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Out with the old, in with the new:
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The Boise State football team’s roller coaster off season smoothed out slightly Wednesday, as the 2008 NCAA National Football Signing Day brought some closure to the BSU regrouping process. The month of January brought swirling rumors and speculations about current players, which tightened the final stretch of the recruiting trail for Head Coach Chris Petersen and his staff.
Including six gray-shirt players from the 2007 group of recruits, BSU officially has 24 new members on the football team.
“I think the guys we’ve chosen to come to Boise State we feel very, very solid about,” Peterson said.
Of the 24 players, 23 are freshman. Junior college transfer, Daron Mackey (6-0, 235) is the only upperclassman joining the program. Mackey, a linebacker from Bakersfield, Calif., will be a junior in the fall.
Coach Petersen said that three or four of the freshman will likely gray-shirt during the 2008 season. He does have high hopes that some of the new-comers will be able to make an immediate impact on the field. Five freshmen from the 2007 recruiting class found considerable playing time for the Broncos this past season. With that in mind, Coach Petersen said he would be happy to have just one of the new recruits work into playing time in 2008.
If Petersen could pick one position that receives that immediate impact, it would certainly be on the offensive line. After losing junior offensive tackle Ryan Clady to the NFL draft, Andrew Woodruff (6-3, 328) is the only returning starter on the offensive line. Coach Petersen has recruited six new players to help fill that void.
“I think it would be awesome if we could get an offensive lineman in the mix, we’ve never ever had that,” Peterson said. “That’s just a hard position to get that done at.”
Along with the six offensive lineman, BSU has also signed four defensive lineman, linebackers, wide receivers and four more in the defensive secondary. The signing of one running back and one tight end rounds out the new class of recruits. The Broncos did not, however, acquire any new quarterbacks in this year’s class, which is no surprise considering the log jam BSU is experiencing at the position already.
“We would have taken a quarterback had it been the right guy,” Peterson said. “It wasn’t a high priority for us. Obviously next year it will be.”
In typical fashion, BSU managed to sign six players from the State of Idaho. The high school signees are highlighted by the Idaho Gatorade Player of the Year, linebacker, Byron Hout (6-1, 225) of Coeur d’ Alene High School.
Hout is joining the 2007 Gatorade Player of the Year, Matt Kaiserman, who came to BSU from Skyview High School in Nampa last spring. Kaiserman is one of three Idaho native grey-shirts. He is joined by wide receiver Mitch Burroughs of Meridian, and defensive lineman Shea McClellin of Caldwell.
“If there is an Idaho player who we think can help Boise State we don’t want them going anywhere else,” Peterson said. “The more Idaho guys we can keep here the better that we feel for Boise State.”
While the future remains unclear for any of the new recruits, Coach Petersen is confident that there is plenty of potential in the 24 new players.
“There’s not a guy on that sheet that we don’t feel very very good about,” Peterson said.
The biggest reason for that confidence comes in the Broncos recruiting formula. Coach Pete has always taken pride in recruiting players based on more than raw talent, which is no different in this year’s class.
“The talent part of thing can only take you so far,” Peterson said. “There’s so many intangibles that factor into that. We’re hoping that we’re right about a lot of these kids; that they love football, tough kids, and have a real drive to be the best at anything they do. School as well."
JAKE GARCIN
Sports Editor
