Copyright Rivals
As the college football regular season winds down, the recruiting trail is again heating up with a little over a month until National Signing Day. September was one the slowest months of the year for commitments, but it saw plenty of coaching movement that ultimately led to decommitments and flips. And October was even bigger in that regard, with more than a dozen blue-chippers leaving one program’s class and joining another. Rivals breaks down some of the biggest names who made moves in the month, and which schools benefitted the most: 4-star Keshawn Stancil – Miami The Skinny: Stancil had been committed to Clemson since June, when he chose the Tigers over Miami and a host of others. But with the struggles on the field for Dabo Swinney and Co., their ACC rivals swooped in and took one of their top pledges. His decommitment marked the third blue-chipper leaving Clemson’s class in the past month. “Great coaches, great culture, great lifestyle too,” Stancil told Rivals’ Steve Wiltfong of Miami. “You can do things beyond football at Miami. If you want to become an entrepreneur you can do that and a million other things beyond being a football player. The student-life is great.” 4-star SAF James Dunnigan Jr. The Skinny: Kansas lost its biggest commitment of the 2026 class when four-star safety JJ Dunnigan announced on October 27 that he was backing off his pledge. Dunnigan, whose dad starred at Kansas State, had been in KU’s class since announcing his decision during the Under Armour All-America game in January. Other schools kept pursuing him though, and Dunnigan has official visits locked in with Miami and Colorado over the next month. 4-star QB Tradon Bessinger The Skinny: Boise State suffered its second quarterback decommitment this cycle, losing Bessinger after four-star Bryson Beaver flipped to Oregon over the summer. Iowa is the perceived favorite for Bessinger, a Utah native, after he visited in October. “Everything was great,” Bessinger told Rivals’ Adam Gorney. “The general manager was with us the whole entire time and they had a lot of press on us. The fans are unreal there. They fill out the stadium really, really well and everybody seems like they love the place. They genuinely love each other.” 4-star WR Jahsiear Rogers – Oklahoma The Skinny: A Delaware native, Rogers looked to be locked into staying in the Northeast while he was committed to Penn State. But James Franklin’s firing turned his recruitment upside down, and the Sooners capitalized. “Oklahoma is just a place built for football players,” Rogers told Wiltfong. “It’s a football town. Out there you’re going to be focused and ready to go every day.” 4-star CB Kenton Dopson – North Carolina The Skinny: One of the top cornerbacks in the 2027 class, Dopson reclassified up to 2026 earlier in October. At that point, it was expected he would part of Miami’s borderline top-10 class. But a little more than two weeks later, he shocked the ‘Canes by flipping to Bill Belichick and North Carolina. “I talked things over with my dad, and he and I thought that was the best decision for my immediate future,” he told InsideCarolina. “I want to say, we talked about it [Tuesday] or the day before.” 4-star LB Shadarius Toodle – Auburn The Skinny: Toodle, a one-time Auburn commit, originally flipped his pledge to Georgia back in June after months of speculation about the status of his commitment. That only lasted about four months, though. He ultimately flipped back to the Tigers after visiting again this fall. “They’re just telling me they’re not going to give up on me. They won’t give up on an in-state kid,” Toodle told AuburnSports.com. “They want me and my family really bad.” 4-star DL Tajh Overton – Missouri The Skinny: Oklahoma State’s loss — due to the firing of head coach Mike Gundy — turned out to be Missouri’s game. Soon after the Cowboys parted ways with their head man, Overton set up a visit to Columbia. Although Missouri was an early contender for Overton, they ultimately didn’t make his final list of top schools before he committed. But the second time was the charm for Eli Drinkwitz and Co., who jumped more than 50 spots in the Rivals Industry Team Recruiting Rankings after a huge October. 4-star LB Braylon Hodge – Oregon The Skinny: A former Michigan State commit, Hodge opted to stay out West after all by decommitting and later giving his verbal pledge to the Ducks. He joins an Oregon class that ranks among the top-5 nationally despite having half as many commitments as two of the teams ahead of them. “I chose Oregon because they showed me so much love,” Hodge told Wiltfong. “The development that I will get is top-tier, and the team is tight-knit and hard working. It feels like my home.” 4-star WR Milan Parris – Miami The Skinny: The 6-foot-4, 205-pounder was an early commit to Iowa State, but Miami and a handful of other programs remained in contention. He ultimately backed off that pledge, and the Hurricanes jumped to the top of the list once he visited Coral Gables.
