National Signing Day (Football Edition)

College Football Football Recruiting32

I’m not big on all the hype of signing days because a lot of BCS signees never make it to their junior year with the school they signed with…if they even make it to campus. Not to mention you have no idea which ones will actually produce and most of the time it’s a couple of years before they do.

I’m also a realist and know that it is a big deal to so many out there so we’ll be keeping up with the LOI’s today with the Pack here. Have fun but remember, these are just 17/18 year old kids trying to decide who they want to play for.

In the meantime here’s a little reading material to get you through the day.

GoPack.com
GoPack.com’s Football Signing Day Coverage

As soon as the letters roll off the fax machine, GoPack.com and @Packfootball on twitter will provide bios, video highlights and personality profiles to help fans get to know the newest members of the Pack. Head coach Tom O’Brien’s press coverage will be streamed free via GoPack.com’s All-Access at 4 p.m.

Akula Wolf (BackingthePack.com)
NC State Football Recruiting: National Signing Day Flippy Floppy Watch

Chris Moore (accsports.com)
ACC 2012 Atlantic Division Signee Lists

N.C. State went all the way to California to pick up JuCo linebacker Robert Caldwell. Caldwell chose the Wolfpack instead of Iowa. In a turn of bad news, quarterback James Summers switched his commitment from the Wolfpack to arch-rival North Carolina. Also, the Wolfpack lost linebacker LaKeith Walls to Illinois on Tuesday night.

Jim Young (accsports.com)
ACC National Signing Day Updates

J.P. GIGLIO (N&O)
O’Brien grounded in his approach

J.P. GIGLIO (N&O)
ACC’s football paradox

Brett Friedlander (starnewsonline.com)
No winners or losers on National Signing Day

I never have understood the obsession with National Signing Day.

Over the next 24 hours, normally rational adults are going to going to stay glued to their computers and the seemingly endless coverage on ESPNU watching, celebrating and in some cases cursing a bunch of teenagers as they decide where they want to go to college.

When the process is all said and done, a group of so-called “experts” – most of whom have never seen the majority of these kids play a down in person – will evaluate the various recruiting classes and assign a grade to each school.

For those of you who can’t stand the suspense, here’s a hint as to how things will shake out in the ACC:

Clemson, Florida State and Miami will get the highest marks, as they always do, Virginia Tech will be somewhere in the middle, while Tom O’Brien and N.C. State will be mired in their traditional spot either at or near the bottom of the league rankings.

It’s as predicable as the Chicago Cubs not winning the World Series.

Sammy Batten (fayobserver.com)
Big 5 tap into talent pools for steady flow of college football recruits

College football coaches are like gold miners when it comes to recruiting. Once they find a hot spot where the talent is rich, they keep coming back year after year.

North Carolina’s five in-state Football Bowl Subdivision programs have tapped into the talent pools of one city and one high school more than any others over the last 10 years, according to some simple research conducted by The Fayetteville Observer. The research was based on the official signing lists supplied by the five schools.

From 2002-11, Duke, East Carolina, N.C. State, North Carolina and Wake Forest have signed the highest number of their recruits from Charlotte. Thirty-four prospects from the state’s largest city joined in-state programs during that span, and more will be added to that list today as college football conducts its annual national signing day.

Charlotte was far and away the hotbed of recruiting among cities for the in-state schools, outdistancing Jacksonville, Fla., and Miami, each of which produced 18 signees.

The high school figures were much closer, but coming out on top was Scotland High School in Laurinburg. The Fighting Scots produced nine players who signed scholarships with FBS in-state schools during the 10-year period to edge Nease High in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., by one.

