In November, there was rampant speculation that LSU would fire head coach Les Miles, only deciding to keep him in the second half of their final regular season game. Two months later, Les Miles cleaned up on National Signing Day.

On the day when the top high school football recruits announce where they will play college football, LSU led the way with 19 recruits ranked among ESPN's top-300 players. Of those, nine are ranked in the top 100, also tops among all schools.

The biggest surprise on signing day was Texas and head coach Charlie Strong. In what was supposed to be a weak class — ranked 32nd by ESPN prior to signing day — Texas was able to convert several players at the last minute and finished with 12 players in the ESPN 300, ranked ninth among all schools.