FB: With early commitments on the rise, what about Utah?
When head coach Kyle Whittingham and Utah wrapped up its 2020 recruiting class, history had been made. Whittingham and his staff were able to sign the nation's No. 29 recruiting class and the Pac-12's No. 5 class, up 13 spots country-wise and two sports conference-wise from the previous season.
"We feel really good about this class," Whittingham said. "Our net has been cast fairly wide now and we have guys from all over the country. More than anything though, we are now able to stand toe-to-toe and win some of these battles with high profile schools. If you look at our recruits and their offers, we are beating some really good schools - schools we couldn't even be in the conversation with six or seven years ago."
With the momentum of the 2020 recruiting class combined with the Utes' back-to-back Pac-12 South Division crowns big things are expected for the 2020-21 season and 2021 recruiting class.
But the COVID-19 pandemic has put both of those things into jeopardy.
Not only is the upcoming college football season in jeopardy of not happening, but that could easily trickle down at the high school level as well. That would mean that seniors wouldn't get the opportunity to perform in front of college coaches again — which has now fast-tracked the 2021 recruiting class.
According to USA Today, earlier this week more than 600 prospects in the class of 2021 have verbally committed to FBS programs. That doubles the number of commitments at this point a year ago and exceeds the combined total at this point from the past two recruiting cycles.
I do think recruits are beginning to panic a little bit and committing right away to ensure themselves a spot in college football. Who knows when/if they'll be able to take official visits so they're trusting and relying on the ones they've already taken and going ahead with their commitments.
What we've seen just in this flood of commitments is nontraditional powers raking in a lot of very good players. We've seen Iowa, Tennessee, North Carolina rising to the top or near the top of recruiting rankings — but what does this mean for Utah?
Apart from last year, the Utes haven't been one of the premier recruiting programs in the nation despite consistently finishing the seasons ranked in the top-25. They usually come on strong towards the end of the recruiting seasons, but at this rate with the level of commitments, who will be left?
As of now, Utah has two commits for the 2021 class: 4-star QB Peter Costelli (the No. 8 QB recruit in the country) and JUCO DT Tevita Fotu, the younger brother of former Ute and Arizona Cardinal Leki Fotu.
Obviously Utah will be able to improve on that number, but at this rate Whittingham and his coaching staff need to pick it up a bit if they're going to get the guys they want.
According to 247sports, Utah has offered 175 athletes thus far — 26 of which are considered "high interest" in the Utes and 20 who are deemed "interested."
With so many kids committing already, there could also be a massive amount of decommitments coming, which would allow Whittingham and his staff to pick and chose at will if that time comes — but that's a big risk to take on.
It wouldn't be shocking if we see the National Letter of Intent Steering Committee, which controls when letters of intent can be signed, extend the period for the class of 2021 — they already have extended the 2020 spring signing period.
It also wouldn't be shocking if the annual February signing period is pushed back or extended well into that second semester. This means that for next season alone, recruiting could go back to the olden days when seniors were making decisions during the springtime of their respective senior years.