For as much focus as is placed on the transfer portal in the present-day college football landscape, building rosters primarily around internally developed talent remains crucial for success.
The December early signing period almost immediately from its inception supplanted the traditional, first week of February signing day as the marquee date on the recruiting calendar. Heading into the postseason and offseason with the incoming class finalized allows coaching staffs to get a jump on both fall, and filling needs in the spring portal window.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, some of the big winners from Wednesday’s signing day are also programs positioned to compete for conference and the College Football Playoff title this year. National signing day’s losers just as unsurprisingly include programs steeped in tumult.
All rankings and scores are courtesy of 247Sports composite rankings.
Winners
Texas Tech
The first week of December 2025 could well be the best in Texas Tech football history. The Red Raiders locked up coach Joey McGuire with a seven-year contract extension, days before playing for the program’s first Big 12 Conference championship and a berth in the College Football Playoff.
McGuire and his staff are also making serious inroads to establishing Texas Tech as a yearly title contender, evident in the historically strong recruiting class coming to Lubbock.
A pair of 5-star prospects headline a class, with offensive tackle Felix Ojo and edge rusher LaDamion Guyton ranked the No. 3 and No. 4 highest-graded signees in Tech history. The duo lead a class with an average score of 89.42, in league with fellow Playoff hopefuls like Oklahoma and Miami.
Vanderbilt
Alcorn State Braves linebacker Lannen Moore (23) tries to bring down Vanderbilt Commodores safety CJ Taylor (1) during their Southeastern Athletic Conference game at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. For indication that Clark Lea’s Vanderbilt is a whole new program from the longtime SEC doormat, look no further than its signing day eve flip of 5-star quarterback prospect Jared Curtis.
Originally a verbal commit to Vanderbilt’s conference counterpart Georgia, the local prospect Curtis changed his pledge to the Commodores. Curtis is now the most highly graded signee in Vanderbilt history.
Virginia Tech
Nov 19, 2025; Blacksburg, VA, USA; Virginia Tech head coach James Franklin speaks at the press conference at Cassell Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bishop-Imagn Images Floundering since the retirement of Hall of Fame coach Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech may finally have its successor a decade later with James Franklin. Fired from Penn State in October after a disappointing start to the 2025 season, Virginia Tech swooped in a little more than a month later to hire Franklin.
The quick action is paying immediate dividends, as Virginia Tech collected 22 letters of intent on Wednesday that included three high 4-star recruits — two from the Keystone State. Linebacker Terry Wiggins and running back Messiah Mickens, once in-state commits to Franklin at Penn State, changed course and are headed for Blacksburg.
Franklin also landed big-time local signings from offensive tackle Thomas Wilder (Virginia Beach), wide receiver Davion Brown (Richmond) and cornerback Zaevion Cleveland (Virginia Beach).
Losers
Penn State
Dec 21, 2024; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton (33) reacts following a sack on Southern Methodist Mustangs quarterback Kevin Jennings (not pictured) during the second quarter in the first round of the College Football Playoff at Beaver Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O’Haren-Imagn Images The flipside of Virginia Tech’s national signing day success is Penn State’s astoundingly small class. While Franklin’s early-season firing was intended to give Nittany Lions brace a jump on the coaching market, the opposite has been true as Penn State approaches two months without a head coach in place for 2026.
As speculation flies, and reported targets like BYU’s Kalani Sitake sign extensions, Penn State received just two letters of intent.
The good news for the next Lions coaching staff is that the two signees — edge rusher Jackson Ford and quarterback Peyton Falzone — come with impressive prep credentials. The bad news is there’s a ton of work to do finding talent to build around them in the coming weeks.
Nebraska
Sep 7, 2024; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback Dylan Raiola (15) hands the ball off to wide receiver Jacory Barney Jr. (17) against the Colorado Buffaloes during the first quarter at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images While Penn State’s paltry early signing day class can be attributed to the lack of a coaching staff in place for 2026, the Nittany Lions’ Big Ten Conference counterpart Nebraska finishing with a light crop of newcomers is more perplexing.
Matt Rhule and his staff signed a 4-star tackle in Claude Mpouma and 5-star cornerback Danny Odem, but the Huskers add just 10 prospects in total.
Perhaps the most concerning part for Nebraska is that it went without signing a quarterback following the surprising decommitment of Dayton Raiola — younger brother of current Huskers quarterback Dylan Raiola.
Colorado
Sep 14, 2024; Fort Collins, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders on the sidelines in the first quarter at Sonny Lubick Field at Canvas Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Michael Madrid-Imagn Images It’s difficult gauging what exactly Deion Sanders’ plan for Colorado football was after Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders moved onto the NFL.
The Sanders brand has been touted as more meaningful than in-game strategy, and it did indeed net results at Jackson State and in Colorado’s initial transfer portal hauls. However, having a meager 11-player signing class coming into a program plagued by depth issues does little to inspire confidence on the heels of a 3-9 campaign.
The Buffs were bad in 2025, and not in a way that offers hope of a turnaround akin to the 2024 campaign’s jump from four wins the year prior to nine. Colorado lost games in November by 25, 35 and 46 points as part of a five-game skid, coinciding with highly regarded defensive lineman Emanuel Ruffin’s decommitment.
