College Football: Winners and losers from Day 1 of early signing period

Winner: 3. Miami Hurricanes

Mark Richt continues to put together strong, well rounded recruiting classes. While the star of the 2018 class is five-star tailback Lorenzo Lingard, Richt landed another big time quarterback in Jarren Williams. Miami signed legacy four-star Al Blades Jr, and then players from all over the depth chart with some of Miami-Southridge’s biggest stars in wide receiver Mark Pope, guard Delone Scaife, and wide receiver Daquris Wiggins. Miami also pulled off a big steal in Bishop Gorman tight end Brevin Jordan.

The Hurricanes could’ve had the class fall apart after dropping a game to the Pitt Panthers and the beatdown suffered at the hands of the Clemson Tigers in the ACC Championship Game. But Coach Richt pulled in another great class to offset the last two classes they brought in.

Any program that can recruit higher than their S&P+ ranking means you’re building towards something as opposed to falling off or staying stagnant. A year ago, Miami brought in quarterback N’Kosi Perry with a receiver corps of Jeff Thomas and Mike Harley. Miami brought in offensive tackles, and ready-made playmakers like Trajan Bandy and Deejay Dallas. Coach Richt was always known as a strong recruiter at the University of Georgia and it continues down in Coral Gables.