the recruiting class rankings, according to 247Sports.
With five-star offensive lineman Keenyi Pepe and 21 four-star signees – including four wide receivers, three offensive linemen, three defensive linemen and quarterback Jonas Williams – the Trojans have built their 2026 class for long-term success.
LSU
After being announced as LSU’s new coach on Sunday, Lane Kiffin had less than 72 hours on the job before NSD began.
Given these parameters, what he managed to achieve is quite impressive.
The Tigers’ signing class of 16 is smaller than some of LSU’s upper-tier peers.
But the class is really powerful.
Kiffin inherited two five-star commitments in defensive linemen Lamar Brown and Richard Anderson. Anderson signed Wednesday while Brown still hasn’t, but he’s reportedly leaning that way.
Kiffin also signed a few players previously attached to him at Ole Miss and is trending toward flipping the commitment of four-star South Carolina QB Landon Duckworth, according to several recruiting experts.
Four-star cornerback Havon Finney initially said he planned to delay his signing before ultimately choosing to head to Baton Rouge. But Kiffin’s work isn’t done. Defensive lineman Deuce Geralds announced Wednesday that his signing is on hold.
As of Wednesday night, LSU’s average commit rating of 93.61 is the best nationally in 247Sports’ rankings.
Losers
Penn State
When Penn State was among the top job offers this year, she couldn’t have imagined things would turn out this way.
The Nittany Lions are still without a new head coach, recently failing to lure Kalani Sitake away from BYU. Meanwhile, their 2026 class, assembled by former coach James Franklin, fell apart.
Franklin canceled 10 of his former commitments, including four-star running back Messiah Mickens and four-star linebacker Terry Wiggins, to join him at Virginia Tech.
In total, Penn State lost 23 commitments and is down to two. It ranks 150th nationally out of 247, surrounded by a host of FCS teams.
The only saving grace Wednesday was that former four-star QB Peyton Falzone joined the class and signed with Penn State.
Syracuse
Fran Brown has provided a serious recruiting boost to Syracuse in his two seasons on the job.
Nowhere is that more evident than securing a commitment from Miami (Fla.) four-star receiver Calvin Russell, a top-100 recruit and top-10 receiver in the class, in July.
Russell never seemed to waver in his commitment, even as the Orange fought their way to a 3-9 record this season.
Until Wednesday afternoon. Russell announced during his signing ceremony that he would delay his signing.
Michigan and Miami continue to push for Russell. The longer he waits for his decision, the less likely it seems that he will play at Syracuse.
–Curt Weiler, Field Media
