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Biggest winners from 2026 CFB recruiting early signing day
Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley watches game action against the Northwestern Wildcats during the second half at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Biggest winners from 2026 CFB recruiting early signing day

By Andrew Kulha  |  Last updated Dec 4, 2025 8:37 AM ET

It's certainly not what it used to be. College football national signing day used to be a national holiday for die-hard fans. It was one day in February, and it was awesome.

Now? Wednesday marked the first day of a three-day window in which college football recruits from the 2026 class could sign, and there's still the traditional national signing day to look ahead to in the future on Feb. 4.

It's not the same, but there were still some massive recruiting wins.

Vanderbilt Commodores flipped five-star QB Jared Curtis from Georgia Bulldogs

There was a time when the idea of the Vanderbilt Commodores taking any recruit from the Georgia Bulldogs seemed propositional. A five-star quarterback, though? A quarterback ranked as the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2026 class? That would have been impossible.

That's what happened when Clark Lea and the Commodores flipped five-star quarterback Jared Curtis from Nashville, Tennessee, though. 

Lea may be building something special at Vandy, and all Curtis had to do was look at what Diego Pavia has done to see proof of concept.

USC Trojans clinch No. 1-ranked class 

The USC Trojans may be a disappointing 9-3 and out of the College Football Playoff picture on the field, but head coach Lincoln Riley is cooking on the 2026 recruiting trail.

He signed the consensus No. 1 overall class on Wednesday, and that included the flip of four-star wide receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt from Ohio State to USC.

In all, 34 recruits signed their letters of intent with USC on signing day.

Rhett Lashlee built an impressive class for SMU Mustangs

SMU Mustangs head coach Rhett Lashlee has gone 37-16 in four seasons, and despite a disappointing loss to Cal to close out the season, he does have SMU poised to become a contender in the ACC.

A big reason for SMU's hope for the future is that Lashlee signed a Top 25 class on Wednesday. In fact, the Mustangs' class is ranked No. 24 in the country.

One of SMU's biggest wins came on signing day, when the Mustangs landed the commitment of former Alabama offensive line commit Sam Utu.

Utu, from Orange, California, decommitted from Alabama just before Thanksgiving, and the Mustangs swooped him up. He's 6-foot-4, 320 pounds, and is ranked as the No. 18 interior offensive lineman in the country.

Andrew Kulha

Andrew Kulha is probably the only sports writer you know who also doubles as a mortician. Spooky! @KulhaSports

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