USF Football Early Signing Period Primer

A very important week is beginning for USF head football coach Charlie Strong and his staff with the arrival of the brand new 72-hour December early signing period beginning on Wednesday the 20th.

Here's a quick refresher on how this works:

According to SB Nation's National Recruiting Analyst and Editor Bud Elliott, coaching staffs around the country, who have put in several months and countless hours into #Crootin, expect most of their respective classes to sign during this period.

ICYMI, we've been keeping tabs with the happenings of USF's #Stampede18 on a weekly basis (all of which you can find here) and will continue to keep you updated on everything that transpires over the next several days.

For now, here's a quick refresher of where this class sits at the moment:

With 23 verbal commits at the moment, USF currently has the second best class in the AAC, just behind Cincinnati.

With an average composite rating of .8334, 247 currently has this class rated as the 55th best in the nation. Rivals has it slotted at 44. Should everything remain the same, this would be the highest rated class for USF since the now famous 2014 haul.

A handful of these Green and Gold verbal commits have indicated that they will be signing their letter of intents this week (a few of them going the extra yard to enroll for spring classes).

Some of these guys include:

-Three-star St. Pete Admiral Farragut wide receiver Zion Roland

-Three star Chiefland running back Brian Norris Jr.

-Three-star Okeechobee ATH Jajuan Cherry

If you haven't read it, check out this profile of Cherry by Jon Santucci of the TCPalm. Really incredible story here.

-Three-star Hollywood Chaminade Madonna guard Sebastian Sainterling

-Three-star Tampa Plant quarterback Jordan McCloud

Verbal commits like three-star Homestead South Dade tight end Chris Carter Jr. and three-star Port Charlotte defensive tackle Devin Leacock also indicated that they'd be shutting down their respective recruitments, so it would be assumed that they will also be signing this week as well. We'll see who else will sign on the dotted line within the 72-hour window.

Along with those who have also pledged their verbal commitments, there's a handful of recruits that Strong and staff will be really gunning after this week. A few of those guys include:

-Three-star Tampa Bay Tech Mike Penix Jr

The Bulls are in a dogfight with Florida State and Indiana over the former Tennessee verbal commit.

-Three-star Tampa Jesuit cornerback Kendrick Torain

The Bulls were in the mix for the #BayMade product earlier in the fall before he pledged to UCLA. He's since decommitted from the Bruins after the firing of former head coach Jim Mora Jr.

-Three-star South Fort Myers wide receiver Jeshaun Jones

-Three-star St. Petersburg wide receiver Jalynn Williams

The staff has been gunning hard for the former UF commit.

-Four-star Hampton (Georgia) Dutchtown safety Trey Dean.

The former Tennessee commit out of the Peach State is leaning towards Kentucky with UF also on his radar.

-Toombs County (Georgia) running back Keshawn Morgan, who narrowed his choices down to USF, Tulane, and UAB.

Of course, some of these kids can decide to hold off on making a decision until the traditional February signing day.

It'll be interesting to see how Strong and his staff manages this week while preparing for the Birmingham Bowl at literally the same exact time.