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Early Signing Day Classes, Coaching Carousel, and More!
CFB Roundup – December 5, 2024
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Good morning, and welcome back to CFB Roundup from CFB Home – the first daily newsletter that’s all college football, all the time with no bias, no slant, and no fluff.
SEC Championship Initial Injury Report: Pair of Stars Questionable
Georgia and Texas are fixing to face off in a rematch of their earlier contest when Georgia beat Texas 30-15, with the winner getting a first round bye in the inaugural 12-team playoff.
After Texas’ game against Texas A&M where OT Kelvin Banks Jr. went down with a lower body injury and did not return, he is now listed as questionable for the initial injury report for this weekend.
For Georgia, there are four players listed as questionable, with RB Trevor Etienne headlining the list. RBs Branson Robinson and Chauncey Bowens are the other RBs listed as questionable. DL Christen Miller is also listed as questionable. DL Joseph Jonah-Ajonye is listed as out for the game.
For the Longhorns, DB Derek Williams Jr. and RBs CJ Baxter, Christian Clark, and Velton Gardner are all listed as out while Banks is the only player aside from those 4 Longhorns who have been listed as out for most of this season by now.
Oklahoma QB Jackson Arnold Plans to Enter Portal
Oklahoma’s QB Jackson Arnold is planning to enter the transfer portal according to ESPN’s Max Olson.
Arnold was benched after a shaky start to this season for true freshman Michael Hawkins Jr. Arnold ended up getting the starting job back, but it never really felt like a secure job.
There was much talk throughout the season if Hawkins could end up pushing Arnold to transfer, but both Coach Brent Venables and Arnold shared that Arnold was focused on doing what he could for the team this season – including burning his redshirt opportunity, even if it meant going just one game over the redshirt requirement for a non-starting role or special package.
Arnold has thrown for just under 2,000 passing yards and ran for 560 yards in his 17 appearances with a 16:6 touchdown to interception ratio.
Oklahoma State Fires Both Coordinators After 3-9 Season
Oklahoma State has fired both OC Kasey Dunn and DC Bryan Nardo according to ESPN’s Max Olson after the Cowboys went 3-9 and did not win a single conference name.
Nardo only was with Oklahoma State for two seasons, while Dunn has been at OSU for 14 seasons and has been the OC since 2020.
Dunn’s offensive unit only averaged around 22 points per game in conference play, results which are not going to cut it in the Big 12. Nardo’s defensive unit was not better, allowing an average of 35.6 points per game, which ranked 126th nationally.
This is a momentous day, as it is the first time Coach Gundy has fired a coordinator since 2017 and is the first time Coach Gundy has fired an offensive coordinator at any point in his 20 years as a Head Coach.
UMass Hires Rutgers DC Joe Harasymiak as HC
According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Rutgers DC Joe Harasymiak is being hired by UMass to be the Minutemen’s new Head Coach.
The deal comes with a noticeable financial commitment from the UMass Athletic Department, as he will be getting paid between $1.3-1.4M annually on a 5-year deal, while also receiving a staff pool of more than $2.7M, which is currently expected to be the highest staff pool in the MAC – UMass’ new conference starting next season.
This also comes with an investment from the athletic department for athlete payments of $2M in NIL/revenue sharing for 2025 and $3M for the 2026 season.
Coach Harasymiak is used to the northeast and New England region, as he was the Maine Head Coach from 2016-2018 and went 10-4 in his final season, leading the Black Bears to the FCS Playoffs and a semifinal finish.
Houston Hiring LSU TEs Coach Slade Nagle as OC
Houston is planning to hire LSU TEs Coach Slade Nagle to its OC opening, according to CBS Sports.
Coach Nagle already has familiarity with Coach Willie Fritz’s staffs, as he was Coach Fritz’s OC and TEs Coach at Tulane.
Coach Nagle was with Tulane from 2016 to 2023, working his way up from TEs Coach to Assistant HC, QBs Coach, and eventually OC for the Green Wave in 2023. Now, he reunited with Coach Fritz as his OC once again.
Coach Nagle also has made stops at Northwestern State, the JUCO level, Texas State, Central Arkansas, and McNeese State.
He’ll have his work cut out for him, though, as Houston’s offense ranked last in the Big 12 with just 288 yards of offense per game and just 14 points per game.
