25 Signing Day fun facts
Few things are more fun than Signing Day drama.
We had plenty of storylines emerge Wednesday. Here are 25 fun facts you might not have noticed:
1. Alabama won National Signing Day for the sixth consecutive year, according to 247sports.com’s composite rankings. The Tide rallied to win this year, bolstered by five-star linebackers Ben Davis and Lyndell “Mack” Wilson.
2. Best announcement was a no-brainer: Four-star safety Deontay Anderson skydived his way through myriad options, landed on his feet and ripped open his shirt, showing Ole Miss. You want fearless defensive backs.
4-star safety Deontay Anderson commits to Ole Miss in skydiving video. https://t.co/bOy3ugUQ1Z pic.twitter.com/sCSk53fni3
— Dr. Saturday (@YahooDrSaturday) February 3, 2016
3. Florida coach Jim McElwain likes his quarterbacks.
“I know this, we’re going to be able to complete some routes-on-air … these guys can throw it.’’ — Mac new QBs
— Scott Carter (@GatorsScott) February 3, 2016
4 new QBs will be competing in spring ball this year, including two freshmen early enrollees (Franks, Trask). https://t.co/VSlz0TfxW7
— Gators Football (@GatorsFB) February 3, 2016
5. And his kicker.
McElwain on signing K Eddie Pineiro: "I think we’ve got a chance to maybe put one through the uprights." #Gators
— Matt Baker (@MBakerTBTimes) February 3, 2016
6. A Yahoo! report last week about possible Ole Miss NCAA violations didn’t hurt the Rebels’ recruiting efforts. Ole Miss’ class finished No. 6 nationally.
"The timing was ironic…our relationships won out in the end" – Hugh Freeze responds to last week's Yahoo! report pic.twitter.com/XQIUGoVQNv
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) February 3, 2016
7. Arkansas coach Bret Bielema wondered whether McElwain is up to something. “Florida, kind of the new Ole Miss, they’re doing some things in recruiting that just kind of shocks you a little bit,” Bielema said during an interview with ESPN2.
8. Coach Mac was having none of it.
Mac on Bielema "I kind of get a kick out of it because this guy doesn't know who the heck I am, and I don't know who the heck he is."
— Nick de la Torre (@NickdelaTorreGC) February 3, 2016
"I think if you poll anybody in college football they'll tell you Mac does it right, and I don't know what (Bielema) is talking about" – Mac
— Graham Hall (@GrahamHall_) February 3, 2016
9. Flips happen. Florida lost a big one when four-star DT Shavar Manuel decomitted early Wednesday morning, then signed with rival Florida State. The Noles’ class finished No. 2 nationally. Florida was No. 13.
Mac says #Gators have work to do to boost recruiting in state of Florida. “That’s something we still need to get better at."
— Scott Carter (@GatorsScott) February 3, 2016
10. Kirby Smart’s first class at Georgia finished No. 7 nationally — two spots worse than last year. Mark Richt’s first class at Miami finished No. 21 — five spots better than last year.
11. Will Muschamp’s first class at South Carolina finished No. 26 — seven spots worse than the Head Ball Coach’s final class last year.
12. Five-star receiver Demetris Robertson, the No. 14-ranked player overall, decided not to sign Wednesday. Robertson, from Savannah, Ga., is the highest rated prospect still available and is considering a couple SEC schools. He is scheduled to visit Georgia this weekend but also reportedly is interested in Stanford.
13. Alabama signee Kendell Jones is the heaviest recruit in the SEC, weighing in at 375 pounds. No surprise he’s a run-stuffing defensive tackle.
14. That’s how many five-star recruits (out of 25) chose the SEC. Seven SEC schools signed at least one.
15. Mississippi State signed its first five-star (Jeffery Simmons) since Chris Jones in 2013.
16. The SEC had eight of the top 20 recruiting classes. The Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 had three apiece. The ACC had two and independent Notre Dame completed the top 20.
17. After signing two consecutive top 10 classes, Tennessee slipped to No. 14 this year.
18. Remember this name: Jarrett Guaratano. He’s 6-4, 201 pounds and the No.-1 rated dual threat QB in the country. Tennessee is hoping he is their next Joshua Dobbs.
19. The SEC signed the top 3 dual-threat QBs and top 2 pro-style QBs.
20. Miles Sanders, ranked No. 20 overall, is the only five-star running back in the class. He stayed in state and signed with Penn State. Alabama signee B.J. Emmons, ranked No. 31 overall, is the highest-rated running back coming into the SEC.
21. The SEC signed 11 of the nation’s top 25 receivers. Robertson, the top receiver in the class, also could choose the SEC.
22. That was Michigan State’s class rank. Mark Dantonio still hasn’t had a Top 20 class — and it hasn’t mattered.
23. The scariest words to come out of a coach’s mouth Wednesday: “You don’t get everything you want all the time.” So said Nick Saban, who’s doing the best he can with what he has.
24. Recruits faxing letters of intent to schools is so 2015.
One thing I've learned from being w/Fedora and staff on signing day: fax machines really are dead. Kids now text in pics of their signed NLI
— Andrew Carter (@_andrewcarter) February 3, 2016
25. #NSD2017 is Wednesday Feb. 1, 2017. Plan accordingly. P.S.: two of the nation’s top four players have committed to Alabama and Auburn.