COLUMN: Aggie Class of ’13 has promise
I’m a local’s local. This means when I say I’m from Logan, it doesn’t mean Hyrum, Millville or even Petersboro. I’m from Logan.
Which also means I had suffered through more than a decade of terrible football after moving here at age five before that Gary Andersen guy came along.
It also means that never once before in my life had it even crossed my mind to care about National Signing Day, when all football recruits are officially signed. Way back before, none of our guys were even heard of before getting here.
But this year the day – if you still don’t know, it’s the first Wednesday in February – actually mattered to me, and our new stud head coach Matt Wells made this one count.
My good friend Spencer Champlin, a self-made recruiting expert, invited me to accompany him to Wells’ press conference, where we learned about the future of the program for the next couple of years. Boy, it looks bright.
“I told a kid last week in school, I really believe that we can win with you, but I promise you that we will win without you,” Wells said at the conference. “You can jump on board or jump off right now. The kids that want to come here, we are going to win with them.”
Afterwards, Champlin told me he’s never been this excited about an Aggie class before, raving about the hidden gems that he saw emerging as stars in a few years.
As Wells ran down the list of every player to commit, I found myself with a newfound joy and certainty, one that even in my wildest dreams never seemed to appear: 2012 was not the only year for Aggie football.
“End?” Gandalf the White once said. “No, the journey doesn’t end here.”
Sure, the signee list may not include nationally-renowned five-star players, but quite a few strong programs found themselves being turned down in favor of Utah State, not to mention the few that saw the light and left the school down south behind. This year’s class looks built for success and hits the key points.
How did it all happen? How could, instead of losing all that had been built up when Andersen left for Wisconsin, may we have even improved the class?
It’s mainly a big shout-out to Wells and the rest of his staff. They not only managed to salvage bits and pieces, but judging by player quotes and highly reliable Twitter comments, have received numerous compliments and been listed by recruits as a big reason why they eventually signed.
Champlin pointed out to me that Utah State coaches have an “uncanny ability” to nab extremely talented players that are overlooked by larger schools.
Points go out to Wells and all the staff. Points all around to Aggie Nation for helping support those who come, and points to the weather for cooperating and finally being warm.
Straight from a text message of a recruiting expert, “Today is a great day for Aggie football.”
– Mark is an obsessive Aggie fan that moonlights as an almost unbiased Statesman writer. He is majoring in business administration and preparing for medical school. Comment at m.hop@aggiemail.usu.edu or his blog, www.spectrumagic.blogspot.com.