From Mario Cristobal to Dan Lanning, first-year head coaches steal much of the spotlight of the 2023 Early Signing Period

Aside from Nick Saban and Alabama reclaiming the throne of kings of recruiting — and boy did the Crimson Tide land a superb class with six 5-star signees — the dominant storyline from the 2023 Early Signing Period on Wednesday was the impressive work by so many first-year head coaches. 

Last season’s coaching carousel was one of the craziest ever, as we saw some of the biggest names in the sport change schools — Lincoln Riley to USC, Brian Kelly to LSU and Mario Cristobal to Miami — while several other programs made hires specifically tied around boosting recruiting — Marcus Freeman at Notre Dame, Brent Venables at Oklahoma, Billy Napier at Florida, Dan Lanning at Oregon and even Joey McGuire at Texas Tech. 

Although some had stronger signing day finishes than others, every coach mentioned inked a solid-to-really good 2023 class with full cycle to establish relationships.

Of the Top 10 classes in the On3 Team Rankings, six came from Year 1 coaches — No. 3 Miami, No. 6 Oklahoma, No. 7 LSU, No. 8 Notre Dame, No. 9 Oregon and No. 10 Florida. A year ago, only Notre Dame and Oklahoma had Top 10 classes, but both had higher score rankings this year and signed more blue-chip prospects. 

Elsewhere, USC finished with the No. 13 class nationally — a 40-spot improvement from its 2022 class. On the heels of one of its best seasons in school history, Sonny Dykes and TCU signed one of its best classes in recent memory with the country’s No. 19 class. 

Texas Tech jumped 17 spots in the rankings from a year ago, as McGuire and his Texas-heavy staff also landed a Top 25 class. The Red Raiders loaded up on in-state talent, signing 20 players from the Longhorn State. 

Even Kalen Deboer at Washington dramatically improved the Huskies’ recruiting with a full year to make connections out West. They finished just outside the Top 25 with the No. 27 class — a 59-spot jump in the rankings compared to a year ago. 

Here’s a look at how every Power 5 first-year coach currently stands with their first full recruiting cycle:

POWER 5 SCHOOL	FIRST-YEAR COACH	2022 CLASS RANKING	2023 CLASS RANKING	NET CHANGE
Miami	Mario Cristobal	14th	3rd	⬆️ 11 spots
LSU	Brian Kelly	12th	7th	⬆️ 5 spots
Oregon	Dan Lanning	11th	9th	⬆️ 2 spots
Notre Dame	Marcus Freeman	6th	8th	⬇️ 2 spots
Oklahoma	Brent Venables	8th	6th	⬆️ 2 spots
Florida	Billy Napier	20th	10th	⬆️ 10 spots
USC	Lincoln RIley	53rd	13th	⬆️ 40 spots
TCU	Sonny Dykes	34th	19th	⬆️ 15 spots
Texas Tech	Joey McGuire	42nd	25th	⬆️ 17 spots
Washington	Kalen Deboer	86th	27th	⬆️ 59 spots
Virgina Tech	Brent Pry	39th	43rd	⬇️ 4 spots
Duke	Mike Elko	56th	57th	⬇️ 1 spots
Washington State	Jake Dickert	63rd	59th	⬆️ 4 spots
Virginia	Tony Elliott	67th	65th	⬆️ 2 spot

Now, it’s not a surprise that first-year coaches would almost all sign better classes with a full calendar year to establish connections with prospects, families and high school coaches alike. 

That’s what’s supposed to happen. But the 2022 coaching cycle was so unique that it delivered even better results from so many first-year coaches who are viewed as top-flight recruiters. 

Miami was a disaster on the field in 2022, but Cristobal proved his worth as a dogged recruiter, finishing with a flurry and landing the Canes their best class since 2008. He signed two 5-star offensive tackles, beating out Alabama and Florida for both Francis Mauigoa and Samson Okunlola. The Canes are still waiting on the signature of 5-star corner Cormani McClain, and while it would really sting if the South Florida star flips to Colorado, Florida or Alabama, it was still a really good Early Signing Period for The U. 

One of the other biggest winners Wednesday was Dan Lanning and the Ducks. Oregon shook off a Mike Tyson gut-punch — 5-star QB Dante Moore flipping to UCLA on Sunday — and managed to flip blue-chip quarterback Austin Novosad, and beat out Ohio State and USC for 5-star edge rusher Matayo Uiagalelei. The Ducks flipped a couple more 4-star prospects, too. Lanning was an awesome recruiter at Georgia and he clearly learned some things from Kirby Smart and has continued to land dudes on both sides of the football. 

Recruiting analysts were impressed with Brian Kelly’s class, particularly LSU’s OL haul. Venables landed his QB of the future in 5-star Jackson Arnold, and he also upgraded the Sooners’ defensive talent with 10 blue-chip signees, including flipping 5-star safety Peyton Bowen away from Oregon — who actually flipped Bowen away from Notre Dame on Wednesday.

Although Notre Dame and Florida did finish with the splashes that seemed possible just a week or two earlier, both Freeman and Napier significantly added to the foundations of their rosters. The Irish lost a pair of 5-star commits in recent weeks and still had 19 4-star signees. Napier reestablished Florida’s footprint in the Sunshine State, with 70% of the class staying home to play for the Gators. 

Riley was much more aggressive in recruiting prep prospects this cycle, as USC signed the second-most 5-stars (a trio led by quarterback Malachi Nelson) in the country.