Utah State has been operating under a cloud of uncertainty since early July, when the university announced that it was firing now-former head coach Blake Anderson.
With that decision, the future of Aggie football was thrown completely up in the air, for the 2024 season and going forward.
As has since been seen, the season didn’t turn out especially well for Utah State.
Under interim head coach Nate Dreiling, the Aggies finished 4-8 and 3-4 in Mountain West Conference play.
There were flashes of good football — particularly in wins over Hawaii and San Diego State — but overall the Aggies struggled. Injuries, overall talent on the roster (or lack thereof), coaching miscues — it all contributed to the worst 12-game season for the program since 2016.
As rough as the season was, there was a real possibility that things would get even worse in the offseason.
After all, how could a a coaching staff led by an interim head coach successfully recruit players to join the program? What players would risk joining a program when the coaches who recruited them were most likely not going to be around to actually coach them?
As it turns out, quite a few. Many of them being Utah high school prospects.
Utah State announced the signing of 20 players Wednesday, with the opening of the early signing period.
In that group are 12 players from the state of Utah, 11 of whom signed out of high school. Utah State signed 17 players from the high school ranks, pulling players from American Samoa, Arizona, Florida, Oklahoma and Washington.
The Aggies also signed three junior college transfers, including one of the highest rated juco linebackers in the country (Tymere Burton) and two Snow College transfers.
Thirteen of Utah State’s signees were offensive players — five linemen, three tight ends, two running backs, a quarterback, a wide receiver and an athlete (offensive lineman/tight end). Seven defensive players were also signed — three linebackers, two linemen and two defensive backs.
Of the 20 signees, 10 were rated three-star prospects by at least one of the four major recruiting services — 247 Sports, ESPN, On3 Sports and Rivals.
A largely incomplete ranking of Utah State’s class by 247 Sports — the recruiting service only credited the Aggies with 12 commitments — has Utah State’s 2025 class rated No. 124 in the country, which is the 10th best class in the Mountain West.
Given the circumstances, the early signing period was a success for Utah State.
“What a fun day for Utah State football and especially the state of Utah,” Dreiling said. “Our plan since July was we wanted to make sure we put a fence up around this state and get the top players to not leave home and (instead) head to Logan for their college experience.
“That is what this class is going to look like. Close to a dozen Utah high school players, all of whom are unbelievable talents and great kids who are going to come up here and do great things for their home state.
“That is what I wanted. I wanted players who are going to play because they have so much pride for this university, as opposed to being pissed off that they aren’t at Texas or Oklahoma,” he continued. “I think a chip on your shoulder and pride in your mind goes a long way on the football field and that is what this class is made of.”
Dreiling’s background in football is high school football — his dad is a legend in Kansas high school football — which colored his and the staff’s approach to recruiting.
Throw in the greatly changed landscape of recruiting in the sport — Dreiling noted that many teams utilize the NCAA transfer portal for the majority of their team building now, rather than recruit high school prospects/projects — and there were plenty of high school prospects available for Utah State.
“High school kids get overlooked because everyone is being recycled,” Dreiling said. “You have a transfer player who was at Ohio State and played 10 snaps and you are going to take him because he was at Ohio State, as opposed to taking a player who lives 20 minutes away who was unbelievable talent but who may not be ready right now. But in a year or two is going to be way better than any transfer player you could get.
“It is terrible for high school recruiting. I spoke with my dad a couple of days ago and one Division II school came in to recruit their players because everyone is just going to do plug and play and go from there. That is why we were able to find so much success.”
Perhaps the biggest reason that Utah State was able to land as many signees as it did, though, was transparency from the coaches.
The Aggies didn’t shy away from the uncertainty that surrounds USU right now when they were out recruiting. Per Dreiling, they were upfront, honest and forthcoming and that alleviated a lot of concerns from players and their families.
“It is not easy recruiting when you have an interim tag on the head coach and the uncertainties behind it, but we did a great job I feel like of being transparent with these players and letting them know what was going to happen here, regardless (of who coaches them),” he said. “And that if they came here, this is a special place and place that will excel.”
Around midseason, Dreiling sat down with Utah State athletic director Diana Sabau to talk about the uncertainty surrounding the future of the coaching staff and how that was affecting recruits.
“I wanted to make sure these players were getting the right information. I wanted to make sure they were covered, regardless of the outcome of this coaching search,” Dreiling said. “And she (Sabau) agreed that anybody that was committing to this staff wasn’t necessarily committing to Nate Dreiling but committing and signing to Utah State.
“And I wanted to get that point across to the players and their families. So they know worse-case scenario, if we aren’t around to develop their sons, that they still have a spot here and are guaranteed to come to this university.
“Parents loved it,” Dreiling added. “That is why were were able to get (the players to commit and sign). Because the players trusted us and believed in what we were saying. We painted the pictures of best- and worst-case scenario for them and really just tried to push this university, the culture, the fanbase.
“And let them know that if we were not going to be the ones developing their sons, they were still going to be in great hands.”
With such a heavy emphasis on high school signees, there is a real danger that Utah State will develop players and then they will transfer out to bigger programs that are able to offer them better NIL deals.
It has happened to the Aggies each offseason since the advent of NIL.
Dreiling isn’t ignorant to that fact, but believes the allure of the transfer portal can be overcome. And that developing high school projects is still the right way to build a successful program. Even in 2024.
“We are going to make a lot of money on high school kids. We are going to grow ‘em, we are going to get them ready to roll,” Dreiling said. “And when the time comes and Oklahoma is offering $1 million, we are going to compete our butts off with our relationships and help them out (financially) as much as we can. That model (recruiting and developing high school prospects) has been in place and I’ll always be a believer in it. I am a high school coach’s son and where I’ll be (coaching) I will always be recruiting high school players.”
