Welcome to what is shaping up to be one of the most chaotic weeks in college football, and we aren’t even talking about the conference championship games set to take place this weekend, or the latest College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday night.
Rather, a lot of the commotion will take place off the field. Although a lot of players have already announced their intentions to join it, the transfer portal will open Monday (Dec. 9) and remain open until Dec. 28.
Believe it or not, college football’s early signing period is also upon us. It begins Wednesday with what is now called “Early Signing Day,” and runs through Friday.
If you are thinking signing day snuck up on us this year, you would be right. It was moved up three weeks from past years so it wouldn’t conflict with the opening round of the CFP.
Another change this year is that recruits will no longer be signing a National Letter of Intent. Instead of a binding agreement called the NLI, recruits will sign a financial aid agreement with their chosen school that will act as a binding contract related to the incoming revenue-sharing model across college sports.
The traditional signing period begins the first Wednesday of February (Feb. 5, in this case) and runs through April 1, but is just a shadow of what it once was. For instance, last year BYU signed 26 prospects to its 2024 recruiting class in December, and only three in February.
The February signees were linebackers Naki Tuakoi and Sefo Akuila and transfer quarterback Gerry Bohanon, and only Bohanon made it on the fall roster.
So what will happen Wednesday at BYU?
Coach Kalani Sitake and his staff had received 19 commitments from high school prospects as of midday Tuesday, and most, if not all, of those players will sign on Wednesday. The signing class is currently ranked No. 52 nationally in the 247Sports’ Composite Rankings.
BYU’s projected signing class is ranked No. 10 in the 16-team Big 12. With a whopping 29 commitments, TCU is No. 1 in the Big 12, followed by Colorado and Baylor. Utah is No. 6 in the Big 12, and No. 42 nationally, with 20 commits as of Tuesday.
A solid class, but no apparent superstars
BYU’s class includes one four-star prospect, and 18 three-star prospects, according to 247sports.com.
The four-star is offensive lineman Alai Kalaniuvalu of national power Bishop Gorman High in Nevada. The 6-foot-4, 300-pound Kalaniuvalu began his high school career at Provo’s Timpview High and originally committed to Oregon before BYU flipped him on Nov. 2. He’s the No. 235 prospect in the nation, and had offers from the likes of Michigan, Utah, USC and Nebraska before committing to Oregon.
That same day, BYU got a commitment from another highly regarded offensive lineman, Lone Peak’s Austin Pay. He’s the brother of BYU center Connor Pay.
Brandon Huffman, National Recruiting Editor for 247Sports.com, told the Deseret News Tuesday that the additions of Kalaniuvalu and Pay and getting three-star OL Siosiua Vete to flip from Stanford to BYU on Nov. 14 made this a “successful” recruiting cycle for the Cougars.
“I thought they did really well,” Huffman said. “Getting Austin Pay was big. They beat some great programs to get him. Flipping Alai Kalaniuvalu from Oregon was huge. You don’t see Oregon lose players very often.”
Flipping recruits, and losing players to portal, is part of the game
As of Tuesday, BYU had lost only one commit to another school, edge rusher Cole Cogshell of Pasadena, California. The three-star prospect who committed to Sitake in late June flipped to UCLA on Oct. 30.
Also as of Tuesday, at least four BYU football players with eligibility remaining had said they were entering the transfer portal: Running back Miles Davis, receiver Kody Epps, tight end Jackson Bowers and safety Micah Harper.
Bowers, a former four-star prospect from Arizona, is probably the biggest loss as he has three seasons of eligibility remaining. The others have just one.
Huffman said every school in the country will lose players to the portal, but believes BYU’s 10-2 season has already paid dividends and will be realized next year.
“They are going to get their big recruiting bump from the 2026 class,” he said, noting that 15 of the 19 commits pledged to BYU before the season began.
