Wild, Wonderful Signing Day Wednesday
December 03, 2025 06:57 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – This was not your usual football signing day press conference where reporters are handed a list of players and then ask questions about them.
To begin with, the press conference that was scheduled to get underway at 4 p.m. was delayed 15 minutes before it started. Then, 30 minutes into it, coach Rich Rodriguez extended it to overtime. When he finally finished after 40 minutes total, there was still no list to hand out because it's still growing.
"There was a lot of work put into it, and there are a few more that may happen tomorrow," Rodriguez said. "Obviously, we had a lot of needs and a lot of things to fix, and the best way to fix them is to get a bunch of really good players, and we thought we did that."
Yendor Mack, a 6-foot-2, 244-pound defensive tackle from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, delivered his signature to West Virginia while Rodriguez's presser was going on.
Then, shortly after Rodriguez finished, Amari Latimer, a 6-foot, 228-pound four-star running back from Fairburn, Georgia, decommitted from Wisconsin to sign with West Virginia.
SirPaul Cheeks, a 5-foot-7, 176-pound scatback from Richmond, Virginia, sent in his letter-of-intent shortly afterward, as expected.
Signing day started 12 hours ago when Charlie Hanafin, a 6-foot, 181-pound wide receiver from Burlington, Massachusetts, was the first player to send in his letter, officially announced at 7:03 a.m.
By 8 a.m., 11 players were already in the fold. Then, at 8:02 a.m., came the first big signee, 6-foot-6, 280-pound, four-star offensive lineman Kevin Brown from Harrisburg High in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
He's the son of former Mountaineer standout offensive lineman Tim Brown and a player who was committed to Penn State before coach James Franklin's firing.
Five minutes after Brown came on board, Lawrence Autry, a 5-foot-10, 213-pound running back from Olive Branch, Mississippi, made his switch from Tulane to West Virginia official.
Two minutes after that, top junior college wide receiver Keon Hutchins, from Northwest Mississippi Community College, reaffirmed his prior commitment to West Virginia by signing with the Mountaineers, that becoming good to go at 8:09.
By 9 a.m., West Virginia's recruiting list had swelled to 27 – two more than the normal 25 that were once allowed in the old days – and nowhere close to being finished.
The next big name to drop was Fort Cherry High four-star athlete Matt Sieg at 11:38 a.m. Decommitting from Penn State like Brown did, Sieg stunned everybody in the Steel City by spurning hometown Pitt and Virginia Tech, where Franklin is now coaching, to sign with West Virginia.
It became the lead story in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's high school section this afternoon and created such a stir up there that longtime KDKA television personality Bob Pompeani felt compelled to post Sieg's commitment on X.
"Matt Seig (sic) has decided to not go to Pitt, or Virginia Tech," he posted. "Instead, Seig (sic) has announced he will go to WVU."
At this writing, Pompeani's post has already been viewed more than 52,000 times. A couple hours later, he made another post with the Post-Gazette article and his comment "college recruiting in 2025."
Indeed.
Two more flips came after lunchtime, New Orleans high school teammates Greg Wilfred and John Johnson III, with Wilfred switching his commitment from UTSA to West Virginia, and Johnson changing his from Washington State to WVU.
Massive offensive tackle Jonas Muya, a 6-foot-7, 292-pounder from Ft. Wayne, Indiana, officially signed with West Virginia at 1:34 p.m. after entertaining late offers from Oklahoma and Tennessee.
As of now, the list stands at 45.
"And we ain't done," Rodriguez said. "It's a big class, and there used to be a limit on it, and now there's not. Being from a smaller state, we had to cast a wider net, and I thought our guys did a good job with that."
They come from 24 different states, including two that are homegrown: 6-foot-4, 192-pound Nitro High wide receiver Malachi Thompson, and 6-foot-6, 202-pound Spring Mills tight end Xavier Anderson, who flipped his commitment from Cincinnati to West Virginia this afternoon.
There are eight junior college players, an Aussie punter and a player who hails from Anchorage, Alaska, on the list.
Other unusual states making up this year's recruiting class include Indiana, Minnesota, California, Oregon, Nebraska, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Arizona and Massachusetts.
That's what being in a conference comprised of four different time zones can do for a program.
