Although much has evolved in college football recruiting during the past 15 to 20 years, one notable presence this winter has evoked memories of the 1990s.
Florida State, which dominated the sport with a 14-year run of 10-win seasons from 1987 to 2000, is poised to land the nation's top class today on national signing day. Jimbo Fisher's Seminoles led Texas and Alabama in ESPN's rankings as of Tuesday evening, and they led Texas and Auburn in Scout.com's rankings.
Rivals.com listed FSU third behind Alabama and Texas entering today.
"Jimbo Fisher really got the momentum going as soon as he became the official head coach at Florida State, and they haven't looked back," ESPN recruiting analyst Jamie Newberg said. "They are recruiting now like they did back in the '90s under Bobby Bowden, which is scary for the ACC."
The Seminoles, who won 10 games this past season for the first time since 2003, have benefited from recent coaching changes at Florida and Miami, two programs that are expected to finish outside the top 10 in the various recruiting rankings. Florida State has commitments from five of Rivals.com's top 100 players and was the favorite as of late Tuesday for the Sunshine State's top two undecided prospects, St. Augustine linebacker Tony Steward and Lake City defensive tackle Tim Jernigan.
Behind Florida State, Newberg expects six teams to vie for the four spots that round out the top five. In that mix are Southern Cal, Texas and a quartet from the Southeastern Conference: Alabama, Auburn, Georgia and LSU.
"You could potentially see six SEC teams in the top eight or nine when it's all said and done," he said. "I have a feeling Tennessee could make as much noise as anybody."
The Volunteers are challenging FSU for Jernigan, and they are battling Auburn for defensive tackle Gabe Wright of Columbus, Ga. Tennessee is considered the school to beat for Nashville offensive tackle Antonio Richardson, the top-rated prospect in the Volunteer State.
YET TO DECIDESeveral members of the RIvals.com Top 100 have delayed their decisions until today or beyond.PLAYER EXPECTED PICKDE Jadeveon Clowney * South CarolinaLB Curtis Grant Ohio StateOL Cyrus Kouandjio AlabamaLB Tony Steward Florida StateRB Isaiah Crowell GeorgiaDT Tim Jernigan Florida StateDE Jeoffrey Pagan GeorgiaWR Nickolas Brassell Ole MissS Erique Florence AuburnOL Antonio Richardson Tennessee* has set a Feb. 14 announcement
Of course, it wouldn't be national signing day without a surprise.
"I think there will be at least two or three where you scratch your head because you didn't see it coming," Newberg said. "It's always like that, and I think this year will be no different with the number of kids still out there and all the teams on the board."
Tennessee coach Derek Dooley is scheduled to address his signing class today at 3 p.m., as are Georgia's Mark Richt and Auburn's Gene Chizik. Alabama coach Nick Saban is scheduled to discuss what could be a fourth consecutive top-five class at 5 EST.
That explains it
ESPN this week revisited its Top 150 list of 2007, which goes a long way in explaining Florida's 26-2 run in '08-09 and Auburn's national championship this past season. It also helped show why Tennessee and Georgia each went 6-7 in 2010.
Among Florida's signees in '07 were defensive end Carlos Dunlap, tailback Chris Rainey, tight end Aaron Hernandez and safety Major Wright. Quarterback Cam Newton signed with the Gators that year but wound up at Auburn, where he joined '07 offensive linemen Lee Ziemba and Ryan Pugh and safety Mike McNeal.
Tennessee's seven Top 150 representatives were headlined by safety Eric Berry and included receiver Gerald Jones and defensive end Ben Martin, but there were also four players who transferred away: tailback Lennon Creer, receiver Todd Campbell, defensive tackle Rolando Melancon and linebacker Chris Donald.
Georgia's list from '07 included the underachieving (tailback Caleb King), the injured (tackle Trinton Sturdivant), the seldom used (linebacker Charles White and receiver Israel Troupe) and the soon-to-transfer (receiver Logan Gray).