College Football Recruiting: Grading Every Team's National Signing Day Class

As is the case every season, national signing day came and went extremely quickly. High school seniors from around the nation made their commitment to go and play football at their program of choice and shaped the future of college football.

While some teams did as well as expected, others surprised their fanbases with a couple of signings while others lost out on recruits that were viewed as already being theirs.

Here is a look at some of the top players that committed to each program and a final grade for all FBS teams.

Boston College

Boston College has been trending down for the past couple of seasons and after this recruiting class, that trend will continue. The other team to have a worse class in the ACC was Wake Forest.

Despite the poor finish, Boston College did manage to land two 4-star recruits, Steven Daniels and Win Homer. 

Grade: C-

Florida State

Florida State was another team that closed strong and Jimbo Fisher and his staff were able to pull in some of the nation's elite and finish with Rivals.com's eighth overall class.

Along with many other strong recruits, the Seminoles closed on both Mario Edwards and Eddie Goldman, two players who can make an immediate impact.

Grade: A

Duke

Duke fans have come to the understanding that they are never going to be a hotbed for college football recruits, and this year was no different. Head coach David Cutcliffe has done as good of a job as possible but will be challenged to ever lead the Blue Devils to a bowl game.

Cutcliffe did land one big recruit as 4-star running back Shaquille Powell will be a Blue Devil this fall.

Grade: C+

North Carolina

While the incoming recruiting class for North Carolina was not outstanding, you would never know based on the comments of new head coach Larry Fedora, who is fired up and ready to go.

North Carolina ended up finishing in the middle of the pack out in the ACC, but they did get some much-needed help on the offensive side of the ball by signing Quinshad Davis, James Summers and J.J. Patterson.

Grade: B-

Clemson

Dabo Swinney continues to help Clemson perform off the field and 2012's class was certainly no different. The Tigers coach managed to secure Rivals.com's 13th-ranked class and brought in some future stars including Kevin Dodd, Travis Blanks, Zac Brooks and Germone Hopper.

Grade: B+

Georgia Tech

Despite some on-field successes, Paul Johnson and Georgia Tech did not have a great signing day. The Yellow Jackets finished towards the bottom of the ACC in terms of their overall recruiting class and only managed to secure a couple 4-star recruits.

Johnson will have some flexibility with both Justin Thomas and Marcus Allen, two athletic recruits that committed, and then will strengthen his defensive line with Francis Kallon.

Grade: C

Maryland

In his second year as head coach, Randy Edsall is going to have to deal with the rising expectations that Maryland fans have since he has arrived from Connecticut. While he may not have secured a great class, it is in the middle of the pack in the ACC and certainly should help them improve from last year.

Maryland had two good pieces of news on signing day as 4-star running back Wes Brown joined them as well as 4-star linebacker Abner Logan.

Grade: C+

Miami

While Al Golden and Miami did get themselves into the Rivals.com top 10 in terms of overall class, the Hurricanes ended up taking 33 letters of intent.

Despite the massive class, the staff still brought in some big-time names like Randy Johnson, Tracy Howard and Deon Bush.

Grade: B+

NC State

Despite being able to thrive without Russell Wilson this year, Tom O'Brien did not have the same kind of success on the recruiting trail. NC State finished towards the bottom of the conference and will need to take a big step forward next year.

With the recruits that did commit, NC State got help at all levels of defense with Deylan Buntyn, Niles Clark, Marchez Coates and Robert Caldwell all committing. 

Grade: C-

Virginia Tech

Despite signing 28 recruits, Frank Beamer was unable to bring some of the big names in they were going after and finished outside of the top 20 classes by Rivals.com.

Although the class may have been a bit of a letdown, they did load up at linebacker by getting signatures from Trey Edmunds, Deon Clarke and Ken Ekanem. 

Grade: B

Wake Forest

The Demon Deacons had a rough national signing day as they came in last in the ACC, according to Rivals.com. While Wake Forest did make a bowl game this year, Jim Grobe will have to continue to coach up his lesser-known recruits to repeat the task.

Some of the best talent from this class that he will get to work with is Tyler Cameron, Jared Crump and Steve Donatell.

Grade: D+

Virginia

Mike London continues to impress around the nation as his staff was able to get Virginia into the top 30 according to Rivals.com.

