2015 Football Signing Class?
- Thread starter miner661
- Start date
The UTEP Website is updating constantly today, as LOI's are coming in:
http://www.utepathletics.com/signingday/signingday-15.html
MinerRush is also updating at this link, as the day goes on:
http://www.minerrush.com/2015/2/3/7974443/2015-national-signing-day-latest-movement-open-thread#comments
Kyyotes Den has also had much more Football Recruiting Talk over the past few weeks compared to this board, which has seemed to enjoy fighting more than talking Recruiting Updates.
http://www.utepathletics.com/signingday/signingday-15.html
MinerRush is also updating at this link, as the day goes on:
http://www.minerrush.com/2015/2/3/7974443/2015-national-signing-day-latest-movement-open-thread#comments
Kyyotes Den has also had much more Football Recruiting Talk over the past few weeks compared to this board, which has seemed to enjoy fighting more than talking Recruiting Updates.
Today will mark Sean
Kugler's third national signing day as UTEP head coach, but in that
short time two traditions have been well established.
The class will be rated poorly by scouting websites and Kugler won't
care. The limited sample size seems to indicate Kugler has a point.
Using a formula of getting surprising value from lightly regarded El
Pasoans, Kugler rebuilt the Miners quickly and looks to cash in on that
momentum today with a class that he said could range from 21 to 23
players.
The list UTEP releases today at noon will have lots of surprises, as
Rivals.com lists just four commitments and one signee in junior college
transfer Sky Logan, a defensive end from Hinds (Miss.) Community College
who is already on campus. That is the smallest list out of the 124 FBS
programs.
Rivals' roster of commitments does not include Eastwood offensive
tackle Greg Long, who can't wait for his noon signing to the Miners.
At the start of the recruiting process "I really had non idea where I
was going to go, I was going to sign with San Diego State," Long said.
"What changed my mind, this is going to sound funny, was playing
basketball with the coaches. I saw what they were really about. I got a
good feeling and I knew that's where I wanted to be. I was feeling what
everyone was feeling."
Eastlake's Chris Barnwell, a defensive end, and Americas offensive tackle Markos Lujan have also committed to UTEP.
"It was the coaching staff, the coaching staff was all really nice to
me," Lujan said. "I'm looking forward to this, UTEP is a powerhouse
now. It will be amazing to have my family see me play."
The highest-rated Miner commitment is from Jonathan Forrest, a
running back from New Rochelle, N.Y. who is a three-star prospect. UTEP
will also announce tight end M.J. McFarland, an Eldorado alum, who is
transferring from Texas after graduating from there.
Kugler isn't allowed to comment on specific recruits, but this class
figures again to be heavy on offensive and defensive linemen and El
Pasoans and light on junior college transfers.
That formula has worked. UTEP had three redshirt freshmen on the
all-Conference USA freshman team this year in guards Derek Elmendorff
and Will Hernandez and linebacker Alvin Jones, none of whom were
considered prize recruits out of high school. The same goes for another
member of the class of 2013, tailback Aaron Jones, who was second-team
all-conference this year after making the freshman team last year.
Elmendorff and the Jones brothers are all from El Paso.
Kugler, who said this "is an outstanding signing group," admitted this is a nerve-racking time.
"It's an uneasy feeling the last two days," he said. "It's a dead
period when you can't call them, you can't go visit them. You have to
bank on looking them in the eye, shaking their hand and you expect them
to hold up that commitment and we will hold up that commitment to them."
That will be tested today.
Kugler's third national signing day as UTEP head coach, but in that
short time two traditions have been well established.
The class will be rated poorly by scouting websites and Kugler won't
care. The limited sample size seems to indicate Kugler has a point.
Using a formula of getting surprising value from lightly regarded El
Pasoans, Kugler rebuilt the Miners quickly and looks to cash in on that
momentum today with a class that he said could range from 21 to 23
players.
The list UTEP releases today at noon will have lots of surprises, as
Rivals.com lists just four commitments and one signee in junior college
transfer Sky Logan, a defensive end from Hinds (Miss.) Community College
who is already on campus. That is the smallest list out of the 124 FBS
programs.
Rivals' roster of commitments does not include Eastwood offensive
tackle Greg Long, who can't wait for his noon signing to the Miners.
At the start of the recruiting process "I really had non idea where I
was going to go, I was going to sign with San Diego State," Long said.
"What changed my mind, this is going to sound funny, was playing
basketball with the coaches. I saw what they were really about. I got a
good feeling and I knew that's where I wanted to be. I was feeling what
everyone was feeling."
Eastlake's Chris Barnwell, a defensive end, and Americas offensive tackle Markos Lujan have also committed to UTEP.
"It was the coaching staff, the coaching staff was all really nice to
me," Lujan said. "I'm looking forward to this, UTEP is a powerhouse
now. It will be amazing to have my family see me play."
The highest-rated Miner commitment is from Jonathan Forrest, a
running back from New Rochelle, N.Y. who is a three-star prospect. UTEP
will also announce tight end M.J. McFarland, an Eldorado alum, who is
transferring from Texas after graduating from there.
Kugler isn't allowed to comment on specific recruits, but this class
figures again to be heavy on offensive and defensive linemen and El
Pasoans and light on junior college transfers.
That formula has worked. UTEP had three redshirt freshmen on the
all-Conference USA freshman team this year in guards Derek Elmendorff
and Will Hernandez and linebacker Alvin Jones, none of whom were
considered prize recruits out of high school. The same goes for another
member of the class of 2013, tailback Aaron Jones, who was second-team
all-conference this year after making the freshman team last year.
Elmendorff and the Jones brothers are all from El Paso.
Kugler, who said this "is an outstanding signing group," admitted this is a nerve-racking time.
"It's an uneasy feeling the last two days," he said. "It's a dead
period when you can't call them, you can't go visit them. You have to
bank on looking them in the eye, shaking their hand and you expect them
to hold up that commitment and we will hold up that commitment to them."
That will be tested today.
