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National Signing Day: College Football's Early Signing Period Opens

The final descent for the college football recruiting class of 2023 kicks off with the early signing period Wednesday.

John Garcia Jr.

College football will be changed Wednesday. 

While it projects, technically, as the first day of the early signing period window for recruits to make their college decisions official -- it has largely become the defacto National Signing Day. Some 80% of all available prospects should come off the board by day's end. 

Within that group will be the best of the bunch, the SI99, for the most part, with 90-plus members in the preseason ranking likely making their college intention official in the coming hours. Each could impact the final call in the race for the nation's top class, as the rest of the country appears to again be looking up at Nick Saban and Alabama. 

Sports Illustrated will track every layer of the festivities, chatter, analysis and more all right here in one spot.

(The most recent updates will appear atop the live blog. All times eastern.)

7:35 p.m. - SI99 slot receiver type Cayden Lee announced a verbal commitment to Ole Miss via Instagram. Lane Kiffin picks up one of the most productive pass-catchers in the South over South Carolina and UCF, among others. 

5:00 p.m. - One of the big late dominos is wide receiver Cayden Lee. Ole Miss, South Carolina, UCF among those in the mix for the Georgia native. 

4:03 p.m. - Texas upsets Oklahoma for another pass-rusher, this time for Lehi (Utah) Skyridge standout Tausili Akana. 

4:00 p.m. - SI99 Venice (Fla.) High School pass rusher Damon Wilson announced for Georgia over Ohio State on ESPN2. Georgia is up to nine SI99 recruits, second to just Alabama among the most in the country.

3:40 p.m. - Oregon isn't unbeatable on signing day after all, as it lost out on Seattle native and longtime defensive back commitment Caleb Presley. He will stay home and play for chief rival Washington instead.

3:30 p.m. - Plantation (Fla.) American Heritage cornerback Damari Brown announced his intention to play at Miami not long after his older brother did the same via the transfer portal. Alabama, Clemson and Florida State were also in the mix.

2:05 p.m. - Montgomery (Ala.) Carver High School duo and elite front seven recruits James Smith and Qua Russaw have come off the board to in-state Alabama. Auburn made a late push for each under its new staff and Florida was also involved down the stretch. These close friends were always a package deal and they stuck with it, ensuring Alabama's No. 1 class in the meantime.

"It was important because we come from the same background," Smith said on the ESPN broadcast. "We just do everything together so we're gonna come in together."

1:25 p.m. - Colorado and Coach Prime pick up another high-level recruit in former Auburn pledge Adam Hopkins. A versatile, two-way talent who could play receiver or in the secondary, this also gets the Buffs on the board in south Georgia.  

1:05 p.m. - Arizona State's new staff is getting in on the new commitment trail today, plucking SI99 pass rusher and state champion Ashley Williams from Zachary (La.) High School. 

1:00 p.m. - How about another Oregon flip? LSU commitment Daylen Austin, a cornerback out of Long Beach (Calif.) Poly, completed his flip to Eugene. 

Another DB made the flip move in the 1:00 hour, as longtime Ohio State commitment Kayin Lee flipped to Auburn on signing day. Hugh Freeze retaining Zac Etheridge as an assistant coach continues to resonate with recruiting victories.

12:30 p.m. - Oregon is stealing the show on signing day. Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco head coach Jason Negro announced defensive end Matayo Uiagalelei, younger brother of college quarterback D.J., will play his college football in Eugene. UO beat out local USC and longtime contender Ohio State for this commitment. 

12:15 p.m. – A pair of big flips just went down in the future SEC footprint. Top safety type Peyton Bowen just flipped a nearly year-long pledge to Notre Dame, not to the perceived threat (Oklahoma), but to Oregon. The Ducks have worked pledged recruits incredibly well down the home stretch, and Bowen becomes the crown jewel of Dan Lanning's first full class. 

The second is Highland Home (Ala.) pass-rusher Keldric Faulk making the move from Florida State to Auburn. He found a way to get to both campuses over the weekend and the pull of Hugh Freeze's revamped staff at Auburn was too much to ignore. FSU had been confident late in the weekend, but it's the Tigers who address a major need.

12:05 p.m. – A former LSU commitment out of Indianapolis, emerging pass-rusher recruit Joshua Mickens is off the board to Ohio State. This pledge is critical as some of the other edge targets for the Buckeyes (Damon Wilson, Matayo Uiagalelei) appear to be trending elsewhere. 

Noon – Matt Rhule has been adding talent in droves, and his biggest get yet just confirmed his move to Lincoln for good. Local star Malachi Coleman just announced for Nebraska over Colorado and many others down the home stretch. Coleman is one of the longest and fastest prospects in the entire country, with a 10.46-second 100-meter dash time to his name.

11:30 a.m. – Here comes Deion Sanders. Isaiah Jatta, a junior college offensive lineman who decommitted from South Carolina on the heels of an Auburn visit, has come off the board to Colorado. The Buffs got the final visit and it obviously moved the needle.