In total, Virginia brought in 26 recruits and were headlined by Eli Harold, Kwontie Moore, Michael Moore and Canaan Severin, all 4-star recruits.

Grade: B+

Oklahoma

Bob Stoops and the Oklahoma coaching staff got busy this offseason and really made sure they restocked their offensive skill positions.

Oklahoma rounded out the top 10 on Rivals.com and brought in a ton of speed and talent at the receiver position by signing Courtney Gardner, Trey Metoyer and Derrick Woods.

Grade: A-

Texas

When Mack Brown looks at his recruiting plan, he can almost not leave the state of Texas and still finish near the top of the rankings.

Like many years, Brown finished with a top-five class by all standards and continues to keep much of the top talent in-state.

The Longhorns ended up getting 28 letters of intent and amongst them was players like Paul Boyette Jr., Malcom Brown and Johnathan Gray.

Grade: A

TCU

Gary Patterson has done a great job of elevating the status of the TCU program and now the school is turning a page and heading to the Big 12.

While the automatic BCS tie-in is nice, Patterson will now be recruiting against coaches like Bob Stoops and Mack Brown.

This year, Patterson had a good overall class, including signing Devonte Fields, Griffin Gilbert and Tyler Matthews. Despite the solid talent that was brought in, Patterson will need to do more for TCU to have a shot at winning the Big 12 down the road.

Grade: B-

Oklahoma State

Mike Gundy has a lot on his plate right now as Justin Blackmon and Brandon Weeden are gone, leaving some shoes to fill at both the quarterback and wide receiver positions. 

While the class may not have been all that strong, Gundy did sign C.J. Curry and Wes Lunt, a possible receiving connection in the future. 

Grade: B-

Baylor

Much like Oklahoma State, Baylor is not only having to deal with the loss of Robert Griffin III, but they also had a below-average recruiting class. With the excitement that was around the program last year, some thought that Baylor could capitalize on that, but it appears that is not the case.

Corey Coleman, Javonte Magee and Brian Nance were the 4-star recruits that came to Baylor and hope to keep the Bears towards the top of the conference.

Grade: C

Iowa State

After a disappointing 2011 season, Iowa State saw the recruiting class be just as disappointing. Finishing last in the Big 12 and not being able to sign a 4- or 5-star recruit will prevent the program from having the ability to move forward and be more competitive. 

The biggest help in this year's class came on the defensive line with the commitments from Pierre Aka and Devlyn Cousin.

Grade: D+

Texas Tech

Texas Tech had an impressive performance on national signing day, as they finished third in the conference behind Texas and Oklahoma.

The major stars in this class were Reginald Davis, Dominique Wheeler and Michael Starts. In total, the Red Raiders brought in 26 recruits that will shape the future of their program. 

Grade: B

Kansas State

Despite a great season, Bill Snyder appears to have his hands full as Kansas State was not able to pull in the kind of recruiting class they had hoped for. Finishing outside the top 50 according to Rivals.com, Snyder will need to have a greater focus on making up for things in the 2013 class.

While Snyder received 19 letters of intent, the most promising appears to be from 4-star wide receiver Marquez Clark. 

Grade: C-

Kansas

While Charlie Weis may have gotten Kansas fans to pay attention for a few minutes to their football program, it appears that recruits did not take notice. Kansas finished second to last in the Big 12 and will need more than just a new head coach to turn things around. 

The 2012 class was highlighted by both offensive and defensive recruits like Greg Allen, Brian Beckmann, Turner Baty and Courtney Arnick.

Grade: C-

Cincinnati

Butch Jones was able to secure commitments from a lot of solid players this year but failed to bring in any of the nation's top-end recruits.

On signing day, Cincinnati received letters from players like Nathan Cole, Drake Bruns and Jonathan Burt but only managed to finish 49th overall in the Rivals.com rankings.

Grade: B-

Syracuse

While they didn't finish last in the conference, the end to the recruiting period was not a good one for Syracuse. The Orange failed to attract any of the nation's top talent and continue to find it difficult to find consistency at a basketball school.

While the class wasn't great, the Orange did get some help on the defensive side of the ball by receiving the commitments from Josh Manley, Zian Jones and Myles Hilliard. 

