First-year head coaches are hitting the ground running recruiting the 2027 cycle
Last offseason brought one of the more hectic college football coaching carousels the sport has ever seen. There are 17 new head coaches at the Power Four level entering the 2026 season.
In the past, a new regime has often led to some early struggles on the recruiting trail. That is not the case when looking at the Rivals Industry Team Recruiting Rankings for the 2027 cycle.
Of the top 25 classes in the nation, as of June 16, 10 belong to schools that have a first-year head coach for this coming season. That includes five SEC programs, three from the Big Ten and two from the ACC.
Below is a look at those recruiting classes as new head coaches are working to win over their respective fanbases before coaching a game this fall.
Florida
22 total commits
1 five-star | 15 four-stars | 6 three-stars
Top Commit: IOL Maxwell Hiller, No. 3 NATL. (No. 1 IOL)
National Class Ranking: No. 5
Jon Sumrall came from Tulane and has already made quite the splash on the recruiting trail. Florida last signed a top-five class in the 2013 cycle, when it inked the likes of Vernon Hargreaves III and Kelvin Taylor. There’s hope in Gainesville that the Gators could finish that high again this winter. Hiller headlines the current UF haul, while WR Elias Pearl and OT Elijah Hutcheson are also in the mix as top-100 prospects. There’s 11 commits in the class that check in as top-250 recruits overall.
Auburn
18 total commits
0 five-stars | 11 four-stars | 7 three-stars
Top Commit: RB Myson Johnson-Cook, No. 51 NATL. (No. 4 RB)
National Class Ranking: No. 11
Alex Golesh made the move from USF to Auburn and he’s got the Tigers rolling this summer. Eight June commitments have AU knocking on the door of the top 10 nationally. Johnson-Cook is one of four top-100 commits in the mix. No. 9 CB Chance Gilbert and No. 7 LB Isaac McNeil are among the recent pledges. Auburn signed back-to-back top-10 classes in the 2024 and 2025 cycles. It’s on the right track once again this time around.
Michigan
16 total commits
0 five-stars | 11 four-stars | 5 three-stars
Top Commit: OT Jakari Lipsey, No. 95 NATL. (No. 8 OT)
National Class Ranking: No. 12
Kyle Whittingham led Utah for more than two decades, and after resigning from his post in Salt Lake City, he’s now found his way to Ann Arbor. Michigan is recruiting per usual despite the head coaching change. In May alone, the Wolverines landed eight blue-chip commitments, with the likes of Lipsey, No. 18 WR Quentin Burrell, No. 9 DL Xavier Muhammad, No. 8 safety Tavares Harrington all choosing the Maize and Blue in short order.
LSU
11 total commits
1 five-star | 7 four-stars | 3 three-stars
Top Commit: TE Ahmad Hudson, No. 20 NATL. (No. 1 TE)
National Class Ranking: No. 14
Lane Kiffin, unsurprisingly, is attracting top talent regardless of the logo on his visor. The former Ole Miss head coach has made the highly-publicized move to Baton Rouge and LSU has been a part of some big recruiting battles early on. Hudson is the headliner, though he was previously flanked by five-star EDGE Jaiden Bryant, who has now flipped to Miami. Still, there’s five additional top-200 prospects in the class, including No. 9 EDGE K.J. Green, No. 8 QB Peyton Houston and No. 10 IOL Terrance Smith.
UCLA
22 total commits
0 five-stars | 10 four-stars | 12 three-stars
Top Commit: CB Juju Johnson, No. 41 NATL. (No. 6 CB)
National Class Ranking: No. 16
Bob Chesney made the cross-country move from James Madison to UCLA and he immediately has the program recruiting at a high level again. The Bruins haven’t signed a top-25 class since the 2018 cycle. There’s four blue-chip defensive backs in the 2027 haul, with Johnson and CB Jerry Outhouse headlining. Outhouse flipped from Georgia, while safety Khalil Terry flipped from Notre Dame. No. 10 DL George Toia chose UCLA over Texas Tech. There’s some new muscle getting flexed in Westwood.
Virginia Tech
25 total commits
0 five-stars | 8 four-stars | 17 three-stars
Top Commit: QB Peter Bourque, No. 78 NATL. (No. 7 QB)
National Class Ranking: No. 17
James Franklin has long been a tremendous recruiter and it hasn’t taken long for show the Virginia Tech faithful what he can do on the trail. After essentially bringing the entire 2026 Penn State class with him to Blacksburg, Franklin is building a landmark haul in 2027. It starts with Bourque, a former Michigan pledge who landed with the Hokies in May. That month also brought No. 5 TE Jordan Karhoff and two other blue-chippers. June has already seen three four-stars commit, including LB Amarri Irvin, who flipped from Notre Dame earlier this week.
Cal
21 total commits
0 five-stars | 9 four-stars | 11 three-stars
Top Commit: WR Charles Davis, No. 96 NATL. (No. 17 WR)
National Class Ranking: No. 19
Tosh Lupoi has returned to his alma mater and the tone of Cal recruiting has shifted in a major way. The Golden Bears are aiming to compete with the best of the best in the ACC and their class currently ranks 4th in the league, as of June 16. Seven of the nine four-stars in the mix are inside the Golden State. Davis sits atop the haul and is flanked by No. 7 TE Rahzario Edwards, WR Demare Dezeurn, EDGE Troy Bowens and CB Duvay Williams, among others.
Penn State
20 total commits
0 five-stars | 5 four-stars | 15 three-stars
Top Commit: CB Kei’Shjuan Telfair, No. 93 NATL. (No. 14 CB)
National Class Ranking: No. 20
Matt Campbell is the new lead man in Happy Valley and Penn State is still recruiting like one of the best in the Big Ten. Some of the top commits in the boat are quintessential PSU targets. Telfair is the No. 5 recruit in Ohio, while No. 8 DL Stanley Montgomery is the No. 6 player in Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, WR Landon Blum, the No. 1 recruit in Iowa, as well as South Dakota TE Cooper Terwilliger, are some top recruits that Campbell would’ve previously coveted when he was at Iowa State.
Kentucky
24 total commits
0 five-stars | 7 four-stars | 17 three-stars
Top Commit: QB Jake Nawrot, No. 57 NATL. (No. 5 QB)
National Class Ranking: No. 21
Will Stein is back in his home state and is primed to reinvigorate Kentucky football. He’s off to a great start thanks to showing some real life on the recruiting trail. April brought eight commits for the Cats, including Nawrot, the No. 2 QB in the Rivals300. Eleven states are already represented in the class. DL Malachi Brown is the No. 4 recruit in Kentucky, WR Iveon Lewis is the No. 7 player in Virginia and IOL Dominic Black is the No. 9 recruit in Ohio.
Ole Miss
15 total commits
0 five-stars | 10 four-stars | 5 three-stars
Top Commit: DL Ben’Jarvius Shumaker, No. 76 NATL. (No. 7 DL)
National Class Ranking: No. 22
Pete Golding is unlike the other new head coaches featured above. He was previously the defensive coordinator at Ole Miss and stayed put in Oxford, taking over for Kiffin. The Rebels continue to hold their own on the trail. Shumaker is the No. 3 in-state prospect and he’s been in the fold since March. No. 9 QB Keegan Croucher has been pledged since October and he remains locked in despite the coaching change. WR Miguel Whitley, IOL Antonio Keefer and LB Jeremiah Culpepper are among the other blue-chippers that have chosen Ole Miss the last few weeks.
