The next wave of future college football stars -- and some eventual NFL draft picks -- put pen to paper Wednesday in the annual rite that is National Signing Day. While it's far too early to figure out how the players will pan out as they transition to college, it's clear some teams picked up some enticing talents that will make an impact right away.
Here are nine things we learned from coast to coast as the best high school football players picked the schools of their dreams.
1. Alabama, USC split February title. Some Crimson Tide fans might be impatient with how long it's been since the program last won a national championship, but they are undoubtedly excited at the prospect of another recruiting title in February. Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide hauled in what was arguably the No. 1 recruiting class (yet again) with the likes of top players such as wide receiver Calvin Ridley and running back Damien Harris. Alabama clearly doesn't rebuild, it reloads. Meanwhile, USC, fresh off NCAA sanctions and able to sign a full class for the first time in years, also garnered a No. 1 ranking from some analysts, thanks to a flurry of five-star additions (more on the Trojans below).
2. Jim Harbaugh, other new coaches cobble together classes. New Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh missed out on a few top targets such as Detroit (Mich.) Cass Tech running back Mike Weber, but still was able to put together a solid recruiting class on short notice. Florida was sitting behind FAU, Colorado and others in online team rankings entering the week, but new coach Jim McElwain closed strongly down the stretch to land several five stars, including the top-ranked offensive tackle and defensive end of some services.
3. Top recruit surrounded by drama. Another year, another controversy for the player ranked No. 1 overall by some recruiting services. Seffner (Fla.) Armwood High defensive end Byron Cowart, who had one of the day's most anticipated announcements, went on national television to say he would be signing with Auburn -- due in part to its "three-year" plan for him. If only it were that simple. For several hours, the school hadn't received Cowart's letter of intent, and there were conflicting reports that he had also signed one with Florida. Then his Twitter account was mysteriously deleted. The letter finally made its way to the Auburn fax machine about six hours later. Still, drama always seems to find the No. 1 recruit, and this year was no exception.
4. Los Angeles schools clean up on Signing Day. The big winners on Signing Day? Look no further than the Pac-12 and crosstown rivals out of Los Angeles. UCLA landed a number of high-profile players from all over the country Wednesday morning, including rapper Snoop Dogg's son, and USC closed late with several five-stars later in the day. Given the amount of talent already returning to both teams in 2015, each should contend to win the league title in 2015 given what they added, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Some recruiting services even listed the Trojans as the No. 1 team in their rankings. Either way, it's pretty easy to recruit to 75 degrees and sunny every day.
5. Defending champs do well. Ohio State didn't finish the day with the most five-star signees after winning the national championship less than a month ago, but that's just fine for Urban Meyer and company, considering how young the Buckeyes were already. There might not be any impact guys right away, but additions such as linebackers Jerome Baker and Justin Hilliard will surely add depth for a loaded team likely to open the season No. 1 in the polls. OSU was far and away the highest-ranked team in the Big Ten and added several potential stars.
6. Texas Two-Step heats up. They might be in different conferences and refuse to play each other for silly reasons, but the battle between Texas and Texas A&M in the recruiting rankings continued to heat up in 2015. The Longhorns flipped several commitments from Oregon, Washington and UCLA, among others, to shoot up the rankings and close to nearly even with the previously red-hot Aggies. Still, Kevin Sumlin did land a Johnny Manziel-esque quarterback in Allen (Texas) High signal-caller Kyler Murray and five-star defensive tackle Daylon Mack to cap a nice run, signing the top in-state players on both sides of the ball.
7. Clemson has quiet day thanks to early enrollees. The Tigers had kind of a quiet National Signing Day, but that was somewhat by design. In order to help replace guys such as Vic Beasley, a potential first-rounder in the 2015 NFL Draft, head coach Dabo Swinney signed a remarkable 15 early enrollees to make up 65 percent of the Tigers' 2015 class. That's one of the largest batches of early enrollees for any major school in recent memory and was headlined by five-star offensive tackle Mitch Hyatt. For comparison's sake, just five players went to Clemson early last year.
8. NFL connections all over recruiting. Leading the way among recruits with NFL connections was Scout.com's No. 1 overall recruit, Kahlil MacKenzie -- son of Oakland Raiders GM Reggie -- who is heading to Tennessee. Others included San Francisco 49ers safety Eric Reid's little brother, Justin, who picked Stanford. Jon Runyan, Jr., followed in the footsteps of his congressman dad and is going to Michigan. Ty Wheatley, Jr., is also going to Ann Arbor to join his father (an assistant on the Wolverines staff). Former first-round pick Erik Flowers' son, Dimitri, signed with Oklahoma. Pro Bowler Chris Warren's son of the same name decided to attend Texas. Notre Dame landed ex-NFL tailback Merrill Hoge's son, Tristen, and Iowa landed legacy recruit Drew Cook (son of former NFL TE Marv Cook).
9. Unique commitments part of the fun.Among the notable commitment ceremonies Wednesday: Linebacker Roquan Smith pulled out UCLA gloves and committed to the Bruins but later reneged and opened up his recruitment to consider Georgia; Snoop Dogg talked a little trash toward USC after his son, Calvin, chose UCLA; Equanimeous St. Brown (who has brothers who are future FBS signees named Osiris and Amon-Ra) spoke German and French before committing to Notre Dame; and USC landed five-star defensive back Iman Marshall by way of a rap video he released to announce his choice. They might have all been topped on the eve of Signing Day, however, when Boise State announced it landed Super Bowl XLIX halftime show star "Left Shark."
You can follow Bryan Fischer on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.