Broken down, the class is made up of 10 defensive backs, seven wide receivers, seven offensive linemen, five running backs, four linebackers (including bandits), four defensive linemen, three tight ends, two quarterbacks, two athletes and one punter.
"Every position got addressed," Rodriguez said.
Thirty-five of the newcomers are expected to enroll in January.
"Then, there is another signing period in February, and we will have room for a few more guys then," Rodriguez pointed out. "It's such a fluid situation these days in college sports and we're navigating through all of that."
In a span of just a couple of days, West Virginia's Rivals.com team recruiting ranking has jumped from No. 48 to No. 23 nationally, three spots below big-spending Texas Tech and four spots ahead of big-spending BYU.
Arizona State (34th), TCU (37th), Arizona (38th), Houston (39th), Utah (41st) and Kansas State (42nd) round out the Big 12 teams in the top 50.
"(The rankings) are kind of fun to look at as a fan, but I think it depends on who is rating them," Rodriguez said. "If a certain school is offering a kid, then all of a sudden, the kid goes from a three star to a four star, or a four star to a five star because this blue blood offered them a scholarship. A lot of those rankings turn out to be accurate, but I don't get paid to be top 25 in the recruiting rankings. I get paid to be in the top 25 at the end of the season, playing in the conference championship and getting ready for a playoff game."
Once the December signing class is finished, Rodriguez said his staff will begin targeting transfer portal players when the transfer period opens on Jan. 2, 2026, and ends on Jan. 16, 2026. He indicated they will take another "12 to 15 players" to add to the 2026 roster.
"Obviously, the full rev share is going to help us with the portal cycle as well," Rodriguez said, noting that he is anticipating some departures from the current roster. "The portal guys seem to be more expensive, and you have to pay more to get the true experienced, plug-and-play, starter guy out of the portal."
He mentioned they will be looking for three offensive linemen, four or five defensive linemen, three or four linebackers, three or four defensive backs, three or four wide receivers and another running back.
"Part of my job is to help raise money, and we've got a lot of good people here to help us raise the money for that, too," he said.
The complete signing list, with biographies, has been posted to WVUsports.com.
To begin with, the press conference that was scheduled to get underway at 4 p.m. was delayed 15 minutes before it started. Then, 30 minutes into it, coach Rich Rodriguez extended it to overtime. When he finally finished after 40 minutes total, there was still no list to hand out because it's still growing.
"There was a lot of work put into it, and there are a few more that may happen tomorrow," Rodriguez said. "Obviously, we had a lot of needs and a lot of things to fix, and the best way to fix them is to get a bunch of really good players, and we thought we did that."
Yendor Mack, a 6-foot-2, 244-pound defensive tackle from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, delivered his signature to West Virginia while Rodriguez's presser was going on.
Then, shortly after Rodriguez finished, Amari Latimer, a 6-foot, 228-pound four-star running back from Fairburn, Georgia, decommitted from Wisconsin to sign with West Virginia.
SirPaul Cheeks, a 5-foot-7, 176-pound scatback from Richmond, Virginia, sent in his letter-of-intent shortly afterward, as expected.
Signing day started 12 hours ago when Charlie Hanafin, a 6-foot, 181-pound wide receiver from Burlington, Massachusetts, was the first player to send in his letter, officially announced at 7:03 a.m.
By 8 a.m., 11 players were already in the fold. Then, at 8:02 a.m., came the first big signee, 6-foot-6, 280-pound, four-star offensive lineman Kevin Brown from Harrisburg High in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
He's the son of former Mountaineer standout offensive lineman Tim Brown and a player who was committed to Penn State before coach James Franklin's firing.
Five minutes after Brown came on board, Lawrence Autry, a 5-foot-10, 213-pound running back from Olive Branch, Mississippi, made his switch from Tulane to West Virginia official.
Two minutes after that, top junior college wide receiver Keon Hutchins, from Northwest Mississippi Community College, reaffirmed his prior commitment to West Virginia by signing with the Mountaineers, that becoming good to go at 8:09.
By 9 a.m., West Virginia's recruiting list had swelled to 27 – two more than the normal 25 that were once allowed in the old days – and nowhere close to being finished.
