The Hotline is delighted to provide college football fans with a regular dive into the recruiting process through the eyes and ears of Brandon Huffman, the Seattle-based national recruiting editor for 247Sports. He submitted the following report on Feb. 6 …
The bow on 2025
Wednesday’s traditional National Signing Day passed without much pomp and circumstance.
It surely lacked the drama of a year ago, when Washington, Arizona and San Jose State all experienced January coaching changes that impacted their 2024 classes as players followed the head coach they signed with.
(Washington’s highest-rated signee followed Kalen DeBoer to Alabama; Arizona quarterback Demond Williams joined Jedd Fisch at Washington; and San Jose State linebacker signee Jabari Mann realigned with Brent Brennan at Arizona. And there were other examples.)
Still, Washington State experienced a late December coaching change of its own when Jake Dickert left for Wake Forest after signing a class just weeks earlier.
New Cougars coach Jimmy Rogers hastily put together a class and upgraded the roster at several positions, namely quarterback, where he flipped in-state prospect Dalton Anderson from Utah State. (WSU beat future Pac-12 rival Boise State for Anderson while also landing Oklahoma prep quarterback Owen Eshelman.)
Several Cougars signees originally inked with Rogers at South Dakota State. All of them boasted FBS offers before signing with the Jackrabbits; they will now join him on the Palouse.
Boise State landed several stellar late additions of its own, including a standout running back from Texas, Greg Ard, as well as an intriguing defensive lineman from England, Bethel Imasuen, who played his senior season — his first year ever of football — in Northern California.
Arizona also was able to land a Bay Area product, offensive lineman Peter Langi, after he had signed with Washington in December. Langi was released by the Huskies and locked in with the Wildcats on Wednesday, after Arizona was the runner-up in December.
Helping Arizona’s cause? His best friend and former Archbishop Riordan teammate, Losipini Tupou, who signed with Arizona in December and his younger brother, Michael Langi, who committed to the Wildcats as part of the 2026 class last summer.
UCLA also had one late addition, receiver Shane Rosenthal, one of the most decorated players in Ventura County history.
Originally committed to Princeton, Rosenthal’s record-setting senior season prompted the Bruins to make a late offer to keep him in the Southland.
One loss for the Cougars that didn’t go to Wake Forest was productive Nevada linebacker A.J. Tuitele, who got out of his letter-of-intent and announced this week that he would sign with USC — a strong late add for the Trojans.
USC’s front-office moves
Speaking of additions for USC, there were none bigger than the hiring of Chad Bowden as the football program’s general manager.
Bowden had been at Notre Dame for three years and helped build a roster that played for a national title two weeks ago.
He nearly left for Michigan last winter but ultimately stayed with Irish coach Marcus Freeman.
This time, though, Freeman couldn’t hold onto him. USC athletic director Jen Cohen and head coach Lincoln Riley are believed to have made Bowden the first million dollar GM in college football.
He has GM bloodlines: His father is former Major League Baseball GM Jim Bowden, but the younger Bowden is getting it done on the gridiron.
Expect USC, which hosted a massive Junior Day on Saturday, to reestablish itself as a serious suitor with West Coast recruits, a blind spot for Riley since his arrival. (His focus has been national, not regional.)
Early 2026 commitments
Though Wednesday was the signing day for 2025, several 2026 recruits are making early decisions and coming off the board.
Stanford reeled in its first commitment in the ’26 class and didn’t have to go far. Chase Cahoon plays for St. Francis High School in Mountain View, less than 10 miles from Stanford Stadium. He announced for the Cardinal on Wednesday evening.
Cal stayed in the Golden State for a pair of commitments, both from public school powerhouses, in Corona Centennial linebacker Jonathan McKinley and Long Beach Poly cornerback Deon Jackson.
Arizona went to a familiar name for its newest commit: linebacker Dash Fifita, the younger brother of Wildcat quarterback Noah Fifita.
But no one had a better week than Arizona State and tight ends coach Jason Mohns and head coach Kenny Dillingham.
It started with the Sun Devils landing Thousand Oaks tight end Hayden Vercher on Sunday and crescendoed on Wednesday morning when Israel Briggs, from Visalia, chose ASU over Cal, Oregon, UCLA, Texas A&M and Miami. The decision was a shocker.
Briggs is the sixth-ranked tight end in the 2026 class and a top-100 player overall. He’s the highest-rated tight end Arizona State has landed since Zach Miller 22 years ago.
What’s next
Coaches are off the road until mid-April while schools are closed to recruits until March 4.
That means no more Junior Days until March, no in-home visits for college coaches, no unofficial visits by 2026, 2027 or 2028 players and no in-person contact.
But offers are still flying fast and furious as coaches build their boards before recruiting picks back up in mid-March.
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