5 hottest starts to college football recruiting in 2023

1. USC

When Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma for USC football, it was because he said he was going to build the program into the “Mecca of College Football.”

That’s a bold statement but so far, Riley is off to a pretty good start. Not only have the Trojans done really well in the transfer portal, as highlighted by the addition of Caleb Williams, they have also done really well in traditional recruiting since his arrival.

USC didn’t rank as highly as normal in the 2022 recruiting class but USC still landed five-star cornerback Domani Jackson, as well as five-star running back Raleek Brown.

Now that Riley is leading the charge for the entire 2023 recruiting class, USC is off to an impressive start. The Trojans have just three commitments right now but two of them are five-stars according to On3 (all are five-stars in 247 composite rankings) and each is ranked in the top 41 overall.

One of those pledges is from five-star quarterback Malachi Nelson, who is the No. 2 overall prospect in 2023 behind Arch Manning and is the second-ranked QB.

Obviously, there is a long way to go but in terms of the hottest recruiting starts in 2023, USC is leading the way thanks to multiple five-star additions so far.