It was not a clean sweep, as Rivals gave USC the top class, with Florida getting ESPN and Scout's top classes. If you take the average of each player, USC wins, as they had less scholarships to give out. (But if that was the case, why isn't Texas and their 25 signees higher than UF?) However, their big prize is not yet a notch on Lane Kiffin's bed post;
Seantrel Henderson, the highly recruited offensive lineman who announced Wednesday that he was going to Southern California, has not signed a letter of intent to play for the Trojans.
According to Henderson’s father, Sean, he will wait until U.S.C. appears before an N.C.A.A. infractions committee from Feb. 19-21 to hear about possible sanctions for the program before deciding whether to sign the letter. Though the Trojans are not likely to hear about any possible sanctions at that time, Sean Henderson said the hearing would give the family a sense of where the process was headed.
Henderson's decision is just another pile of crap thrown at USC. With Ed Orgeron calling Tennessee recruits who had registered for classes, Monte Kiffin harassing Georgia commitments and USC basketball under sanctions (remember, football was supposed to be penalized but USC did not do that), Henderson would be walking into a crap storm.
You could make the case that Texas and Tennessee had better classes than UF. Texas was coolly efficient, pulling in all 25 of their targets, including DE Jackson Jeffcoat and LB Jordan Hicks. They also have two QBs in their class, one of whom is Colt McCoy's brother.
[Tangent: Why do people freak out over Meyer's leave of absence, but not about Mack Brown anointing Will Muschamp coach in waiting? And what about Joker Phillips following Rich Brooks at Kentucky? I'm not saying anything like Brown will retire tomorrow, but this isn't like a lame duck President and the VP running for President. Brown could leave whenever he wants. Of course, Texas' success is a sign of how stable Brown is. As well as Texas has handled their eventual transition of power, there's the opposite of FSU trustees kneecapping Bobby Bowden and starting Jimbo's Flying Circus.]
Tennessee's well rounded day was more impressive when you realize that head coach Derek Dooley just hired his defensive coordinator. With a short staff, Tennessee went for quanity, pulling in zero 5-stars, but 10 ESPN 4-stars and four JuCo players. One of those JuCo's, Phil Simms' son Matt, could start for the Vols next season. With Simms and 4-star QB Tyler Bray, Dooley fills the Vols most urgent need.