Vincent Tautua, an edge rusher from Honolulu (St. Louis High) committed on Oct. 13. Others expected to sign Wednesday and are ranked highly: Receiver Lamason Waller of Hesperia, California, linebacker Tyler Payne of Weber High, and tight end Jackson Doman of Canby, Oregon.
“You almost always get your big bump the year after a great season,” Huffman continued. “What (new OL coach) TJ Woods has done on the offensive line has turned heads, and enabled them to flip (Vete and Kalaniuvalu) and there’s probably more to come next year.”
Will Wednesday include any surprises?
A year ago, when the early Signing Day was on Dec. 20, the Cougars pulled off a few surprises, landing defensive end Viliami Po’uha, who had signed with Utah before a church mission, and receiver Tei Nacua, brother of former BYU players Puka, Kai, Isaiah and Samson Nacua.
Insiders don’t expect any last-minute commitments or signings on Wednesday.
That doesn’t mean the Cougars are finished recruiting the class of 2025. In particular, BYU is still heavily pursuing McKay Madsen, a 6-1, 235-pound running back and linebacker from Clovis North High in central California.
Madsen was recently bumped to a four-star recruit and is No. 197 overall in 247sports’ rankings. He has narrowed his choices to BYU and Oregon and has said he will make his decision in January — perhaps announcing it at the Navy All-American Bowl in San Antonio — and sign in February.
“For a guy like McKay Madsen, BYU’s success helped a lot and showed him it is on an upward path,” Huffman said. “We just bumped him to a four-star (recruit). He’s a phenomenal athlete.”
Huffman said Madsen will stay in high school through June, in part because he’s a phenomenal track athlete as well, and has plans to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before enrolling at his chosen school.
Could there be any surprises Wednesday, as was the case last year? Huffman doesn’t think so.
“I think it will be those 19 guys,” he said. “There might be a random guy that is instate that they may have offered late with the understanding that he is going to serve a mission. But nothing (noteworthy), as far as I can tell. … I think McKay Madsen might be their only gotta have (prospect) who is still an uncommitted guy.”
BYU’s class of 2025 football commitments
- Will Walker, kicker, 6-5, 220 Riverton, Utah (Riverton High)
- Tyler Payne, linebacker, 6-2, 210 Ogden, Utah (Weber High)
- Blake Bryce, tight end, 6-5, 228 Newbury Park, California (Newbury Park High)
- Kelepi Vete, offensive tackle, 6-5, 250 Oakland, California (Oakland High)
- Cale Breslin, running back, 5-11, 190 Las Vegas, Nevada (Faith Lutheran High)
- Sale Fano, edge rusher, 6-4, 210 Saratoga Springs, Utah (Westlake High)
- Nolan Keeney, quarterback, 6-4, 215 Tualatin, Oregon (Tualatin High)
- LaMason Waller, wide receiver, 6-2, 170 Hesperia, California (Sultana High)
- Tucker Kelleher, tight end, 6-5, 220 Alpharetta, Georgia (Alpharetta High)
- Ulavai Fetuli, edge rusher, 6-5, 240 La Habra, California (La Habra High)
- Jackson Doman, tight end, 6-5, 205 Canby, Oregon (Canby High)
- Kendal Wall, edge rusher, 6-5, 215 Herriman, Utah (Mountain Ridge High)
- Andrew Williams, offensive lineman, 6-7, 275 Kirksville, Missouri (Kirksville High)
- Vincent Tautua, edge rusher, 6-3, 235 Honolulu, Hawaii (St. Louis High)
- Taani Makasini, linebacker, 6-2, 190 Provo, Utah (Timpview High)
- Kingston Keanaaina, running back, 5-11, 200 Mountain View, California (St. Francis)
- Alai Kalaniuvalu, offensive lineman, 6-4, 300 Las Vegas, Nevada (Bishop Gorman High)
- Austin Pay, offensive lineman, 6-7, 295 American Fork, Utah (Lone Peak High)
- Siosiua Vete, offensive lineman, 6-6, 280 Oakland, California (Oakland High)