Grading the Top 25 recruiting classes after 2021 Early Signing Day

8. North Carolina — Grade: A+

Based on expectations, few recruiting classes were better than North Carolina’s. You don’t think of the Tar Heels as a college football power but they landed the top recruiting class in the ACC and 10 prospects ranked as four stars or higher, as well as a blue-chip ratio of 58 percent.

Travis Shaw, the defensive lineman, is the No. 2 overall prospect in the class, and Zach Rice the No. 11 overall prospect gives the Heels two five-star signees in the trenches, plus North Carolina landed a pair of top-200 running backs, as well as Conner Harrell, an underrated three-star QB.

Kudos to Mack Brown who is building a program with enough talent to win the ACC.

7. Notre Dame — Grade: A-

While Brian Kelly wasn’t expected to leave for LSU, Notre Dame made a great hire in Marcus Freeman, who is an excellent recruiter and the Irish did a stellar job of closing out the 2022 recruiting class.

Notre Dame did lose C.J. Williams, a top-100 wideout that is headed to either USC or UCLA, and also three-star wideout Amorion Walker, who was going to play DB or WR in South Bend.

Walker flipped to Michigan, but still, the Irish have 17 four-star recruits signed, and even though it’s not a top-5 class anymore, it’s a great starting point for Freeman.