The early signing period has come and gone in college football. Championship Saturday, bowl season, and the College Football Playoff will now step into the limelight before the transfer portal opens in January. Kentucky finished off this critical recruiting period by adding 14 full scholarship players to the roster to kickoff the <a href="https://www.on3.com/rivals/coach/will-stein-177513/">Will Stein</a> era.



Kentucky also lost some players during this recruiting cycle. There were flips to an in-state rival, Big Ten schools, an SEC powerhouse, and more. Four of these occurred in the last week. This is where former Kentucky commits signed this week.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-flip-watch-where-former-kentucky-commits-signed">Flip Watch: Where former Kentucky commits signed</h2>



— <a href="https://www.on3.com/rivals/jordan-crutchfield-178386/">Jordan Crutchfield</a> (Florida State): Kentucky beat out Louisville for the tall cornerback prospect over the summer but this recruitment never slowed down. Crutchfield took numerous visits while being committed to UK and ultimately flipped to Florida State in November.



— <a href="https://www.on3.com/rivals/tyreek-jemison-237554/">Tyreek Jemison</a> (Georgia): The four-star guard prospect was a major recruiting win for <a href="https://www.on3.com/rivals/coach/eric-wolford-132233/">Eric Wolford</a> in June, but Jemison backed off his commitment during the season once UGA came calling. The flip wasn’t instant but Jemison ended up signing with the Bulldogs.



— <a href="https://www.on3.com/rivals/max-mohring-259009/">Max Mohring</a> (Northwestern): The Mid-Atlantic linebacker picked Kentucky over UCF following an official visit in June. However, Northwestern got the three-star prospect on campus for a November official visit weekend and quickly completed a flip.



— <a href="https://www.on3.com/rivals/caleb-pyfrom-151755/">Caleb Pyfrom</a> (New Mexico State): The junior college transfer and former Missouri signee committed to Kentucky after <a href="https://www.on3.com/rivals/coach/mark-stoops-132239/">Mark Stoops</a> was fired and before Will Stein was hired. Both parties then decided to separate during the early signing period. Pyfrom quickly pivoted and signed with this C-USA program.



— <a href="https://www.on3.com/rivals/jarvis-strickland-155853/">Jarvis Strickland</a> (Louisville): Kentucky’s first commit of the cycle was a big one but the top 500 recruit quickly backed off his commitment to UK once <a href="https://www.on3.com/rivals/vince-marrow-132250/">Vince Marrow</a> departed for Louisville over the summer. Strickland quickly followed and is the fourth highest-ranked prospect in <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/louisville-cardinals/football/2026/industry-comparison-commits/">UofL’s 2026 class</a>.



— <a href="https://www.on3.com/rivals/messiah-tilson-246638/">Messiah Tilson</a> (Rutgers): Kentucky pulled off a fairly big surprise in June when Tilson committed to the Cats despite Rutgers having all of the buzz. That changed during the early signing period as the continued pursuit by the Scarlet Knights allowed the Big Ten program to take advantage of a coaching change at UK.



— <a href="https://www.on3.com/rivals/damare-williams-174740/">Da’Mare Williams</a> (West Virginia): The North Carolina native was part of Kentucky’s big junior college push. Kentucky quickly earned a commitment after a November visit but that didn’t last long after the coaching change. Williams quickly flipped to West Virginia. <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/west-virginia-mountaineers/football/2026/industry-comparison-commits/">The Mountaineers added 38 high school prospects, 10 junior college transfers, and one Australian punter this week</a>.



— <a href="https://www.on3.com/rivals/garrett-witherington-238349/">Garrett Witherington</a> (Virginia Tech): Kentucky won a tightly contested Alabama recruiting battle for the defensive tackle prospect. The Cats beat out Mississippi State, Penn State, Vanderbilt, and others for Witherington. However, the season went south in November for UK and <a href="https://www.on3.com/rivals/coach/james-franklin-131195/">James Franklin</a> relocated to Virginia Tech. Witherington flipped to the Hokies.

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