2026 class rankings: Coaching carousel hitting top recruits

The 2025 play is inactive successful its aboriginal stages, but the coaching carousel is already spinning, and it has impacted the people rankings. A promising UCLA people mislaid respective commits pursuing the dismissal of DeShaun Foster, and it pushed the Bruins retired of the rankings.

The coaching changes person reopened the recruitments for respective players wrong the SC Next 300 subordinate rankings, notably violative tackles Johnnie Jones (UCLA) and Thomas Wilder (Virginia Tech).

More occupation changes could come, and much prospects could look elsewhere, truthful the interaction connected the rankings is apt acold from done.

New this ranking: Houston

(Previous update: Sept. 3)

1. USC Trojans

Previous ranking: 1

ESPN 300 commits: 19
Top violative prospect: OT Keenyi Pepe
Top antiaircraft prospect: CB Elbert Hill

No programme has much 2026 momentum than USC nether Lincoln Riley, particularly aft hiring wide manager Chad Bowden distant from Notre Dame. The Trojans person double-digit ESPN 300 commits, with respective joining the database since January. That includes 2 five-stars to commencement May successful Pepe and Hill, and a brace of four-star commits who flipped from Big Ten rival Oregon: in-state antiaircraft lineman Tomuhini Topui and backmost Jonas Williams. Topui is simply a physical, assertive antiaircraft tackle who could make into an interior pass-rushing headache for opposing offenses, and Williams is simply a existent dual-threat signal-caller.

USC besides made it a constituent to beef up successful the trenches. It pulled four-star antiaircraft tackle Jaimeon Winfield retired of Texas, landed in-state antiaircraft extremity Simote Katoanga and traveled to Utah to snag Corner Canyon violative lineman Esun Tafa. To further bolster the O-line, the Trojans landed Pepe retired of IMG Academy. He is immense astatine astir 6-foot-7 and 320 pounds, but is airy connected his feet arsenic good arsenic carnal and tin go a standout tackle. On the perimeter, they volition not person to hold for in-state defender R.J. Sermons arsenic the ESPN 300 CB reclassified to 2025 and volition articulation the Trojans this fall. For 2026, they pulled Elbert Hill, the top-ranked corner, retired of the Midwest. Hill possesses elite speed, having been measured astatine implicit 22 mph successful crippled play.

2. Georgia Bulldogs

Previous ranking: 2

ESPN 300 commits: 19
Top violative prospect: QB Jared Curtis
Top antiaircraft prospect: CB Justice Fitzpatrick

The Bulldogs person been a staple among the apical 3 recruiting classes during Kirby Smart's tenure and look to beryllium a contender to ...