What to know about Feb. 4 signing day for college football recruits
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Feb. 4 is the start of the second national signing period for high school football players in the class of 2026, and plenty of central Ohio standouts continue to look for a collegiate destination.
Forty-seven area players signed with Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision programs during the early signing period Dec. 3-5. That window, which was instituted in 2017 and moved up two weeks beginning in 2024, has gained increased prominence in recent years as players finalize their next steps and, in some cases, graduate early to join their college programs and get a head start on academics and training.
The early signing period is the Wednesday through Friday before college conference championship weekend. In Ohio, it runs into the three days of state championship games.
Even so, many players opt to hold off their decisions until the traditional signing period. Some of them gain more recruiting attention after the college playoffs or simply need more time to make a choice.
Where are central Ohio’s early football signees headed?
Four area players – Delaware Hayes running back Favour Akih, Olentangy’s Kaden Gebhardt (S) and CJ Sanna (LB) and Watkins Memorial wide receiver Jaeden Ricketts – signed with Ohio State.
Six more players are headed to other Big Ten schools, and 19 will play in the Mid-American Conference.
Two players who signed in December, Watterson offensive lineman Pete Eglitis (Iowa State) and Olentangy tight end Jackson Mangham (Toledo), later reopened their recruitment after coaching changes.
Ultimately, both followed the coaches for whom they originally signed to their new destinations. Eglitis will sign with Penn State, which hired Iowa State’s Matt Campbell in December, and Mangham will reunite with former Toledo coach Jason Candle at Connecticut.
Central Ohio football players who signed in December
| Player | Position | High school | College |
| Favour Akih | RB | Delaware Hayes | Ohio State |
| Caleb Anthony | DB/WR | Africentric | Youngstown State |
| Hudson Aultman | DL | Olentangy Berlin | Michigan State |
| Mohamed Bangoura | OL | Westerville Central | Miami University |
| TeJuan Barbour | DB | Northland | Kent State |
| Cooper Bauer | DL/LB | Grandview Heights | Princeton |
| Jake Beatty | OT/DT | Hartley | Air Force |
| Drew Bellisari | QB | Watterson | Miami University |
| Nik Bivens | OT | Delaware Hayes | Gardner-Webb |
| Jonathan Brown | RB | DeSales | Michigan |
| Luke Collins | OL | Gahanna Lincoln | Cincinnati |
| Daunte Curtis | LB | Pickerington North | Akron |
| Liam Dalton | OL | Hilliard Davidson | Kent State |
| Cam Davis | OL/DL | Newark | Buffalo |
| Levi Davis | QB | Olentangy Orange | Ohio University |
| Gabe Davis-Ray | DB | Columbus Academy | Northwestern |
| Elijah Durham-Smith | DE | Pickerington North | Bowling Green |
| Malachi Ervin | DE | Pickerington North | Buffalo |
| Kaden Gebhardt | S | Olentangy | Ohio State |
| Matty Giannantonio | WR | Dublin Jerome | Bucknell |
| Derron Gray Jr. | TE/DE | Africentric | Cincinnati |
| Luke Grover | OT | Olentangy | Cincinnati |
| Philip Johnson | ATH | Harvest Prep | Western Michigan |
| Jamarcus Jones | ATH | Harvest Prep | Buffalo |
| Kyle Kirby | LB/RB | Granville | Colgate |
| Preston Lunsford | DL | Newark | Buffalo |
| Chase Mantooth | LS | Pickerington Central | Kent State |
| Michael Milenkovski | DT | Columbus Academy | Colgate |
| Ryan Miller | S | Pickerington North | Ohio University |
| Jarin Mock | QB | Pickerington North | Bowling Green |
| Henry Ohlinger | LB/RB | Grandview Heights | Indiana |
| Isaac Patterson | S/LB | Westerville South | Pittsburgh |
| Owen Pollock | TE | Big Walnut | Florida Atlantic |
| Jaeden Ricketts | WR | Watkins Memorial | Ohio State |
| CJ Sanna | LB | Olentangy | Ohio State |
| Bo Schaefer | OL | Upper Arlington | Youngstown State |
| Dayne Schmidt | RB | Hilliard Davidson | Southern Illinois |
| Emoni Smith | DB | Westland | Purdue |
| Joshua Smith | QB | Africentric | Cincinnati |
| Daniel Stephens | DL | Olentangy | Navy |
| Clint Stover | LB | Big Walnut | Navy |
| D’Nilyeon Taylor | OL | Westerville North | Eastern Michigan |
| Malachi Taylor | DB | Pickerington North | Ohio University |
| London Vickroy | DE/TE | Westerville South | Miami University |
| Rocco Williams | QB | Pickerington Central | Middle Tennessee State |
| Chad Woodfork Jr. | WR/DB | Dublin Coffman | Youngstown State |
| Nick Zalewski | DL | Thomas Worthington | Northwestern |
High school sports reporter Dave Purpura can be reached at dpurpura@dispatch.com and at @dp_dispatch on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: National signing day guide for Ohio high school football players
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