On3’s Biggest Winners of Signing Day
On3 listed five of its winners from Signing Day as there were a handful of key flips and some shakeups in the team rankings:
Oregon: 5-Star QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele flipped from Cal as one of the headliners of the day. 5-Star CB Na’eem Offord also flipped from Ohio State after being committed to the Buckeyes for nearly a full year. The Ducks also closed strong on 5-Star WR Dallas Wilson, who looked like he might flip to Florida. With some other strong finishes in this recruiting class, Oregon jumped up to 3rd in the On3 Team Rankings, behind Alabama by mere fractions.
Texas: Texas got into the #1 spot by the end of the day with a class headlined by ATH Michael Terry III, who chose to stay home. Texas also held onto commitments from WR Jaime Ffrench and DL Myron Charles, as Florida were hot on their tails to secure a flip. Texas also landed DL Josiah Sharma, swerving USC. The Longhorns also got pen to paper signings from 5-stars Jonah Williams, Lance Jackson, and Kaliq Lockett, all big names to secure.
USC: Lincoln Riley and the Trojans finish 14th nationally after having a class, at times, that looked like it would be towards the top of the class, and, at times, that it might be outside of the Top 25. Coach Riley still walks away with an impact DL in 5-star Jahkeem Stewart and a 5-star QB in Husan Longstreet while also bringing in another nine 4-star commitments or signees. Between those 11 Blue Chips, there were a few flip candidates, but Coach Riley did a decent job closing out his class to stop the bleeding and prevent any of the vultures from taking any more of the crown jewels in the Trojans 2025 class.
Texas A&M: 5-stars Lamont Rogers (OT) and Jerome Myles (WR) were two of the top names on the board this week that were either uncommitted or threatening with flipping, and the Aggies landed both. Myles had even shared that he was not planning on signing at this first Signing Day, but ultimately he changed his mind and the Aggies got the ball across the finish line earlier than originally expected. For Coach Elko’s first class, having the 9th ranked class nationally is a pretty solid way to start with 18 Blue Chip guys committed or signed.
South Carolina: South Carolina jumped into the Top 20 with a big day, flipping one of the top JUCO players and 4-star Zavion Hardy. A couple other high 3-stars also flipped, including DL Christian Ingram and TE Mike Tyler. The coup of the day, though, was flipping 4-star OT Damola Ajidahun from Georgia Tech.
SEC Signing Day Classes Ranked: Longhorns Take Top Spot of New Conference
13 of the 16 SEC teams are in the Top 25 of the On3 team rankings, with 7 of those teams finishing in the Top 10 nationally.
Below are the team’s and their national ranking, Blue Chip ratio, and top player according to the On3 industry composite rankings:
Texas, 1st, 71% (17/24), S Jonah Williams (#11)
Alabama, 2nd, 82% (18/22), QB Keelon Russell (#2)
Georgia, 4th, 89% (24/27), DL Elijah Griffin (#5)
Auburn, 7th, 60% (15/25), QB Deuce Knight (#27)
LSU, 8th, 83% (19/23), CB DJ Pickett (#10)
Texas A&M, 9th, 72% (18/24), OT Lamont Rogers (#18)
Tennessee, 10th, 62% (16/26), OT David Sanders Jr. (#6)
Florida, 11th, 58% (14/24), WR Vernell Brown III (#45)
Ole Miss, 15th, 48% (12/23), WR Caleb Cunningham (#21)
Oklahoma, 17th, 61% (11/18), OT Michael Fasusi (#13)
Missouri, 18th, 56% (10/18), EDGE Javion Hilson (#49)
South Carolina, 19th, 40% (10/25), DL Zavion Hardy (#1 JUCO) / WR Malik Clark (#147)
Mississippi State, 25th, 17% (4/24), S Tony Mitchell (#3 JUCO) / QB KaMario Taylor (#75)
Kentucky, 28th, 29% (6/21), TE Mikkel Skiner (#222)