Grade: C-

South Florida

Despite being in Florida, Skip Holtz and South Florida finished outside of the top 50 in 2011 but rebounded to No. 48 in this year's class.

Holtz turned up the effort and brought in 4-star recruits like Sean Price and D'Vario Montgomery, who should both help this Big East program sooner than later.

Grade: B

Louisville

After sharing the Big East title this past year, Louisville had a strong performance off the field with this year's recruiting class but still ended up dropping 10 spots from last years finish.

One of the main goals of this year's class was defensive depth and that was addressed with the signing of Gerod Holliman, Keith Brown and Nick Dawson.

While this year's class was good, Charlie Strong will need to rebound with a better class in 2013 to keep the Cardinals in the conference hunt.

Grade: B-

Connecticut

After being the Big East champion just two years ago, Connecticut has fallen and fallen hard. The Huskies ended up coming in dead last in the Big East and just appear to be spiraling down both on and off the field.

Out of the 23 letters of intent that the Huskies received, Mikal Myers, Jazzmar Clax and Obi Melifonwu were amongst the most important. 

Grade: D+

West Virginia

For the second straight year, West Virginia finished with the 47th-best overall class according to Rivals.com.

The Mountaineers received letters of intent from 26 players including Deontay McManus, Christian Brown and Torry Clayton. While the class may have been light on top-end talent, the staff did a nice job of addressing needs.

Grade: B

Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh ended the recruiting season with yet another average class and that is starting to show on the field. Until the Panthers can show some stability in their program, recruits will be hesitant to commit to them. 

The Panthers received 16 commits, which included offensive help from Adam Bisnowaty, Rushel Shell and Chad Voytik.

Grade: C

Rutgers

Many believed that with the loss of their head coach, Rutgers would struggle and fail to bring in a solid class. Instead of closing up shop, the Rutgers coaching staff got to work and pulled off a shocking top-25 class.

Along with pulling in a solid class, the Scarlet Knights pulled in some top names, including Darius Hamilton, Leonte Carroo and J.J. Denman.

Grade: A-

Illinois

Much like their 2011 season, Illinois got off to a fast start on the 2012 class but stumbled down the stretch. The Illini finished 10th overall in the Big Ten and had less than 20 recruits send in their letters of intent. 

While the class may have sputtered, they did pick up some help on the defensive side of the ball with V'Angelo Bentley, Jevaris Little and Taylor Barton.

Grade: C

Indiana

After a last-place finish in the Big Ten, Indiana almost found itself in that same spot if not for Minnesota's recruiting class. 

Schools like Kentucky, Kansas and Indiana will continue to struggle to get out of the shadow of the basketball program at the school and the recruiting suffers at the same time.

For Indiana, the help in this class came on the defensive side of the ball with recruits like David Cooper, Shawn Heffern and Jacarri Alexander.

Grade: C-

Iowa

After having an average season, Kirk Ferentz found the same thing happening off the field. Iowa ended up finishing outside of the top 40 overall classes according to Rivals.com. That is not something that will help the Hawkeyes compete with teams like Nebraska, Michigan State or Ohio State.

While the class wasn't great, Ferentz got help on both sides of the ball with offensive stars Ryan Ward and Greg Garmon and defensive standouts Jaleel Johnson and Faith Ekakitie.

Grade: C+

Nebraska

While the class may not have finished out as strongly as Nebraska fans may have wanted, the Huskers still finished with the 25th overall class according to Rivals.com.

Bo Pelini managed to strengthen the future of the defense with the addition of Zaire Anderson, Greg McMullen and Mohammed Seisay.

Grade: B

Northwestern

With national signing day now behind Pat Fitzgerald, he can focus on putting his 21 new commits to work and try to earn Northwestern a bowl win.

While the class was in the lower half of the conference, Fitzgerald did manage to sign Dwight White, Greg Kuhar and Ifeadi Odenigbo, all players that can help this team start to compete down the road.

Grade: C

Purdue

Despite their lackluster performance during the 2011 season, the Purdue Boilermakers turned some heads by having a great recruiting period this season.

In total, Purdue signed 25 high school commits, which included 4-star athletes Carlos Carvajal and Ryan Watson.