List of Signees:

1. DT Deylan Buntyn (NC) (January enrollee)
2. QB Manny Stocker (PA) (January enrollee)
3. OL Bryce Kennedy (NC) (January enrollee)
4. OL Quincy McKinney (GA) (January enrollee)
5. QB Pete Thomas (CA) (Transfer from Colorado State)
6. DB Josh Sessoms (NC)
7. WR Xavier Griffon (DE)
8. TE David Grinnage (DE)
9. DE Joe Wright (NC)
10. DE Desmond Owino (NC)
11. DB Marchez Coates (MD)
12. LB Drew Davis (NC)
13. DB Niles Clark (GA)
14. WR Charlie Hegedus (GA)
15. DT k’Hadree Hooker (NC)
16. RB Shadrach Thornton (GA)
17. OL Eddie Gordan (SC)
18. DB Majid Salahuddin (NC)
19. OL John Tu’uta (VA)
20. DE Tyler Knox (SC)
21. DB J.J. Jones (GA)
22. LB Robert Caldwell (CA) (JuCo)
23. DE Kenderius Whitehead (GA)

2012 Breakdown:
Offense:
QB 2
RB 1
TE 1
WR 2
OL 4

Defense:
DT 2
DE 4
LB 2
DB 4

States:
NC 7
GA 5
SC 2
VA 2
DE 2
MD 1
PA 1
CO 1
NM 1
CA 1

About 1.21 Jigawatts

Class of '98, Mechanical Engineer, State fan since arriving on campus and it's been a painful ride ever since. I live by the Law of NC State Fandom, "For every Elation there is an equal and opposite Frustration."

College Football Football Recruiting

32 Responses to National Signing Day (Football Edition)

  1. Wufpacker 02/01/2012 at 9:10 AM #

    “From 2002-11, Duke, East Carolina, N.C. State, North Carolina and Wake Forest have signed the highest number of their recruits from Charlotte. Thirty-four prospects from the state’s largest city joined in-state programs during that span….”

    Anyone else besides me think this sounds atrociously, embarrassingly low? Maybe I’m missing something or reading it wrong, but over the ten year span that’s not even one per year between the five schools. Would be interesting to compare raw numbers and find out how many left the state over those same ten years.

  2. GAWolf 02/01/2012 at 9:23 AM #

    For too long the top prospects in Charlotte have been going SEC or Clemson.

  3. Prowling Woofie 02/01/2012 at 9:38 AM #

    Josh Sessoms, not Pete…

    EDIT: Thanks.

  4. Wufpacker 02/01/2012 at 9:44 AM #

    FWIW, the running list being provided by GoPack.com is significantly behind that of the good folks here at SFN. They do, however, have a “getting to know you” type Q&A posted with signees. Interesting by and large, but a couple of the answers are quite humorous, IMHO.

    Manny Stocker:
    Q: What is the most interesting fact about you?
    A: “I have five little brothers and the youngest is 7.”

    Quincy McKinney:
    Q: What is the most interesting fact about you?
    A: “I stopped watching cartoons when I was six.”

    Personally, I haven’t even stopped watching cartoons yet.

  5. Wufpacker 02/01/2012 at 9:48 AM #

    Also, they have Coates listed as a DE. Not terribly funny until you see his listed height and weight…..5’11”, 172 lbs. Hope he grows fast.

  6. newt 02/01/2012 at 9:51 AM #

    I hang on the ratings of basketball recruiting, because there is such a strong correlation between rankings and on-court success.

    In football, I’m interested in continuing on-the-field success, who we have lost and who’s moving onto the current depth chart, injuries, and do the coaches seem to feel like we’ve met our recruiting needs.

    Football is so much about the mundane task of managing a program for consistency. I love it.

  7. Prowling Woofie 02/01/2012 at 10:02 AM #

    I want Champions in the Classroom and Champions in the Community. TOB and Company will make them Champions on the Field.

    Welcome to the Pack, Gentlemen !

  8. ruffles31 02/01/2012 at 11:00 AM #

    Good to see Whitehead and Jones also sign their LOI. Welcome to the Pack!

