Football Recruiting - Early signing day '22

[Total Red]

I'm going to bring this list down here for discussion purposes. If there are changes to the list, they will be made in the Recruiting sub-forum.

Jake Anderson 6'4 230 DL Durand HS (Du-Pec), Davis, IL
Christian Kirenga 6'0 175 DB Archbishop Alter HS, Kettering, OH
Max Ziebarth 6'5 220 TE Normal West HS, IL
Rylan Crawford 6'3 190 S/WR Leo HS, IN
Landon Woodard 6'5 310 OT West HS, Waukesha, WI
David Connors Jr. 6'3 180 WR Robbinsdale C. HS, New Hope, MN
Greg Galloway 6'2 255 DL Oconomowoc HS, WI
Dallas Brown 6'1 190 S East St. Louis HS, Fairview Heights, IL
Myles Johnston 6'1 180 WR/DB Morris HS, IL wo
Lavarion Logan 5'9 190 RB Merrillville HS, IN
Christian Keyhea 6'1 175 WR Mount Zion HS, IL
Jordan Greuel 6'4 260 OL Greendale HS, WI
Mark (MJ) Cannon Jr. 6'3 200 DB Evanston HS, Skokie, IL
Jack Tippmann 6'4 230 TE Bishop Dwenger HS, New Haven, IN

Transfers
Kobe Rios 6'6 322 OL Rock Island HS, IL Iowa Western CC

 

[Total Red]

We have signatures from everyone but Dallas Brown. Everything about Brown's twitter acct would indicate that he is still planning to be a Redbird. I always look for D-Linemen because they're hard to recruit. We've got Galloway and Anderson so that's a good start. TE's have a 50/50 chance of being moved to another position with the D-Line being a popular destination. If either Tippman or Ziebarth moves to the DL that will give us 3 quality candidates to develop. I like the video of Lavarion Logan. We don't seem to have any problem recruiting RB's.
Some fans may have been concerned about this recruiting class because we didn't have a very good season but I've been following college football recruiting for about 45 years now (special interest in Illinois State and illinois) and it has been my experience that 1 or 2 good or bad seasons make very little difference. Redbird Football recruiting did not make a leap forward after the National Championship Game. If it had, we wouldn't have had the seasons we did in 2020 and '21. And despite our '21 record this recruiting class stacks up with others EXCEPT>>>>

 

[MadBird]

We have signatures from everyone but Dallas Brown. Everything about Brown's twitter acct would indicate that he is still planning to be a Redbird. I always look for D-Linemen because they're hard to recruit. We've got Galloway and Anderson so that's a good start. TE's have a 50/50 chance of being moved to another position with the D-Line being a popular destination. If either Tippman or Ziebarth moves to the DL that will give us 3 quality candidates to develop. I like the video of Lavarion Logan. We don't seem to have any problem recruiting RB's.
Some fans may have been concerned about this recruiting class because we didn't have a very good season but I've been following college football recruiting for about 35 years now (special interest in Illinois State and illinois) and it has been my experience that 1 or 2 good or bad seasons make very little difference. Redbird Football recruiting did not make a leap forward after the National Championship Game. If it had, we wouldn't have had the seasons we did in 2020 and '21. And despite our '21 record this recruiting class stacks up with others EXCEPT>>>>

Assuming the "Athletes" are receivers, three WR over 6'2, that's progress. I think the kid from Minnesota will be a good get. The Wisconsin kids were not all-staters, but from decent programs for the most part. And we can assume they've left room for some transfers, yes?

 

[Total Red]

EXCEPT for the elephant in the room which is the Quarterback position. So far we haven't inked a high school QB and we don't really need one. We signed two HS QB's in 2021 and we also have Jackson Waring from 2020. What we need is an older QB that is ready to step in and upgrade the position. The transfer portal is adding new names daily and there are a lot of QB's out there. This Redbird team actually has a lot talented players returning for '22. If the right QB comes in takes command of the offense the '22 team could look a lot different and a lot better.

 

[Total Red]

Assuming the "Athletes" are receivers, three WR over 6'2, that's progress. I think the kid from Minnesota will be a good get. The Wisconsin kids were not all-staters, but from decent programs for the most part. And we can assume they've left room for some transfers, yes?

I think we were looking for speed and length. I hope we found it. Keyhea from Mt. Zion, IL is supposed to be very fast.

 

[DaveBird10]

I think we were looking for speed and length. I hope we found it. Keyhea from Mt. Zion, IL is supposed to be very fast.

Keyhea from Mt. Zion, that's the other kid who decommitted from South Dakota State and is now a Redbird correct?

