No, Nick Saban didn’t call, as someone joked.

But Chip Kelly did.

Didn’t matter.

Three Coeur d’Alene High football standouts stayed true to their word, signing letters of intent Wednesday — the first day of the new early signing period in college football.

Viking quarterback Colson Yankoff signed with Washington, left tackle Noah Gunn signed with Air Force and tight end Cole Ramseyer signed with Boise State.

Yankoff and Gunn, who were at a de facto signing ceremony Wednesday morning at Coeur d’Alene High School, said they were glad to be able to sign earlier than usual. In past years, signing day was the first Wednesday in February.

“To me, I know where I want to go. Why not just do it now?” Yankoff said.

“I think it’s a good thing, to sign early and let the school know you’re with them,” Gunn said.

Yankoff originally committed to Oregon, then de-committed following a coaching change (the Ducks have since gone through another coaching change). He verbally committed to Washington in March, and stayed true to the Huskies despite interest from other schools during the fall.

Yankoff said he was “basically” graduated from high school, and plans to enroll at the U-Dub on Jan. 3. Because of that, he said he doesn’t plan to play in the U.S. Army All-American game, scheduled for Jan. 6 in San Antonio.

“It was a tough decision, but I wanted to focus on these other things,” said Yankoff, who said he’d already received a congratulatory text from Huskies coach Chris Petersen on his signing.

Gunn committed to Air Force during an unofficial visit in June. He took his official visit to the academy last week.

He said Idaho was his No. 2 choice. The Vandals and Idaho State also offered him, and Gunn said he was also talking to Boise State.

Ramseyer, who was out of the state on Wednesday, has been committed to Boise State for some time.

But earlier this month, during the Vikings’ football banquet, he had to take a call.

It was from Kelly, recently named football coach at UCLA.

“UCLA came in late on him,” Coeur d’Alene football coach Shawn Amos said. “UCLA’s tight ends coach came up here; they really wanted him to come down on a visit. He said no, and that’s when Chip Kelly called, hoping with an offer he would come down there. He thought about it, and decided to stay (with Boise State).”

Coeur d’Alene linebacker Ross Chadderdon has been on Idaho’s recruiting radar for a while, Amos said. The Vandals offered him earlier this month, and Chadderdon quickly accepted — though he did not sign a letter of intent on Wednesday.

“I’ve grown up with these guys,” Gunn said. “It’s pretty crazy to have this many guys go on and play college football.”

Amos, Coeur d’Alene’s head coach since 1997, said four or five more Viking seniors from this year’s squad could end up committing to college football programs at various levels.

That would challenge the 2014 Viking class, led by Division I recruits Gunnar Amos (Idaho), Matt James (Washington) and Chase Blakley (Boise State), which ultimately totaled nine players getting paid to play college football at some level.

Yankoff was up early on Wednesday. He “faxed” his letter shortly after 7 a.m. (actually, he sent a text message to the school with a photo of the signed document), and made it to Spokane in time to be there in support of Gonzaga Prep tight end Devin Culp, who signed with Washington in a ceremony just before school started.

Back in Coeur d’Alene, Yankoff was asked how he was going to celebrate after signing his letter of intent.

“Oh goodness, I don’t know,” he replied. “I’m probably going to take a nap. I’m kinda tired.”