  9. gopack10 02/01/2012 at 11:11 AM #

    I’m with you newt. Most of these guys won’t sniff the field this year so it is more about their development than anything. The guys we are bringing in are immediate impact players. Most of them will red shirt. I wish we could bring in a player or two that would be an immediate starter for us. I’m not asking for top 10 classes but a top 30 class would be nice.

  10. GAWolf 02/01/2012 at 11:31 AM #

    Interesting, gopack10. I like the idea of having mostly Juniors and Seniors in the starting lineups, myself. I think problems arise when you rely too heavily on one class to save a program. Rather, a strong constant influx and thereafter development of talent is what builds a sturdy, long-lasting program. From there, one difference maker recruit can indeed push a team up to the next level. We need to walk before we can run.

    I’d love to have a lot of 4 and 5 star recruits, too. But I think at NC State we’re going to have to win a lot for a long time before we can hope to land the truly great ones regularly. Otherwise, we’re “stuck” building a solid program throughout and hoping to win enough games over time to lure the “fancy” kids in the future.

  11. GAWolf 02/01/2012 at 11:32 AM #

    Whitehead and Jones apparently presented a possible signing day problem as Clemson and UGA put on the full court press late. Good to see they’re in. Great to see, actually.

  12. Prowling Woofie 02/01/2012 at 12:01 PM #

    Knox has also signed, but hasn’t faxed the LOI in yet. Waiting to hear from Tu’uta and Caldwell.

  13. gopack10 02/01/2012 at 12:13 PM #

    Did Whitehead and Jones actually sign? ESPNU said something about the Clemson and UGA thing.

  14. Packfan28 02/01/2012 at 12:21 PM #

    ^Yes they did. There was a broadcast from their school.

  15. 1.21 Jigawatts 02/01/2012 at 1:23 PM #

    Just waiting for the official word on Whitehead before adding him and closing out this class.

  16. PackerInRussia 02/01/2012 at 1:29 PM #

    I rely on comments from people here who know what they’re talking about (or at least pretend to), so thanks for the commentary. It helps me know if I should feel happy or not. By the way, I couldn’t imagine stopping cartoons at 6. I still watch them at 30 and not just when the kids are watching them.
    By the way, can everyone else edit other people’s comments?

  17. HaxPack 02/01/2012 at 1:37 PM #

    Hope Packfan28 is correct. Is there a link to any information about Whitehead signing? I can’t find any info.

  18. Wufpacker 02/01/2012 at 1:51 PM #

    http://blogs.ajc.com/recruiting/2012/02/01/kenderius-whitehead-may-flip-from-nc-state-to-clemson-and-has-uga-loi/

    “UPDATE at 11 a.m. Monday: Whitehead signed with NC State”

    GoPack.com also confirms he has signed.

  19. HaxPack 02/01/2012 at 1:56 PM #

    Thanks Wufpacker. I see it is confirmed on SFN as well as GoPack now. Welcome to all!

  20. ryebread 02/01/2012 at 1:58 PM #

    I don’t follow football recruiting closely (just too many players and so many aren’t rated consistently. It looks like we lost Walls (RB) and Summers (QB). We had late additions of Thomas (QB) and Caldwell (LB). Am I correct?

    Is there any other late movement?

  21. packalum44 02/01/2012 at 2:01 PM #

    Whitehead has the talent to be the playmaker off the edge we’ve lacked in the past two years.

  22. Packfan28 02/01/2012 at 2:08 PM #

    ^ I agree. Whitehead may become a real impact player for us.

  23. old13 02/01/2012 at 2:15 PM #

    RE: “States” listing – Although Thomas transfers from CO, he is from CA where he attended HS.

  24. old13 02/01/2012 at 2:20 PM #

    “Whitehead has the talent to be the playmaker off the edge we’ve lacked in the past two years.”

    Did you already forget about RS-Fr Art Norman from the 2011 season?

  25. 1.21 Jigawatts 02/01/2012 at 2:43 PM #

    And someone is from Kenya prior to last year and others are at PG schools from other states. I just listed the last place they were.

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