Breaking down the biggest decommitments and flips of the 2027 class
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The college football recruiting cycle for the 2027 class is not even halfway over, and we’ve already seen major movement among the country’s top prospects.
As of Thursday, 20 of the top 32 players nationally in the Rivals Industry Ranking are committed. Expand that to the top-100, and 56 are already pledged before we even reach June. On the flip side, we’ve also seen some major decommitments, headlined by a trio of five-stars who have already found a new program to join up with.
The majority of the movement in this cycle is still to come over the final six-plus months, but Rivals breaks down what’s been an exciting start to the 2027 class:
Georgia grabs the nation’s No. 1 RB
Kirby Smart and his staff have been on the wrong end of some big decommitments and flips over the past three years (see: Jared Curtis, Justus Terry, and Dylan Raiola). But the ‘Dawgs — who don’t often pursue a ton of flip targets — have pounced on a few significant decommits from other schools early in the cycle. Five-star running back Kemon Spell was an early pledge to Penn State, but was one of a slew of decommits when James Franklin was fired last fall.
His recruitment swung back and forth between the Nittany Lions, UGA and Notre Dame in the preceding months. But it was ultimately Georgia who prevailed in landing the country’s premier running back prospect.
Miami, Florida sneak into poach elite DBs
The class hasn’t been without its bump for the Bulldogs though, who lost their other five-star commitment over the weekend. Long Beach Poly (Calif.) star Donte Wright was a huge early pledge for the ‘Dawgs, but he never fully shut down his recruitment.
Oregon was seen as the biggest threat to flip him, and multiple expert predictions went in for that to eventually happen. It did — but not to the Ducks. Miami swooped in to nab the top-10 overall prospect away from the Ducks and ‘Dawgs, adding its second five-star pledge in the class.
“I knew if I was going to stay committed to Georgia it was going to happen for a reason and then it would happen,” Wright told Rivals after his decision. “But I just let everything happen for itself. Some coaches fell off. Some coaches pushed harder. Some coaches acted like they were going to push harder and disappeared.
… Everyone showed their true colors and I felt Miami stood out and stood strong through it all.”
Up in Gainesville, Jon Sumrall and Co. were working on a major flip of their own. Projected five-star Aamaury Fountain (No. 25 in the Rivals300) gave his verbal commitment to South Carolina early in January. But Florida — one of his top schools before the decision — never went away. He visited the Gators just weeks after making his commitment.
After a few more visits and the continued push from the Gators’ staff, he flipped last month and helped kick off a huge recruiting run for UF.
Oklahoma turns the tables on Texas Tech
Joey McGuire and Texas Tech have been a thorn in the side of a lot of programs the past two years, particularly in the transfer portal and on the recruiting trail. The Red Raiders landed a pair of five-stars last cycle in Felix Ojo and LaDamion Guyton, who were at point considered near-locks to Texas and Georgia, respectively.
Tech’s willingness to spend on high-level prospects has put them in the conversation for the No. 1 class this year, and they might have it right now if not for Oklahoma. The Red Raiders got a massive early commitment last fall from five-star Fort Gibson (Okla.) offensive tackle Cooper Hackett, beating out the in-state Sooners in the process. Oklahoma didn’t blink.
Brent Venables and Bill Bedenbaugh continued to recruit him, and just a few weeks after his initial decision, Hackett flipped to the Sooners. He is one of two bookend five-star tackles — along with Kaeden Penny — headed to Norman next year.
Virginia Tech, Michigan find their QBs
Virginia Tech salvaged a top-30 class last season following the change from Brent Pry to James Franklin. The former Penn State coach was able to pull a ton of ex-Nittany Lions commits with him, something they didn’t have to worry about in the 2027 cycle. Four-star quarterback Peter Bourque was one of their top early targets — and there were connections to him for the PSU era — but he made a pledge to Michigan under their previous staff. When Kyle Whittingham and Co. came in, Bourque looked around and other programs and eventually decommitted.
He narrowed down his options to Georgia and Virginia Tech, and the Hokies pulled off a huge recruiting victory over the SEC powerhouse.
The Wolverines lost a big piece to their class when the aforementioned Bourque decommitted, but it really didn’t take them long to find his replacement. Once Bourque backed off his pledge in mid-February, Michigan‘s new staff quickly went to work on flipping four-star Kamden Lopati from his longtime Illinois commitment.
Notre Dame and a handful of other schools were also in the mix, but Lopati’s connection to the Wolverines’ staff — who previously recruited the Utah native when they were in Salt Lake City — was very strong.
“I have great relationships with the entire Michigan staff and that was big for me,” Lopati told Rivals’ Greg Biggins. “All of those coaches were recruiting me when they were at Utah and picked things right back up when they got to Michigan.
USC, UCLA throwing their weight around
Elsewhere in the Big Ten, USC and crosstown rival UCLA are both making waves early this cycle. The Trojans, who finished No. 1 in last year’s team rankings, have followed that up with another top-5 class. Five top-100 commits headline the class, along with a big-time commitment flip from former Oregon four-star offensive tackle pledge Drew Fielder.
A borderline top-10 player at his position, Fielder is new to the tackle position after primarily playing tight end to this point in his career.
The Bruins, meanwhile, have been on a huge recruiting roll over the past month. Under new coach Bob Chesney, they’ve already landed nine blue-chip commits after not signing a single one in 2026. Few have been bigger than four-star cornerback Jerry Outhouse, another early Georgia commit who the Bruins made a massive push for and ultimately flipped last month.
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