The fact that Purdue was able to put a bad season behind them and still finish with a top-35 class is a very good sign.

Grade: B

Penn State

Things are going to be rough for Penn State over the next few years and fans got a glimpse of that this year.

Penn State barely landed into the top 50 overall by Rivals.com and really seemed to never gain any recruiting momentum. They did manage to secure Eugene Lewis and Jamil Pollard, but overall the class was nowhere near as strong as fans are used to seeing.

Grade: C+

Michigan

Brady Hoke took the momentum from the field and brought it to his recruiting class. Michigan bounced back from last year's disappointing class to be in the Rivals.com top 10.

In total, Michigan brought in 25 recruits, including Kyle Kalis, Ondre Pipkins and Amara Darboh.

Grade: A 

Michigan State

Head coach Mark Dantonio has done wonderful things for the Michigan State program since taking over. Over the past two years, Michigan State has been near the top of the Big Ten and has shared a conference title and lost in the first conference championship game.

Unfortunately for the Spartans, this hasn't resulted in as big of a recruiting boost as they would have hoped. Dantonio only signed 18 kids this year but did have some nice finds with Jamal Lyles, Aaron Burbridge and Demetrious Cox.

Grade: B-

Wisconsin

The Wisconsin Badgers class did not fill out the way that fans had hoped. They only received 12 letters of intent and finished eighth in the Big Ten according to Rivals.com.

After back-to-back finishes in the Rose Bowl, you would expect the Badgers to finish a lot better but they only managed to bring in 4-star players Dan Voltz, Vince Biegel and Vonte Jackson.

Grade: C

Ohio State

Despite just taking over and this year's bowl ban, Urban Meyer put his best foot forward at Ohio State and landed himself a top-five recruiting class for 2012.

Meyer helped the defense out significantly with many signings but most notably De'van Bogard, Noah Spence and Adolphus Washington.

Grade: A+

Minnesota

Jerry Kill had a tough 2011 at Minnesota and the offseason was not kinder to the head man. Minnesota followed up their bad season with the worst recruiting class in the Big Ten and Kill failed to land any 4- or 5-star recruits.

Kill did get some help on offense by receiving letters of intent from Rodrick Williams Jr., Duke Anyanwu and Maxx Williams, all 3-star players.

Grade: C-

Notre Dame

Notre Dame had sort of a good news/bad news day on national signing day.

The good news for the Fighting Irish was that they managed to get top quarterback Gunner Kiel away from LSU and send in his letter of intent to Notre Dame.

On the other hand, Notre Dame had some recruits slip away and ended up finishing outside of the top 20, according to Rivals.com

Grade: B+

Arizona State

Todd Graham's reputation might start to affect how he will do off the field. After arriving in Pittsburgh last year, Graham has already bolted to Arizona and finished with a bottom-quarter recruiting class in the conference. 

While it wasn't great, it was not all bad news, as Graham secured commitments from D.J. Foster, Evan Goodman and Marion Grice. 

Grade: C

Arizona

New head coach Rich Rodriguez is now the new head man at Arizona and fans will have to look past this first class, as the Wildcats only finished in front of Washington State this year.

Despite the below-average performance, Arizona still had some gems follow through on their commitment including Zach Hemmila, Kyle Kelley and Javelle Allen.

Grade: C

UCLA

Jim Mora has done a nice job of getting things turned around for UCLA off the field, but only time will tell if he can do the same on the field.

According to Rivals.com, Mora brought in the 12th-best class this year, which was highlighted on the defensive side by players like Jeremy Castro, Ellis McCarthy and Ishmael Adams.

Grade: A-

Colorado

After seeing their defense get torched all year long, Colorado and Jon Embree went out and tried to put an end to that with their 2012 class.

Despite their struggles in the Pac-12, the staff still brought in a top-35 class and addressed their secondary concerns with recruits like Kenneth Crawley, Yuri Wright and Jeffrey Hall.

Grade: B

Utah

Kyle Whittingham is showing that regardless of what conference the Utes may be in, they are still able to recruit and compete with other big schools around the nation. 

Utah signed 28 players, and most importantly, it got 4-star recruits like Chase Hansen, Cedrick Poutasi and Visesio Salt to stick to their commitments. 

