It's not easy to get better everywhere at once, which is almost what Utah State's football program needed to do with its 1996 letter-of-intent signees, all 22 of whom were into the fold by mid-afternoon Wednesday, national letter-of-intent day.
The group includes some impressive wide receivers, two tight ends, a freshman quarterback with good size, some big size for both lines, a running back and a couple of linebackers and defensive backs. In several cases, USU went head-to-head with the Pac-10 and WAC and won out. "A lot of kids are not caught up in that," says second-year coach John L. Smith, noting that especially junior college players want to go where they'll have the chance to play their two years."You never get everything you want," he admitted. "We got beat on some - which means you're recruiting the right guys.
"We certainly aimed high," Smith said. "We lost some battles (namely a good defensive end to Washington State), but we also signed some people that in the past wouldn't have considered Utah State."
The coach is tickled over "quite a few of them. All the JC kids, we would expect to contribute," he said. Most freshmen will be in learning situations next season.
Perhaps the biggest prize is Steve Smith, one of four players the Aggies got from Chaffey (Calif.) College. Smith, of Belle Glade, Fla., has always been a quarterback, but his 5-foot-9, 175-pound size and tremendous speed (4.26 40, Florida prep-record 21.9/200 meters) mean he'll move to wide receiver, where Smith says he'll be "a difference-maker. He is awful fast."
Other impressive receivers are Smith's Belle Glade/Chaffey-mate Nakia Jenkins, who originally signed with Miami out of high school, and Antwone "Smiley" King of Phoenix (Ariz.) College.
Both tight ends are big, block well and can catch, Smith says. Defensive linemen John Latu (Etiwanda, Calif., and Chaffey College, a prep Blue Chipper who missed JC All-American by one vote) and Adam Jones (Long Beach City College, recruited by Washington State, can play three positions) are "really going to help," Smith says. Also, 300-pound+ offensive lineman Josh Liberty (San Diego Mesa College) has "good feet," Smith says.
And linebacker Todd Sofonia of Sandy (Brighton) and Ricks College "is going to be a real good player," Smith says.
Having the whole year to get the work done made a difference for Smith, whose first recruiting class in 1995 was hastily done after he took the USU job in January.
"I'm a lot more optimistic than I was a year ago," says Smith, who rated his first class a C and this one a C+ with the opportunity to be a B if all the players signed manage to complete all the university entrance processes and actually be on campus in August.
"The battle has just begun," he said of the qualification process. "But any time you have a full year to recruit, it makes a big difference," said Smith. "It's a better year from standpoint of spreading things out," he said, meaning 1996 recruits were able to visit in small groups so they could get a better idea of the program, and many got to see some games.
"The kids on campus (player/hosts) did a great job. Our staff worked extremely hard, but it was those kids who sold the program because they believe in what we're doing and where we're headed," said Smith.