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10:40 a.m. – One of the few things we haven't yet seen Wednesday was a reverse flip—in that one school flipped a recruit only for him to flip back. That just happened in Florida with Isiah Nixon, the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Lakewood star who initially flipped from UCF to Florida in the summer. Now Gus Malzahn and company get him back in the fold when it counts most. 

10:30 a.m. – Longtime Auburn wide receiver commitment Karmello English, one of the top uncommitted pass-catchers on the market in the south, is going up north to play his college football. Michigan has landed the Phenix City (Ala.) Central standout, looking to make an impact in Ann Arbor similar to fellow Alabama native Nico Collins recently.

10:20 a.m. – An ACC to SEC flip as Missouri's nice signing day continues

9:40 a.m. – Cormani McClain, the No. 1-ranked cornerback in the class and Miami Hurricane commitment, will apparently not sign a National Letter of Intent on Wednesday. The recruitment was among the most intense in the class, with Alabama and Florida among those charging for McClain at different points. 

9:30 a.m. - The final decision could still be a few hours out, but elite safety Peyton Bowen has many eyeballs on his recruitment. At one point in the last week, both Oklahoma and Oregon felt confident in potentially flipping the longtime Notre Dame commitment -- but a lot of the noise has quieted. OU still feels like the top threat, but the latest intel into SI says the Irish have a better chance at holding onto the highest-ranked commitment in Marcus Freeman's first full class.

9:20 a.m. - Clemson hit on a late running back target out of Alabama in Jamarius Haynes, who became a late SEC/ACC battle during the winter. 

9:00 a.m. – Signing Day is as much about retaining top commitments as it is about adding new ones. Ole Miss officially holds off Alabama for one Nick Saban and company have chased for more than a year in the state of Mississippi's top prospect, Suntarine Perkins. 

8:35 a.m. – One of the first big uncommitted recruits to commit and sign is a re-commitment. Daniel Harris, once a Georgia commitment but on the market in considering Penn State and others, winds up back with Kirby Smart and company in the end. 

8:30 a.m. – Arch Manning made things official with Texas this morning. 

8:20 a.m. – Another QB on flip watch won't come to a final decision today, after all. Syracuse and South Carolina will have to play patient in the race for LaNorris Sellers.

8:00 a.m. – Austin Novosad, the Elite 11 QB committed to Baylor for about a year, has flipped his commitment. He will instead play at Oregon in the biggest recruiting news of the morning. 

"The overall fit was perfect into (new offensive coordinator Will) Stein's offense and having the previous connections with him helped," Novosad told SI Wednesday morning. "I think it’s a program on the rise and the with the talent in this class it’ll be special in the future. Mostly the whole staff has ties to Texas and those connections help."

7:45 a.m. – The first flip of signing day has been recorded. 

7:39 a.m. – Brandon Inniss, one of the top wide receivers in the class, made things official with Ohio State. Miami and others tried to take a late swing with the high-floor prospect. 

7:05 a.m. – One of Auburn's biggest needs on the current roster is on the edge, and one of the best in the South resides just up the road in Highland Home High School's Keldric Faulk. AU got a Sunday visit from Faulk on his way home from Tallahassee, where he was taking an official visit to Florida State—the program he has been committed to since July. The more we dig on this one, the more confidence we run into coming from Auburn's side of the coin. Faulk is expected to ink around noon. 

6:45 a.m. – Quarterbacks have taken plenty of the spotlight in the 2023 cycle, led by Arch Manning and Dante Moore, but there are still intriguing decisions to be made at the sport's most important position leading into Wednesday. Moore defected from Oregon in favor of UCLA on Monday, opening a new need for Dan Lanning's program, which has since targeted current Baylor commitment Austin Novosad. The Texas native has a longstanding relationship with new Duck offensive coordinator Will Stein and there is a lot of momentum leaning toward the Pac-12's green and gold program. Baylor held off Ohio State, Notre Dame and Texas A&M's flip attempts over the summer months. 

On the east coast, Syracuse is trying to hold onto its own late-rising quarterback recruit in LaNorris Sellers, fresh off of a state championship and Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas MVP award. The Palmetto State native has been heavily pursued by Shane Beamer and South Carolina since the middle of the season, and there are plenty of indicators that the flip chance is growing by the hour. Sellers is being sold on playing in his home state to help USC continue the offensive momentum it showed on the field at the end of the 2022 season. 

6:00 a.m. – Auburn, among the new coaching staffs navigating more decisions than most programs, has been able to flip six recruits toward its favor under Hugh Freeze. More defections towards AU are likely Wednesday, particularly on the defensive side of the ball as the Tigers gun for Alabama DB commitment Tony Mitchell, Florida State pass rusher pledge Keldric Faulk and UCF secondary commit Braeden Marshall, among others. New Auburn defensive coordinator Ron Roberts is hinting at upcoming success early this morning, too. 

5:50 am – The first NLI's are already in at select programs having found success internationally. Alabama announced offensive tackle Olaus Alinen, who sent in his letter from his native Finland, during the midnight hour.

* National Letter of Intent signatures can be announced by college programs beginning at 7:00 a.m. ET. 

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John Garcia Jr.
JOHN GARCIA JR.

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