Grade: B-

USC

Despite only bringing in 15 recruits, USC was still able to bring in a top-10 class, which was a major accomplishment for Lane Kiffin.

Amongst those commits included Zach Banner and Nelson Agholor, both 5-star recruits that can make immediate impacts.

Grade: A

Oregon

Despite the flirtation that Chip Kelly had with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Ducks still saw their head man bring another top-15 class to Eugene.

Along with landing heavyweight Arik Armstead, the Ducks got some much-needed help at receiver from two surprise commitments, Chance Allen and Bralon Addison.

Grade: A-

Oregon State

Things are getting more and more difficult for Mike Riley in the state of Oregon as the Ducks continue to rise to national promise and the Beavers continue to miss bowl seasons.

While this year was rough, the recruiting class was almost as bad, as they finished No. 10 in the Pac-12.

Despite the lack of successes off the field, Oregon State strengthened the offensive line with commits from Isaac Seumalo, Caleb Smith, Gavin Andrews and Grant Bays.

Grade: C-

Cal

Cal still finished inside of the top 30 according to Rivals.com, but instead of the story being about recruits like Michael Barton, Cedric Dozier and Kenny Lawler, the story is about who Tedford lost.

Not only did Cal lose Shaq Thompson, one of the best safeties in the nation, to Washington, but it also lost Arik Armstead to Oregon.

Grade: C+

Stanford

Stanford came out of nowhere and David Shaw helped complete an outstanding class for the Cardinal.

Overall, Stanford finished with the fifth-best class according to Rivals.com and came through with letters of intent from outstanding players on both sides of the line including Andrus Peat, Kyle Murphy and Aziz Shittu.

Grade: A

Washington

Steve Sarkisian turned a lot of heads on national signing day as he helped the Huskies come out of nowhere to bring a top-25 class in for 2012.

While the class as a whole is strong, Shaq Thompson, Brandon Beaver and Pio Vatuvei are all players that can come in and make immediate impacts.

Grade: A-

Washington State

Washington State fans need to turn their heads and ignore this class by Mike Leach. While Leach and Washington State finished dead last in their own conference, Leach is a solid move for the program.

Despite the lack of time with this class, Leach still secured Gabriel Marks, Alex Mitchell and Teondray Caldwell, all pieces that will fit into Leach's offensive style. 

Grade: C-

Alabama

Nothing to see here. Let's move along.

All right, seriously—national signing day is like Christmas for Alabama fans because of head coach Nick Saban.

Saban has brought another top recruiting class to Alabama and did a nice job of reloading the offense. The class saw T.J. Yeldon, Landon Collins and Eddie Williams sign, along with many other top talents.

Grade: A+

Auburn

While the Auburn Tigers did have a down year the year after their national title, it certainly did not affect things off the field.

Head coach Gene Chizik guided the Tigers to an outstanding class that was in the top 20 in the nation. He pulled in some help along the offensive line by bringing in Patrick Miller and Avery Young.

Grade: B+

Arkansas

Finishing 11th in the SEC is not where Arkansas expected to finish, but that is exactly what happened. 

Arkansas ended up signing 23 high school recruits and some of the highlights included letters of intent from Otha Peters, Jonathan Williams and Cordale Boyd.

One thing is for sure: Bobby Petrino has his work cut out for him in 2013.

Grade: C+

Texas A&M

As it heads to the SEC, Texas A&M put its best foot forward by pulling in a good-looking class. The interesting part will be seeing how the offensive stars it brought in perform in a conference known for outstanding defenses.

The Aggies had 19 players sign in total, and the class was highlighted by Thomas Johnson, Trey Williams and Matt Davis, all offensive stars.

Grade: B+

Missouri

While it appeared that Gary Pinkel and Missouri were about to have an awful recruiting class, they managed to get a commit from the No. 1 player in the nation according to Rivals.com, Dorial Green-Beckham. 

Along with DGB, the Tigers brought in Evan Boehm and Torey Boozer, all players that should help with their transition to the SEC.

Grade: B

Florida

Will Muschamp struck it rich on the defensive side of the ball this year and pulled in some of the nation's best recruits.

According to Rivals.com, Muschamp and the Gators finished with the third-best class in the nation, which included the nation's best offensive tackle, D.J. Humphries, and two of the top three defensive ends, Jonathan Bullard and Dante Fowler Jr.