Arkansas, 29th, 8% (2/26), LB Tavion Wallace (#149)
Vanderbilt, 61st, 8% (1/13), S Carson Lawrence (#220)
Big Ten Signing Day Classes Ranked: Oregon Also Takes Top Spot in New Conference
Here are the classes of the Big Ten ranked, with their national ranking, Blue Chip ratio, and top player for a conference which landed 3 of the top 4 recruits:
Oregon, 3rd, 90% (19/21), WR Dakorien Moore (#4)
Ohio State, 5th, 77% (20/26), QB Tavien St. Clair (#3)
Michigan, 6th, 70% (16/23), QB Bryce Underwood (#1)
USC, 14th, 52% (11/21), DL Jahkeem Stewart (#16)
Penn State, 16th, 46% (12/26), OT Malachi Goodman (#88)
Nebraska, 20th, 40% (8/20), EDGE Dawson Merritt (#118)
Washington, 23rd, 23% (7/29), LB Zaydrius Rainey-Sale (#95)
Wisconsin, 24th, 25% (6/24), QB Carter Smith (#205)
Rutgers, 30th, 4% (1/27), S Tariq Hayer (#317)
Iowa, 32nd, 33% (5/15), DL Iose Epenesa (#43)
Maryland, 34th, 22% (5/23), QB Malik Washington (#99)
Illinois, 40th, 0%, WR Brayden Trimble (#506)
Indiana, 48th, 5% (1/21), S Byron Baldwin (#173)
Michigan State, 50th, 6% (1/16), DL Derrick Simmons (#397)
UCLA, 53rd, 12% (2/17), RB Karson Cox (#250)
Minnesota, 55th, 5% (1/21), LB Emmanuel Karmo (#335)
Northwestern, 62nd, 0%, RB Daniel Anderson (#743)
Purdue, 104th, 0%, CB Zyntreacs Otey (#778)
ACC Signing Day Classes Ranked: Miami Leads the Way, With Clemson and GT Close Behind
Here are the classes of the ACC ranked, with their national ranking, Blue Chip ratio, and top player for each team:
Miami, 13th, 71% (15/21), WR Joshua Moore (#86)
Clemson, 21st, 40% (6/15), DL Amare Adams (#47)
Georgia Tech, 22nd, 25% (6/24), IOL Josh Petty (#42)
Florida State, 27th, 39% (7/18), DL Kevin Wynn (#74)
SMU, 31st, 17% (4/24), OT Dramodd Owens (#143)
Duke, 35th, 7% (2/27), EDGE Bryce Davis (#123)
Virginia Tech, 37th, 5% (1/19), WR Shamarius Peterkin (#289)
NC State, 39th, 5% (1/20), WR Jerel Bolder (#235)
Syracuse, 45th, 3% (1/34), S Demetres Samuel (#214)
Stanford, 47th, 6% (1/18), WR JonAnthony Hall (#131)
Pitt, 52nd, 0%, CB Mason Alexander (#480)
Virginia, 56th, 0%, WR Josiah Abdullah (#538)
Boston College, 58th, 0%, ATH Semaj Fleming (#727)
Wake Forest, 63rd, 0%, QB Elijiah Oehlke (#647)
Cal, 65th, 0%, RB Anthony League (#654)
Louisville, 70th, 0%, EDGE CJ May (#435)
North Carolina, 76th, 11%, QB Bryce Baker (#93)
Big 12 Signing Day Classes Ranked: TCU, Colorado, Baylor, and Kansas State in Top 40 Nationally
Here are the classes of the Big 12 ranked, with their national ranking, Blue Chip ratio, and top player for each team:
TCU, 26th, 21% (6/29), EDGE Chad Woodfork (#115)
Colorado, 33rd, 43% (6/14), QB Julian Lewis (#39)
Baylor, 36th, 14% (3/21), EDGE Kamauryn Morgan (#201)
Kansas State, 38th, 8% (2/25), TE Linkon Cure (#40)
Utah, 41st, 0%, LB Cyrus Polu (#415)
Texas Tech, 42nd, 12% (2/17), WR Tristian Gentry (#307)
Houston, 43rd, 5% (1/20), IOL Demetris Dean (#270)
Arizona State, 44th, 10% (2/21), ATH Cameron Dyer (#224)
West Virginia, 46th, 0%, CB Dawayne Galloway (#443)
Oklahoma State, 49th, 6% (1/18), EDGE Chandavian Bradley (#7 JUCO) / WR Jaden Perez (#633)
Arizona, 51st, 10% (2/21), QB Robert McDaniel (#387)
Iowa State, 55th, 5% (1/20), QB Alex Manske (#249)
BYU, 59th, 5% (1/19), IOL Alai Kalaniuvalu (#286)
Kansas, 60th, 0%, QB David McComb (#581)
UCF, 64th, 8% (2/11), RB Taevion Swint (#333)
Cincinnati, 69th, 0%, WR Giyahni Kontosis (#512)
Other Commitments/Decommitments
Check this link for every 2025 and 2026 commitment. There has been hundreds, if not thousands, in the last few days.
Check this link for every transfer portal entrant (and commitment). There also has been hundreds, if not thousands, in the last few days.