Seven thoughts on the early signing period across the state of Texas:

1. TCU’s patience in recruiting paid off. Coach Sonny Dykes said this summer that he preferred a deliberate approach, not rushing to take commitments so that he and his staff could build strong relationships with targets. But he and his staff were aggressive in hosting recruits, holding multiple junior days early in his tenure to flood campus with prospects.

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What Dykes and his staff didn’t know then is how good the Horned Frogs would be. TCU’s surge to No. 3 in the rankings and a berth in the College Football Playoff broadened its appeal. The result is a class that ranks 18th in the 247Sports Composite, which would be the school’s first top-20 finish in the modern recruiting era.

“The issue we ran into early (with recruits) was, ‘OK, TCU’s a cool place, we’ll just wait and see how you guys do on the field,” TCU director of player personnel Tyler Olker said this week.

The more TCU won, the more attractive the Horned Frogs became. They signed 10 four-star recruits on Wednesday, headlined by defensive lineman Markis Deal and receiver Cordale Russell, both national top-150 prospects. Olker said TCU stuck to its plan, including evaluating prospects through their senior seasons as the class formed.

Still, it resulted in a strong finish, with two four-star high school recruits (safeties Randon Fontenette and Jamel Johnson) and a four-star junior college corner (Channing Canada) committing days before the early signing period began. TCU has also done solid work in the transfer portal, landing offensive lineman Tommy Brockermeyer and receiver JoJo Earle from Alabama, cornerback Avery Helm from Florida and tight end Jack Bech from LSU.

“This is the kind of class we expect to sign every year,” Dykes said Wednesday.

2. Texas Tech’s recruiting class ranked 23rd on Wednesday, and if it holds, it will mark only the third time in the modern recruiting era that the Red Raiders placed in the top 25. It’s the highest ranking Tech has achieved since 2011, when it finished 19th in the 247Sports Composite.

Multiple times on Wednesday, coach Joey McGuire referred to it as “the fastest class in the nation,” because he and director of player personnel James Blanchard leaned heavily on quality track times while targeting prospects. It’s a blueprint the pair adopted from Baylor under Matt Rhule, who’s using a similar strategy at Nebraska. An example: Three-star linebacker Miquel Dingle, who Texas Tech signed out of South Carolina, owned the fifth-best high school 110-meter hurdle time (13.56 seconds) in the country in 2022.

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The staff scored two defensive recruits in the final week to bolster the class: four-star defensive lineman Dylan Spencer, who flipped from Texas, and three-star linebacker Justin Horne, who flipped from Louisiana. Blanchard said that Spencer “has all the upside in the world” as an edge rusher and raved about Horne’s athleticism, which includes a 13.86-second 110-meter hurdle time and a black belt in karate. Horne’s nickname is “Sensei.”

3. Rice notched wins this week in the transfer portal and in high school recruiting. The addition of West Virginia quarterback transfer JT Daniels generated buzz on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, the Owls closed on one of their highest-ranked recruiting classes in the modern era.

The signing of Daniels unites him with Rice coach Mike Bloomgren, who began recruiting Daniels when he was the offensive coordinator at Stanford and Daniels was a high school freshman in California. The former five-star recruit signed with USC in 2018, transferred to Georgia in 2020 and started for West Virginia last season. Bloomgren said he visited with Daniels when he was in the portal last year. Their longstanding relationship, “meant everything,” Bloomgren said Wednesday.

On the high school front, Rice jumped all the way to 80th in the 247Sports Composite team rankings after finishing 120th last year and no higher than 94th in the last eight recruiting cycles.

The 14 Texas high schoolers in the 2023 class Rice signed is the most since 2019, when the Owls signed 16. The seven highest-rated recruits in the class are all from Texas, including three-star linebacker Ty Morris, the fourth highest-rated recruit Rice has signed in the modern era, per 247Sports.

4. SMU made heavy use of the portal after coach Rhett Lashlee’s arrival a year ago, and the Mustangs are aggressively pursuing transfers again.

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This time, Lashlee turned to his previous stop, Miami, to shore up the roster. SMU landed commitments from four Hurricane transfers: running back Jaylan Knighton, receiver Key’Shawn Smith and defensive linemen Jordan Miller and Elijah Roberts.

Four SMU assistant coaches — quarterbacks coach Jonathan Brewer, receivers coach Rob Likens, offensive line coach Garin Justice and outside linebackers coach Kyle Cooper — spent the 2020 and 2021 seasons at Miami with Lashlee and thus had deep knowledge and prior relationships with the players.

