Hello, hello, and welcome to our post-signing day recruiting mailbag.<\/p>\n
With most of the nation\u2019s top prospects having already signed in December, Wednesday was a relatively quiet day on the recruiting front.<\/p>\n
As expected, USC finished with the top class in the 247Sports Composite, followed by Alabama, Oregon, Ohio State and Notre Dame. Oregon finished with the highest average player rating, at 93.16, beating out second-place finisher LSU by nearly a point.<\/p>\n
Now, it\u2019s on to the Class of 2027. There\u2019s no time to sleep in recruiting.<\/p>\n
As always, thank you for your questions. Let\u2019s dive in.<\/p>\n
How do you see Matt Campbell doing at Penn State? At Iowa State, it was more two-star, three-star guys and developing them. No offense to the Cyclones, but Penn State is a bigger draw. Does he have the salesmanship needed to get the five-star guys? \u2014 Brad Y.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I thought Penn State backdoored into arguably the best hire of the offseason, and I think Campbell will do really well there. The reason? Exactly what you just said. If Campbell can win with two- and three-star recruits, imagine what he can do with blue-chippers. Iowa State wasn\u2019t a recruiting destination like Penn State is, and he still finished with eight winning seasons in 10 years, including an 11-win season in 2024. He\u2019s got the hard part down: evaluating, developing and trusting his gut, even if his methods are different from those of his peers. Penn State is one of the blue-blood schools that can sell itself, and what recruit \u2014 including the five-star prospect \u2014 doesn\u2019t want to be developed by one of the best in the game?<\/p>\n
It might take some adjusting to the Big Ten, and Campbell doesn\u2019t have East Coast ties, so he\u2019ll need to make inroads with high school players and coaches as soon as possible. But if you look at his staff continuity over the years, you\u2019ll see that he\u2019s someone people trust and like being around. And I trust that the Nittany Lions are in strong hands.<\/p>\n
Alabama has a star-studded 2026 recruiting class, but faltered a bit in the transfer portal. Do you think the Tide can win the SEC again with so few highly regarded transfers coming into the program? \u2014 Kirk M.\u00a0<\/p>\n
You\u2019re right that Alabama dominated on the recruiting trail. The Crimson Tide signed four five-stars, six top-50 prospects and 14 blue-chippers as part of the nation\u2019s No. 2 class. They also gave Georgia head coach Kirby Smart a run for his money in his own backyard, signing two of the top three players in the Peach State, and managed to keep five-star running back and Alabama native Ezavier Crowell home.<\/p>\n
But you\u2019re right that coach Kalen DeBoer was relatively quiet in the transfer portal. He did sign 17 players, but very few arrive in Tuscaloosa with proven production at the Power 4 level.<\/p>\n