Signing Day Is Just Around the Corner: Storylines to Follow

Football's National Signing Day is on this upcoming Wednesday, and it will cement Maryland's football commitments into College Park. We'll be breaking out a full breakdown and a short roundtable on Thursday so you know what's up, but here are a few things to keep your eye on for the final hours:

• Brandon Coleman - Along with Bjoern Werner (below), Coleman is one of Maryland's biggest remaining targets. He'd probably be the best commitment for the Terps - he's an athletic freak with a huge ceiling, and scored a TD in the Under Armor All-American Game. He's local, which is always a plus, and supposedly favors Maryland. 
• Bjoern Werner - A German DE/DT who plays in Connecticut, Werner's a very athletic, very sought-after target - he has Oregon, Florida, and Cal recruiting him, in addition to some others. Those schools are on him because his upside is gigantic - he might not contribute immediately, but after a year or two he could be a monster. I'm not nearly as confident with Werner as I am about Coleman, but it's still a possibility.
• Last Second Defections - This isn't uncommon, and it's not unreasonable to expect one or two a year. Usually, someone whose been recruited in the background with doubts about Maryland will switch his commitment at the very last second. I have no idea who it would be - Tyler Bass and Ryan Schlieper were last second decommitments in the past - but the hope is that it won't be any too important.
• The Good Kind of Last Second Defections - Would anyone be happy to accept a few last-seconders from another school? That can happen too. A prime contender would have to be Louis Young, who is as shaky as he can be on Stanford. James Franklin is slowly making in-roads in the area, so it's possible a local guy not too confident in his choice could end up at Maryland.
• An Unexpected Haul - Bit of a shocking turnaround here. It seems that as Maryland got worse, recruiting got better. Closing with Brandon Coleman would really top the class off, but this should've been a terrible year for recruiting given how bad the product on the field was. But James Franklin and Don Brown seem to have recruits buying in to what they're doing, and the results are encouraging. Next year will be very interesting.
• New Territory - Maryland has quietly set up a tent in South Florida, and they might be moving into Georgia full-time. In the Peach State, they've established a small pipeline with Norcross in Atlanta, a traditional powerhouse with plenty of big-time prospects, and they got a commitment from Devin Burns from Carver, who has a legit 5-star DT for 2011 in Gabe Wright. As for South Florida, well, with Florida and Florida State still in flux and Miami still down, the Sunshine State has never been more open for invasion. Don Brown has worked his connections down there and has fully established a presence. We'll have to see if he can continue it, and maybe grab a stud or two next year.
• Moving On to 2011 - The DMV is stacked for 2011. 2011 recruiting officially starts after Wednesday, and it's looking good. Darius Jennings is a legitimate 5 star. Blake Countess is a high 4 star that already likes Maryland. Curtis Grant should be one of the best LBs in the nation. Cyrus Kouandjio will probably be better than his brother. Others - like Dominique Terrell, Ronny Vandyke, Vince Croce, Clifton Richardson, and Kevin McReynolds - will all go anywhere between mid 4 star and mid/low 5-star, and all have received a lot of interest from Maryland. If the Terps are ever going to put together a killer class, now's the time.