Some of college football’s top contenders such as Michigan, Texas A&M, Clemson, Florida, and Oklahoma all need to get things going on the recruiting trail soon.
Now that we have hit the month of June, things are about to pick up even more in terms of college football recruiting as the official visit season has arrived.
College football programs across the country are hosting big weekends. Some are spread out over the month and some aren’t. Texas A&M football is hosting a number of top prospects this weekend but that will be the case throughout June.
Clemson football is also getting in on the act and sensing the recruiting power of the Tigers slipping, Dabo Swinney is taking a different tactic, allowing official visits in the summer for the first time according to 247 sports and hosting an incredible 30 visitors (officially) this weekend.
Times are changing in college football and the teams that get with it in terms of NIL and everything else are the ones having the most success, although you’d probably be shocked to find Northwestern in the top 10 of the 2023 team rankings (via the 247 sports composite).
So there’s more than one way to skin a cat and as we are about six months away from early national signing day, here’s a look at five college football teams with major work to do on their 2023 recruiting classes.
Michigan football
It’s hard to blame Michigan football fans for panicking about their recruiting class. For years, the talk was that once the Wolverines got over the Ohio State hump, made the playoff, and all that, their recruiting would reach that elite level of the Buckeyes.
So far, that hasn’t happened in the 2023 class.
It didn’t help that Jim Harbaugh flirted with the NFL for so long. That stymied momentum along with both of last year’s coordinators leaving and now, Michigan football finds itself ranked 25th in the composite team rankings for 2023 with six commitments (2 4-stars).
Yet, Michigan is leading with eight recruits who will be coming on campus this month according to the On3.com prediction machine and the Wolverines also seem to have positive momentum with five-star QB Dante Moore, as well as five-star athlete Nyckoles Harbor.
And regardless of what else happens in the 2023 class, if Michigan is able to land Moore and Harbor, this class will be as elite as fans hoped it would be following the magical 2021 season.
Texas A&M football
Plenty of teams would love to be where Texas A&M football is at right now in terms of the 2023 recruiting class, but that doesn’t change the fact that Aggies are currently 26th in the 247 team rankings with just five commitments.
The good news for Texas A&M football fans is that three of those commitments are four-star prospects and two of them are rated in the top-100 overall.
However, the Aggies don’t have a five-star pledge yet, which isn’t necessarily a huge shock, because the high-profile recruitments tend to take longer, but it’s still something fans will want to see sooner rather than later after landing eight last cycle (Bama has one in 2023).
The other thing that hurts Texas A&M right now is the lack of a quarterback commitment. Eli Holstein re-opened his recruitment and eventually went to Alabama, which stung. Yet, Dante Moore is visiting A&M later this month and Jaden Rashada will be on campus this weekend, so the Aggies can turn the tide.
And they lead with some key targets such as five-star linebacker David Hill, who is one of the top defenders in the country and one of the best players in Texas.
But Texas A&M will need to start closing and maybe it can get things going with a quarterback like Rashada who is expected to announce on June 18.
Florida Football
First-year head coach Billy Napier did a solid job of salvaging Florida football’s 2023 recruiting class, which finished up as the No. 17 class according to 247 sports.
So far in 2023, the Gators haven’t been able to build a ton of momentum. Florida football currently has five commitments but only one of them ranks in the top 300 of the 247 sports composite rankings and that’s Aaron Gates, who could flip to Michigan.
Napier has picked up four pledges from the Sunshine State and Florida is in the mix with a number of high-level targets such as Cormani McClain, Peter Woods, Raylen Wilson, and Rashada.
The Gators hosted Rashada, a five-star QB, for an unofficial visit this week and will get him back for an official visit next weekend.
Florida football is also the new leader for the California signal-caller according to the On3.com prediction machine, so the Gators are starting to build some momentum in 2023, they just have to turn that momentum into actual commitments.
Clemson football
Under Dabo Swinney, Clemson football has been an elite college football recruiting program. They signed the No. 5 class in 2021 but followed that up with the 15th-ranked class in 2022 after losing both coordinators and taking a slight step back on the field.
Re-gaining that spot among the other elites in recruiting will take some different tactics as Dabo is showing he understands with 30 official visitors in town this weekend, something that never happened before at Clemson football, which only did unofficial visits in the summer.
Christopher Vizzina is the gem of the 2023 recruiting class so far for Clemson and the top-100 QB was a really good get. It keeps the pipeline of talent stocked at the game’s most important position. The Tigers also landed a top-100 WR.
Yet, the elite defensive talent isn’t there yet and Clemson football trails in the On3.com prediction machine with most of the recruits it will be hosting this weekend. The foundation for a really good class is there but this visit weekend will need to pay off (down the road) for it to be elite.
Oklahoma
The Oklahoma Sooners are another elite program that has gotten off to a slow start in the 2023 recruiting class. OU is ranked 39th right now in the team rankings according to 247 sports and the Sooners have just four commitments.
The good news is that the No. 5 quarterback in the 2023 class, four-star Jackson Arnold, is one of those verbal commitments. The bad news is that he’s the only four-star pledge right now, as well as the only recruit ranked in the top 400.
However, the Sooners should be able to change that soon enough. Just like Clemson, this is a huge weekend for the Sooners, who will be hosting 27 official visitors.
Top-100 offensive lineman Cayden Green will be among them and the Sooners are the leader for him, as well as Jacobe Johnson (a top-100 athlete) and edge rusher Adepoju Adebawore, who is also ranked in the top 100.
If Oklahoma can lock down those recruitments and make headway with some others, the Sooners will be well on their way to a solid 2023 class. But after losing Lincoln Riley to USC, the expectations for Brent Venables are high and he needs a top-10 class on the trail to meet them.