 

[DaveBird10]

We have signatures from everyone but Dallas Brown. Everything about Brown's twitter acct would indicate that he is still planning to be a Redbird. I always look for D-Linemen because they're hard to recruit. We've got Galloway and Anderson so that's a good start. TE's have a 50/50 chance of being moved to another position with the D-Line being a popular destination. If either Tippman or Ziebarth moves to the DL that will give us 3 quality candidates to develop. I like the video of Lavarion Logan. We don't seem to have any problem recruiting RB's.
Some fans may have been concerned about this recruiting class because we didn't have a very good season but I've been following college football recruiting for about 35 years now (special interest in Illinois State and illinois) and it has been my experience that 1 or 2 good or bad seasons make very little difference. Redbird Football recruiting did not make a leap forward after the National Championship Game. If it had, we wouldn't have had the seasons we did in 2020 and '21. And despite our '21 record this recruiting class stacks up with others EXCEPT>>>>

I don't believe we have had Myles Johnston sign yet either.

 

[MadBird]

Another thing I noticed, the geography is always interesting. Last year, 5 Texas, this year 0 (not sure they all showed up last year). Last year, 0 Badgers, this year 3. Last year 1 Hoosier, this year 3. In any event, seems to be a little more "close to home" than past years. No Florida, no Texas, no Kansas.

I was thinking about the QB's like you TR, we took two HS last year, Waring is young, we need either FBS or JC transfer, hopefully. Someone ready to go. At least bring out the best in Waring.

 

[MadBird]

Interesting read today:

Illinois recruiting numbers 'way, way, way down', according to 30-year analyst

The number of Illinois prep football players signing with the state FCS schools may well be an all-time low, according to longtime recruiting analyst “Edgy” Tim O’Halloran. Today is National Signing Day, the December date on the calendar when high school athletes officially declare which...

www.chicagonow.com

The number of Illinois prep football players signing with the state FCS schools may well be an all-time low, according to longtime recruiting analyst “Edgy” Tim O’Halloran.

 

[Total Red]

I don't believe we have had Myles Johnston sign yet either.

Myles Johnston 6'1 180 WR/DB Morris HS, IL wo

Walk-on - so he won't sign. Many years ago I didn't include walk-ons, but we've had several that became starters and good ones, so I tend to list them now.

 

[Total Red]

Got 'em

 

[Total Red]

Redbird Football Adds 14 In 2022 Early Signing Class - Illinois State University Athletics

ISU head coach Brock Spack and his staff announced the 2022 Illinois State football early signing class Wednesday, as 13 student-athletes signed National Letters

goredbirds.com

 

[GratefulRed]

Sure doesn’t look like this early class is going to do much to address the offensive woes that Spack mentioned at the end of the season. There are plenty if QB’s to go after in the portal but the jury is still out on QB development here as well. Looks like more of the same.

 

[DaveBird10]

Myles Johnston 6'1 180 WR/DB Morris HS, IL wo

Walk-on - so he won't sign. Many years ago I didn't include walk-ons, but we've had several that became starters and good ones, so I tend to list them now.

Ah ok. Yeah I didn't realize he was a walk-on. Hopefully he'll be next in line of walk-ons to step up.

 

[Birgs]

I'm all about going local when you can, but, whoa. This is pretty C-/D+

 

[cubird]

Spack said it is a good start in the 2022 class. So my question is can you verbal a player after the signing period to get him enrolled for Spring Semester and then sign him in February? Ideally, it would be great to have a QB transfer for Spring practice. However, some potential transfers may want to have one more shot in the Spring to be the man before deciding to move on in the summer.

 

[Dmills]

Lavarian Logan might be the best pick up from the offensive guys. Great to add a quality back to what I still believe is a pretty deep and talented running back room (no transfers yet).

 

[Total Red]

Spack said it is a good start in the 2022 class. So my question is can you verbal a player after the signing period to get him enrolled for Spring Semester and then sign him in February? Ideally, it would be great to have a QB transfer for Spring practice. However, some potential transfers may want to have one more shot in the Spring to be the man before deciding to move on in the summer.

My understanding is that FCS and FBS transfers do not sign a LOI like HS and Jr. college recruits. Someone please correct that if I'm wrong. We can still take a transfer after the early signing period and have them for spring practice as long as they get enrolled in time for the next semester.

 

[Total Red]

READ FOR COACH SPACK QB COMMENTS

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[Dmills]

Kobe Rios and Iowa Western CC play the New Mexico Military Institute in the NJCAA National Championship this Friday at 7 CST on CBS Sports Network.