Here’s what National Signing Day will look like for FSU

For the #Tribe18 class, it's been one hell of a ride. A lot has changed since the 'Noles had a top-15 recruiting class earlier this year. There's been the good, the bad and the ugly. We've missed out on a couple of recruits who had us in their top two. At one point, seven athletes de-committed in the span of five days. At its lowest point, our recruiting class dropped to depths it hadn't seen in literal decades (was once in the high 60's out of 123 FBS teams). Although it looked bad, there is still hope for this year's recruiting class.

The Ugly

Dalvin Cook's little brother James, who was a 5-star recruit, was originally part of the #Tribe18 class but has since de-committed and ended up signing with Georgia. From November 30th to December 3rd, seven commits de-committed (yeah, you read that right). Out of those seven, three of them were 4-star prospects. Not only did we lose seven, they were some of the most coveted and highest ranked recruits in the nation.

Situations like this tend to occur when a coaching transition is taking place. Remember that scene in that Pokémon movie where Pikachu almost dies (or whatever Pokémon do)? Yeah, that's how sad I was after experiencing this travesty.

The Bad

After our bad breakup with Coach Fisher, we found a foundation with Willie Taggart and began to rebuild. That didn't come easily. With a coaching change, uncommitted prospects were constantly moving. Some recruits that were targeted by the old staff weren't of interest to the new staff and vise versa. Other recruits who were targeted by both staffs had to overcome the discomfort of this transition and the new early signing period didn't help the matter.

All of this caused the 'Noles to miss some prime targets they were in top contention with. Players like Justin Fields, Brendan Radley-Hiles and Jalen Hall were part of this group.

The Good

With all the negativity that's been going on during this recruiting cycle, we're finally starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel. On Dec 20th (the only day for the early-signing period ), FSU received some great news, grabbing 5-star prospect Jaiden Woodbey out of California.

Recently, we've been trending up in the recruiting rankings. We grabbed 4-star Defensive End Dennis Briggs a couple days ago, and we flipped 4-star Linebacker Xavier Peters from Kentucky shortly before that. We also snatched a 4-star Tight End/Wide Receiver in Cameron McDonald from California and he never even stepped foot on campus before committing. Just yesterday, 4-star prospect Warren Thompson (WR) committed to the 'Noles.

We have about 15 commitments so far and we're looking to land a few more before it's all over. We're in good standing with a few other high-priority recruits like Malcolm Lamar (DE) and James Foster (QB). FSU is aiming for 19-21 signees when it's all said and done, so expect to see some more good news in the final days leading up to Signing Day.

The 'Noles now have a top-25 recruiting class and if all goes well, we could end up in the top-15 once again. Get ready to pop off on the nay-sayers who have written off the 'Noles this year. If we land all of our expected recruits and nab a couple surprises… drinks on me!