Northeast Spotlight: Four programs that have surprised in recruiting

The 2024 football season is in full swing and programs across the country are working to close out the 2025 recruiting cycle on a high note. Here are four programs that are punching above their weight or surprising when it comes to recruiting the Northeast.

THIS SERIES: Four Midwest programs that have surprised in recruiting | Southeast | Mid-South | Florida | West

I don’t think anybody will be shocked to see a program with Auburn‘s resources doing well in recruiting, but the Tigers have been one of the hottest teams on the trail for the 2025 cycle. In particular, head coach Hugh Freeze and company have gone out of region a few times and landed some of the top talent in the Northeast.

Auburn has landed commitments from some of the Mid-Atlantic’s most highly sought-after prospects, including four-star cornerback and top-50 overall recruit Blake Woodby. The Tigers also have a 2025 commitment from four-star outside linebacker Bryce Deas, Woodby’s teammate at Saint Frances Academy.

In the 2026 cycle, Auburn has a third Saint Frances commit in high-three-star defensive back Wayne Henry. One other 2025 prospect from the Panthers to keep an eye on is current Tennessee defensive tackle commit Darrion Smith, whom the Tigers seem to be working to potentially flip.

Auburn currently has 24 total commits in the 2025 cycle, and could add more. The Tigers rank fourth nationally.

It is not necessarily surprising that prospects in the state of Maryland or the DMV area want to commit to Terrapins, however, it is impressive that Maryland has been able to keep the top talent home.

Quarterback commit Malik Washington is a four-star recruit who had offers from across the country and was an Elite 11 finalist, yet he chose to commit to the Terps because he believes in head coach Mike Locksley and the trajectory of the program. Washington also believes his class can be the catalyst to help take Maryland to the next level.

Additionally, Maryland has five other four-star commits outside of Washington — all from the DMV area — in offensive tackle Jaylen Gilchrist, athlete Zymear Smith (who was previously committed to Alabama), linebacker Carlton Smith, defensive tackle Bryce Jenkins and athlete Messiah Delhomme.

Maryland currently ranks 29th in the national team rankings, and if that numbers holds up or improves, it will be the Terrapins’ highest-ranked recruiting class since at least the 2021 cycle (20th).

Perhaps no program throughout the country had a more surprising and monumental summer on the recruiting trail than Rutgers. Things certainly look a lot different in Greg Schiano’s second stint in Piscataway compared to much of the Scarlet Knights’ history in the Big Ten, and the program appears to be on the upswing both on the field and off of it.

The Scarlet Knights made a big splash in June by flipping four-star linebacker DJ McClary from Penn State and keeping him in New Jersey. The program also has commitments from three other in-state four-stars in linebacker Kamar Archie, running back John Forster and offensive tackle Jaelyne Matthews.

Rutgers currently has 29 total commits in its 2025 class, and ranks 22nd in the country. The Scarlet Knights have a chance to sign their first top-25 class since the 2012 cycle (24th).

Going to the opposite coast to bring in good talent is no easy feat, and the fact that Stanford has seven commits from the Northeast area already in the 2025 class is certainly eye-opening. Now a member of the ACC, perhaps that will become more common for the Cardinal (the team also signed six Northeast recruits in the 2024 cycle).

The biggest recruiting win in the Mid-Atlantic for head coach Troy Taylor and his staff is four-star defensive tackle Kole Briehler — who has amassed around 30 scholarship offers — out of The Hun School of Princeton in New Jersey. High-three-star defensive end commit Adam Shovlin is another standout from the Northeast.

The Cardinal also have commitments from the region from three-star cornerback Omari Gaines, three-star athlete Liam Thorpe, three-star cornerback Lonnie McAllister, three-star offensive guard Joshua Williams and three-star outside linebacker Mickey Vaccarello.

Stanford currently has 20 commitments in the 2025 class, and ranks 38th in the country, but the Cardinal have certainly made waves in the Northeast.