Knighton and Smith will arrive equipped with experience playing in Lashlee’s offense. He calls the plays as SMU’s head coach, just as he did as Miami’s offensive coordinator. Knighton was Miami’s leading rusher in 2021 under Lashlee and Smith is a downfield receiving threat and effective return specialist.

Somethin’ tells us @_KSmith_5 will fit riiiiiight in

— SMU FootbaIl (@SMUFB) December 21, 2022

Miller and Roberts add size to the SMU defensive line. Miller stands 6-foot-4 and is 320 pounds while Roberts is 6-4, 275.

5. Houston addressed its top recruiting priority this week by landing former Texas Tech quarterback Donovan Smith in the transfer portal.

Smith, who appeared in 21 games and started eight for Texas Tech, gives the Cougars an experienced successor to Clayton Tune as they head into the Big 12 next season. Smith led the Red Raiders to a double-overtime win over Houston in September and went 2-2 as a starter this season at Tech.

#GoCoogs @UHCougarFB

— Donovan Smith | 1 (@SmittyJawns) December 21, 2022

Houston coach Dana Holgorsen said on Dec. 5 that the Cougars may take two transfer quarterbacks this cycle. UH also signed a high school quarterback, Caleb McMickle from Roswell, Ga., on Wednesday.

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The Cougars also inked two four-star recruits Wednesday: receiver Jonah Wilson, a former Texas commit, and running back Parker Jenkins. It’s the first time since 2016 that Houston has signed multiple four-star recruits, according to 247Sports.

6. UTSA’s signing class included the highest-rated recruit the program has ever signed, according to 247Sports: four-star junior college tackle Daniel Ogundipe. Four of the top six recruits the Roadrunners ever signed are part of their 2023 class, leading to their highest-ranked class in program history.

But the most intriguing prospect UTSA signed is one that went overlooked by most colleges: Houston-area receiver David Amador.

Despite unparalleled production — Amador was the only player in Texas’ highest classification this season to record a 300-yard passing game, 200-yard rushing game and 100-yard receiving game — and playing at North Shore High, a powerhouse program oozing with college recruits, the Roadrunners were his only FBS offer.

In 2021, Amador caught the game-winning touchdown pass to lift North Shore over Duncanville High for a state championship. This season, after starting quarterback Kaleb Bailey suffered a season-ending injury, Amador moved to quarterback and thrived, leading the Mustangs to a repeat appearance in the title game, where they lost a rematch with Duncanville.

Amador accounted for 4,047 combined passing, rushing and receiving yards and 46 touchdowns in three varsity seasons in one of the nation’s most fertile recruiting areas.

UTSA is getting an absolute steal in 2023 WR David Amador.

🔗:

— Hudson Standish (@247Hudson) December 18, 2022

UTSA receivers coach Joe Price, a former North Shore assistant who has known Amador since middle school, said that the coaching staff timed Amador under 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash twice at a camp and that he dominated opposing defensive backs in one-on-ones.

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“I’ve seen him against some of the very best competition,” North Shore coach Jon Kay said. “It wasn’t like he just blended in. He stood out to me, and that’s what’s going to happen when he gets to the next level as well.”

7. New Texas State coach G.J. Kinne is delivering on his promise to recruit the Texas high school ranks more aggressively than his predecessor. After the Bobcats signed a combined five high school recruits in the previous two recruiting cycles, opting for a transfer-heavy strategy under former coach Jake Spavital, Kinne gained commitments from that many Texas preps in December alone.

On social media, Texas State is using #TakeBackTexas as its recruiting slogan.

Let's #TakeBackTexas

Another big-time player coming down from Mesquite

✍️ Chris Dawn, Jr. (@ChrisDawnJr)
🏈 Wide receiver
🏠 Dallas, TX
➡️ Mesquite Horn HS#EatEmUp

— Texas State Football (@TXSTATEFOOTBALL) December 21, 2022

Four of the high school recruits signed with Texas State on Wednesday. The fifth commit, Dallas South Oak Cliff cornerback Taylor Starling, has yet to sign. Starling, who committed to Colorado in June, was one of numerous Buffalo recruits who new coach Deion Sanders chose not to keep. Since committing to Texas State on Sunday, Starling received offers from North Texas and UTSA.

The Bobcats signed nine players Wednesday, including three from the transfer portal and two from junior colleges. Two of the three portal additions and both junior college recruits played Texas high school football.

“We’re gonna recruit Texas like our hair’s on fire,” Kinne said Wednesday.

(Photo of Sonny Dykes and TCU: Jerome Miron / USA Today)