National Signing Day 2012: The 5 Biggest Decommitments in January

While we're in the thick of the college football recruiting process, there are going to be several teams that suffer a damaging blow. Mainly because these prospects can only select one school when it's all said and done, but they end up receiving tons of offers from top schools. 

Still, there is nothing worse than a player giving his commitment to a school and then later down the line decommitting. Everybody is excited that the program landed a top player and filled a need on their football team—and then it happens.

It's even worse when that player leaves your school for a rival. But who ever said recruiting was a fair game?

Here are the top five decommitments only in the month of January.

Dalton Santos from Tennessee

Tennessee has a solid recruiting class, but it seems like they're missing out on a lot of the top players.

They had finally landed one in linebacker Dalton Santos, but he has recently decided to switch his commitment to become a Texas Longhorn.

His aggressive playing style and toughness on the football field fits perfectly with the Texas defense, but for the Volunteers, a team trying to once again climb the ladder, you have to feel for them.

They're still a talented team, but when you're in the SEC, you have to land players like this, or it makes things that much tougher to compete.

Hiva Lutui from UCLA

UCLA is putting together a great recruiting class, but they did lose one of the top centers in this year's class in Hiva Lutui.

He is a versatile player who can play the guard position as well.

He originally committed to UCLA but has now backed out, and the Bruins are no longer an option for him. 

He has just committed to Utah, after having offers on the table from Michigan, Texas A&M, USC and Washington, among others.

Gunner Kiel from LSU

The quarterback position is probably the most important in the entire sport.

You could have a below-average team talent-wise but compete in your conference with a top quarterback leading the way.

Indiana went 1-11 last season, but everybody seemed to forget when 5-star quarterback Gunner Kiel announced he was going to play for the Hoosiers. That quickly changed when he decommited and announced he was going to play his football for the LSU Tigers. Of course, he ended up switching again, and the pick of the week seemed to be Notre Dame.

It looks like Kiel is going to stay at Notre Dame, but this has to be heartbreaking for two teams who thought they finally had a legit quarterback.

Ellis McCarthy from Cal

Cal had one of the top defensive tackles in this year's class with the addition of Ellis McCarthy.

Things quickly changed when defensive line coach and top recruiter Tosh Lupoi announced he was leaving for the same position with Washington.

McCarthy then packed his bags and headed to UCLA to play for first-year head coach Jim L. Mora.

Linemen who are 6'5", 295 pounds and as athletic as McCarthy is don't grow on trees.

This was a huge loss for the Golden Bears and their defense, as they had a quality run-stopper for the next couple of years.

Shaq Thompson from Cal

This move really isn't that surprising, but boy did Cal take a hit with the loss of Tosh Lupoi.

We all knew how much Thompson felt about the Golden Bears former defensive line coach, and if you didn't; here are a few words the top safety said about him:

"

Coach Lupoi came by my house last night before he had decided whether or not he would go to UW. He said he didn’t really know what he was going to do, but I could tell he was stressing. We spoke again today around 11 a.m. and he said he had decided to take the position at Washington. I didn’t really know what to say.

"

Thompson cared so much about Lupoi that he decided to follow him and switch his commitment to Washington.

Huge pickup if you're a Washington fan, but Cal is really taking a beating after putting together a class that looked so bright.

Randy Chambers is a B/R Featured Columnist that covers College Football and the NFL. You can contact him @Randy Chambers or [e-mail]