On National Signing Day and beyond
....A few National Signing Day thoughts and tidbits:
Obviously not the outcome Clemson wanted with Dallas (Texas) Parish Episcopal running back Andrew Paul, who picked UGA in his ceremony a little while ago.
You no doubt saw that while the public pendulum kept swinging regarding Paul's direction, we stayed on the fence.
We have shared today that Paul did not inform Clemson of his decision before the announcement.
Following T.J. Dudley's signature late Wednesday afternoon, Clemson's recruiting class moved up to No. 10 nationally.
As we had reported, while the Tigers had gotten some favorable indicators this week, there were also some "head-scratchers," as one source told us. The alarm bells in Clemson's head turned out to be justified.
Paul wasn't necessarily a must in terms of position need -- Clemson has three quality backs returning ahead of him, and here's believing the justification for taking St. George (Utah) Pine View legacy Keith Adams Jr. came as an insurance policy should Paul have gone elsewhere as he did.
Odds would be against the Tigers finding a worthwhile veteran who would be content to be No. 4 on the depth chart.
Adams isn't in their league, but he's better than a walk-on option should his number be called. We wouldn't discount walk-on Kevin McNeal amounting to a serviceable stopgap either.
**** The big surprise of the day occurred as Miami coming from nowhere to snatch Lake Charles (La.) Prep four-star running back TreVonte Citizen.
If Citizen didn't re-up with LSU, belief held that he would go to Florida -- where Billy Napier brought him in for a late official visit in an effort to stack him on top of Trevor Etienne and the Louisiana transfer he brought with him.
Mario Cristobal can't keep assistant coaches at Miami. But he's always been able to recruit high school prospects (although he couldn't trump the Texas A&M enterprise to keep Shemar Stewart at home late. ... Jimbo Fisher saved the most absurd recruiting lie for the final day of the cycle).
Least surprising development? Arizona State defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce stepped down, with the Sun Devils now having lost half its staff in the midst of an investigation into recruiting violations.
You might recall last spring that we expressed interest at how often prospects were suddenly citing Arizona State in their top groups. Hard not to connect the dots.
**** Meanwhile, maybe Nick Eason's move to Clemson from Auburn was a little easier than projected.
Eason's departure kicked off a series of staff departures there, sending strong vibes for a rapidly sinking ship.
Auburn then went 0-for-4 today on its remaining targets, losing other battles to Florida and FSU.
Perhaps Lanett (Ala.) four-star defensive tackle signee Caden Story foresaw this development -- or was given clues -- in electing not to sign in December.
You'll no doubt recall the last defensive tackle in the conversation before Story -- Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Cardinal Gibbons' four-star Ahmad Moten, whom Clemson eyeballed for awhile before area recruiter Brent Venables and potential position coach Todd Bates walked out the door.
They offered on Oklahoma's behalf and were thought the frontrunners for awhile last month.
But Miami flexed its local muscle and kept him at home today -- which easily could have been the outcome had the carousel dominoes not fallen.
Funny how things can work out.
**** Dabo Swinney has done a lot of talking today about this signing class.
But we can tell you he has also already been on the phone with a number of juniors today, which isn't something we've normally heard on National Signing Day.
For those hoping the bear had been poked, that would seem a favorable sign.
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