Now that all the fanfare and faxing is over, it's time to declare winners and losers. Well, actually, it was that time by about 4 p.m. yesterday because the first rule of modern living is that everything must be done instantly, but of course we're used to that by now.
And if you were ready to know which schools "won" and "lost" signing day, there was no shortage of options: USA Today, CBS Sports, Sports Illustrated, AL.com and ABC News just to grab a few.
Of the 10 or so tallies I looked at, the only list I saw Nebraska land on was Woody Wommack's "winner" list for Rivals:
Another school in transition after a coaching change, the Huskers' staff had to work quickly after staying at UCF to coach the Knights in the Peach Bowl. Much like Florida State, the Huskers started to make breakthroughs as January moved along and capped it off with a very strong National Signing Day. The Huskers did enough to finish inside of the top 25, while winning five battles on Wednesday.
The group is led by one-time Georgia commit Caleb Tannor, who signed with the Huskers over SEC programs Auburn and Florida. Under Armour Game MVP Maurice Washington made his commitment to the Huskers on national TV, while three-star Southeast prospects Cameron Taylor and Willie Canty also announced and signed. Late in the day the Huskers also added three-star wide receiver Andre Hunt.
Wommack hits on one of the popular takeaways from the day: New faces in new places fared pretty well. Aside from Georgia, which landed what some consider the best class in a decade or so, Florida State (Willie Taggart) and Texas A&M (Jimbo Fisher) showed up often on most "winner" lists. Florida and Nebraska showed up on the good side of the ledger a time or two. Oregon and UCLA landed top-20 classes. For transition classes, a lot of new coaching staffs seemingly transitioned pretty well.
But not all of them. Tennessee under new coach Jeremy Pruitt aimed high on recruits, and lost most of those battles to established southern powers putting the Vols on many "loser" lists. And then there was Arizona State.
“Signing Day is a little bit unusual for me, because in pro football, you get to draft them," Herm Edwards said on ESPN. "In college, they get to pick you!”
Imagine hearing the head coach of your school say that. Three years from now Maurice Washington is going to be so happy he took off his Sun Devil jacket to reveal a Nebraska shirt.
And with winners and losers so declared, now we can actually start the clock on the 2018 class and go about actually determining which schools won and lost. Check back in a few years.
The Grab Bag
- ICYMI: You can catch all of our coverage from signing day here, but be sure to check out the podcast of Hail Varsity Radio if you weren't able to catch the show. Lot of great interviews in there.
- Interesting quote here from Creighton AD and men's basketball selection committee chairman Bruce Rasmussen on nonconference scheduling.
- Joe Moglia is back and now Coastal Carolina can really begin its life as an FBS school.
- While it didn't end up on the lists tallied above, Penn State signed a top-five class.
Today's Song of Today
Brandon is the Managing Editor for Hail Varsity and has covered Nebraska athletics for the magazine and web since 2012, Hail Varsity’s first season on the scene. His sports writing has also been featured by Fox Sports, The Guardian and CBS Sports.
