UCLA Football Recruiting: 2023 Early Signing Period Central
The 2023 football recruiting class becomes official starting today.
It’s a great day to be a Bruin!
That’s because the 2023 Early Signing Period begins today!
For the sixth year in a row, college football begins its Early Signing Period today and recruits can officially sign their National Letters of Intent today, instead of waiting until February.
That doesn’t change the fact that today is one of the biggest days on the college football calendar as high school recruits are able to sign their National Letters of Intent and officially announce their college decisions, even though there will be no coverage by ESPN or any other major network today. Pac-12 Networks should have some coverage starting at 8 am this morning.
This year’s class got a shot in the arm on Monday when highly touted five-star quarterback Dante Moore flipped his commitment from Oregon to UCLA. Moore’s impact on this year’s class cannot be understated or underestimated. After last year’s class had a blue chip ratio of 50%, this year’s class had just two blue chip recruits out of 13 recruits total. Moore increased that to just three out of 14, but the impact of a player like Moore can be extended and cause other players to flip as well.
Will that happen? Never say never.
Remember: These are 17- and 18-year old kids whose opinions can sometimes change on a dime.
Will it actually happen today? Maybe. Maybe not. Though once Moore signs his NIL, he may still have an impact on National Signing Day in February.
The big problem with the class is it’s still pretty small at this point. There are just 14 high school recruits to go along with six transfers who have committed so far.
The Bruins had 25 players listed as seniors or redshirt seniors on the roster this year and they’ve had five guys announce that they are entering the transfer portal. That means 30 guys or more could be leaving the program.
So, a recruiting class of just 14 high school recruits with three blue chip recruits doesn’t come close to replenishing the talent leaving the roster.
The good news, of course, is that recruiting doesn’t end today. Recruits who don’t sign this week will be able to sign on the traditional National Signing Day in February.
And, then, there’s also the transfer portal, which has worked well for the Bruins in the Chip Kelly era.
Of course, there can be surprises in the works for today. Who may that be? Stay tuned.
I would feel a lot better about this class if were more high school blue chip talent, but it is what it is right now. We’ll see what happens.
Keep your browser pointed right here as we will be updating the list below as the NLIs come in.
High School Recruits
Transfers
Join us today as we welcome all the new Bruins to Westwood!
Go Bruins!!!
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Luke Duncan is the 3rd new Bruin today.