The next big name to drop was Fort Cherry High four-star athlete Matt Sieg at 11:38 a.m. Decommitting from Penn State like Brown did, Sieg stunned everybody in the Steel City by spurning hometown Pitt and Virginia Tech, where Franklin is now coaching, to sign with West Virginia.
It became the lead story in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's high school section this afternoon and created such a stir up there that longtime KDKA television personality Bob Pompeani felt compelled to post Sieg's commitment on X.
"Matt Seig (sic) has decided to not go to Pitt, or Virginia Tech," he posted. "Instead, Seig (sic) has announced he will go to WVU."
At this writing, Pompeani's post has already been viewed more than 52,000 times. A couple hours later, he made another post with the Post-Gazette article and his comment "college recruiting in 2025."
Indeed.
Two more flips came after lunchtime, New Orleans high school teammates Greg Wilfred and John Johnson III, with Wilfred switching his commitment from UTSA to West Virginia, and Johnson changing his from Washington State to WVU.
Massive offensive tackle Jonas Muya, a 6-foot-7, 292-pounder from Ft. Wayne, Indiana, officially signed with West Virginia at 1:34 p.m. after entertaining late offers from Oklahoma and Tennessee.
As of now, the list stands at 45.
"And we ain't done," Rodriguez said. "It's a big class, and there used to be a limit on it, and now there's not. Being from a smaller state, we had to cast a wider net, and I thought our guys did a good job with that."
They come from 24 different states, including two that are homegrown: 6-foot-4, 192-pound Nitro High wide receiver Malachi Thompson, and 6-foot-6, 202-pound Spring Mills tight end Xavier Anderson, who flipped his commitment from Cincinnati to West Virginia this afternoon.
There are eight junior college players, an Aussie punter and a player who hails from Anchorage, Alaska, on the list.
Other unusual states making up this year's recruiting class include Indiana, Minnesota, California, Oregon, Nebraska, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Arizona and Massachusetts.
That's what being in a conference comprised of four different time zones can do for a program.
Broken down, the class is made up of 10 defensive backs, seven wide receivers, seven offensive linemen, five running backs, four linebackers (including bandits), four defensive linemen, three tight ends, two quarterbacks, two athletes and one punter.
"Every position got addressed," Rodriguez said.
Thirty-five of the newcomers are expected to enroll in January.
"Then, there is another signing period in February, and we will have room for a few more guys then," Rodriguez pointed out. "It's such a fluid situation these days in college sports and we're navigating through all of that."
In a span of just a couple of days, West Virginia's Rivals.com team recruiting ranking has jumped from No. 48 to No. 23 nationally, three spots below big-spending Texas Tech and four spots ahead of big-spending BYU.
Arizona State (34th), TCU (37th), Arizona (38th), Houston (39th), Utah (41st) and Kansas State (42nd) round out the Big 12 teams in the top 50.
"(The rankings) are kind of fun to look at as a fan, but I think it depends on who is rating them," Rodriguez said. "If a certain school is offering a kid, then all of a sudden, the kid goes from a three star to a four star, or a four star to a five star because this blue blood offered them a scholarship. A lot of those rankings turn out to be accurate, but I don't get paid to be top 25 in the recruiting rankings. I get paid to be in the top 25 at the end of the season, playing in the conference championship and getting ready for a playoff game."
Once the December signing class is finished, Rodriguez said his staff will begin targeting transfer portal players when the transfer period opens on Jan. 2, 2026, and ends on Jan. 16, 2026. He indicated they will take another "12 to 15 players" to add to the 2026 roster.
"Obviously, the full rev share is going to help us with the portal cycle as well," Rodriguez said, noting that he is anticipating some departures from the current roster. "The portal guys seem to be more expensive, and you have to pay more to get the true experienced, plug-and-play, starter guy out of the portal."
He mentioned they will be looking for three offensive linemen, four or five defensive linemen, three or four linebackers, three or four defensive backs, three or four wide receivers and another running back.
"Part of my job is to help raise money, and we've got a lot of good people here to help us raise the money for that, too," he said.
The complete signing list, with biographies, has been posted to WVUsports.com.
Rich Rodriguez | Dec. 3
Wednesday, December 03
Reid Carrico | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
Jeff Weimer | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
Rich Rodriguez | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