Grade: A

Georgia

Slowly but surely, people are starting to get back on the Mark Richt bandwagon. After a strong 2011 season, the head man at Georgia had a strong finish to signing day and only finished behind Alabama and Florida in the SEC.

The major help came on the offensive side of the ball, where Georgia signed Keith Marshall, Josh Harvey-Clemons, John Theus and Todd Gurley.

Grade: A

Kentucky

At the bottom of the SEC is Kentucky and Joker Phillips. While the Wildcats are used to not having strong recruiting classes, Phillips will need to get them over the hump if they hope to take the next step in their programs development.

Offensively, Kentucky picked up Patrick Towles, but the big help was in the secondary, where they received letters from Daron Blaylock, Shawn Blaylock and Zack Blaylock.

Grade: C-

LSU

While Alabama received the bulk of the attention in the SEC during national signing day, Les Miles and LSU had a good effort and finished with a top-20 recruiting class.

As is the staple with LSU, the defense got stronger as they added defensive standouts like Dwayne Thomas, Danielle Hunter and Kwon Alexander.

The only disappointing part for Tiger fans has to be that they ran the table and won their conference and despite a loss in the national title, still did not crack the top 10. 

Grade: B+

Mississippi State

While things may not be going great on the field, Dan Mullen may be starting to get things turned around, as the Bulldogs finished with the No. 30 overall class according to Rivals.com.

Mississippi State received 28 letters of intent and the focus was clearly on defense as they signed Denico Autry, Richie Brown and Quay Evans. 

Grade: B-

Ole Miss

This recruiting class for Ole Miss is pretty cut and dry. The Rebels only secured 17 letters of intent and if not for Kentucky, they would have had the worst class in the conference.

In a talent-rich area like the South, the Rebels swung and missed on most big names but did end up getting commitments from I'Tavius Mathers and Channing Ward, both 4-star prospects.

Grade: D+

South Carolina

Steve Spurrier once again showed that he is still very much relevant to today's recruits. When the 2012 recruiting classes came to a close, Spurrier had brought a top-20 class to South Carolina.

The 25 players becoming Gamecocks include Jody Fuller, Jordan Diggs and Chaz Elder.

Grade: B

Vanderbilt

James Franklin and Vanderbilt came out of nowhere this class and put together an outstanding effort. According to Rivals.com, Vanderbilt had the No. 29 overall class in the nation, the same rankings that saw them outside the top 50 last year.

With players like Caleb Azubike, Andrew Jelks and Brian Kimbrow, Vanderbilt and Franklin are in good shape for the future.

Grade: A

Tennessee

Derek Dooley has been at Tennessee long enough that it is time for the wins to start rolling in to keep the heat off of his job security. 

Despite the on-field struggle, the Vols turned in another solid class that was loaded with speed at the receiver position. Dooley landed three solid receivers to help out the offense: Drae Bowles, Alton Howard and Jason Croom.

Grade: B+

Conference USA

East Carolina: C+

Houston: B- 

Marshall: B-

Memphis: C+

Rice: C+

SMU: C

Southern Miss: B- 

Tulane: C+

Tulsa: C-

UAB: D

UCF: D-

UTEP: D

MAC

Akron: D+ 

Bowling Green: D+

Buffalo: D

Ball State: C-

Central Michigan: D 

Eastern Michigan: C 

Kent State: C

Miami of Ohio: B-

Northern Illinois: C+

Ohio: B+ 

Temple: B+

Toledo: B

Massachusetts: Inc.

Western Michigan: C 

Mountain West

Boise State: B

Hawaii: C

Air Force: C-

Fresno State: D

Nevada: B-

Colorado State: D+

Wyoming: C+

New Mexico: B-

San Diego State: C

UNLV: C+

Sun Belt

Arkansas State: B+

Florida Atlantic: B-

FIU: B-

UL Monroe: C

UL Lafayette: B-

Middle Tennessee: C-

North Texas: C+

Troy: C+

Western Kentucky: B 

Southern Alabama: Inc.

WAC

Idaho: C

Louisiana Tech: B+

New Mexico State: B

San Jose State: C-

Utah State: C

Texas State: Inc.

UTSA: Inc.