Another Strong Signing Day Proof Recruiting Is Never the Issue at USC, UCLA

LOS ANGELES — You would be hard pressed to tell Wednesday from any other day in Southern California, aside from the fact that it was slightly chillier than normal across the region.

The beaches were still lovely, the traffic was still intense and life continued on for most Angelinos as it was despite the madness of national signing day going on around the country.

Things were not quite so normal on the campuses of USC and UCLA however. There the coaches celebrated with each fax or official email containing a recruit’s letter of intent as if it were a game-winning touchdown. In some respects, they had every reason to given that the signatures each school was collecting would play such a big part in wins and losses going forward.

But as soon as the Bruins and Trojans finished celebrating yet another top-20 recruiting class, the reality of the situation should have set in for everybody in the Southland. Recruiting is never (ever, it seems) the issue for either USC or UCLA.

It hasn’t been in the past, and it likely will never be in the future. Sun, surf and world-class educations tend to sell themselves even before you get into playing for an upper-echelon Pac-12 football program.

Both programs have finished in the top 20 of the 247Sports composite rankings each of the past five seasons. Only twice in the past decade, as a matter of fact, has either program found themselves outside that top-20 mark in the team rankings—and the only reason for that was likely due to such small numbers of signees on behalf of Bruins’ classes in 2011 and 2007.

This year, USC checked in at No. 8 in the rankings thanks to a strong push on signing day. UCLA similarly closed well to vault up to 12th and just a hair behind their crosstown rivals when you look closely at the point totals.

In short, recruiting has never been an issue at either school, and such a trend continued yet again this year.

Clay Helton’s first recruiting class in charge of Troy was particularly impressive and a perfect test case that no matter who is in charge—or how much drama there is—at USC, recruits will still flock to campus.

Despite a thud of an ending to a tumultuous season and a coaching staff that was not complete until the closing stretches of January, the Trojans still managed to snag commitments two 5-stars and 12 4-stars in a small class of just 20. According to Scout.com, they even signed more 5-stars than any other school.

USC grabbed two players out of Miami, Florida, including one committed to Florida State for a while in Jamel Cook. They plucked an offensive lineman from the heart of SEC territory in Georgia tackle E.J. Price. They also swooped in and grabbed Army All-American running back Vavae Malepeai away from Oregon. Big 4-star defensive end Connor Murphy from Arizona also came on board.

Local star Jack Jones even continued the pipeline going from famed Long Beach Poly High by announcing his commitment on Wednesday with the help of rapper Snoop Dogg.

Whether looking far from home or right in its backyard, it was all nothing new for USC in 2016 of course. Recruiting has never been a problem there dating back well before the days of Pete Carroll.

The issue, as Helton can attest up close to, is coaching and getting on-field results. Despite all those highly ranked recruiting classes (almost always tops in the conference) the past decade, the Trojans' last league title came in 2008, and they have seen North Division rivals Oregon and Stanford dominate the conference hardware since it expanded to 12 members.

Can this February’s group change all that? It remains to be seen, especially when factoring in an already strong roster returning to downtown Los Angeles that has to face one of the most difficult schedules in the nation this upcoming season. Either way, it’s probably best not to get too excited over the number of stars signed to the Cardinal and Gold yet again.

The same is true across town in Westwood, where Jim Mora shook off yet more staff defections to re-stock the Bruins roster.

Stud linebacker Mique Juarez might be one of the best players in the country as a true freshman this year and will surely factor into UCLA’s defensive plans quite a bit. Defensive tackle Boss Tagaloa not only brings a great name to the Powder Blues but the resume of one of the top interior linemen in the state of California. Receivers Darian Owens, Dymond Lee, Audie Omotosho and tailback Demetric Felton are all skill-position talent who should help out budding star quarterback Josh Rosen.

Heck, even Canadian kicker J.J. Molson was a quality signing.

Will all that be enough to move UCLA past Stanford? History says probably not based on how the Cardinal have had the Bruins’ number the past few years. And it’s not like UCLA put a ton of separation between them and their Pac-12 rivals on signing day either, not with Stanford ranked 16th in the 247Sports composite rankings.

Fans of both schools can soak it all in on signing day, and coaches can raise their glasses to a job well done. Yet again, USC and UCLA brought in quality recruiting classes and a likely batch of new talent players who will eventually make their way to the NFL.

Maybe one day it will all translate into much-needed conference titles and the ability to finally meet expectations.

But as with most things around Los Angeles, life goes on much the way it did before, no matter how much excitement was being drummed up on campus.

Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports. Bryan Fischer is a national college football columnist for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.