Honolulu Advertiser
The Aztecs recruit most likely to make an immediate impact is Whitley Fehoko, a 6-foot-1, 320-pound offensive lineman from Honolulu's Farrington High.
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It is not a group studded with stars or burgeoning with blue-chippers.
It is a collection heavy on heft (10 linemen), laden with locals (six) and one marked more by savvy than swagger.
It is San Diego State football coach Chuck Long's first recruiting class, an undertaking arguably undercut by a late start, but one that also produced a Parade magazine All-American, saw the Aztecs get their hooks into Texas and make significant inroads in Colorado.
“If you look at some of the teams that I've been part of in the past, our 2000 national championship team at Oklahoma comes to mind,” Long said of the 18 players who signed national letters of intent with SDSU yesterday, the first day recruits could sign. “We had a great team, but we only had two players get drafted off that team and only one stuck in the NFL.
“But it was just one of those teams, a team with hard-working, roll-up-your-sleeves kinds of guys. And that's what I'm interested in, that's the kind of impact we're looking for.”
Long has inherited a program saddled with seven consecutive nonwinning seasons, one ingloriously distinguished as the only team in the Mountain West Conference never to have gone to a bowl game since the league's inception. He had 19 scholarships to offer but opted to reserve one.
All 18 players – seven of whom had given oral commitments to former coach Tom Craft – made good on their promise to sign. B.J. Williams, a defensive end from Aurora (Colo.) Eaglecrest High, was the latest addition, choosing the Aztecs over Colorado State yesterday morning.
The nugget of the group is Whitley Fehoko, a 6-foot-1, 320-pound offensive lineman from Honolulu's Farrington High. Fehoko, who was tabbed a Parade All-American yesterday, also had scholarship offers from LSU, Oklahoma and Nebraska. Fehoko, who intends to start as a true freshman, gave an oral commitment to Utah last summer but recently decommitted when the team told him he likely would need to redshirt.
Of the 18 players signed, 15 were high school players. The three community college transfers – offensive linemen Dan Hathaway (Grossmont College) and Peter Manuma (Long Beach City) and defensive end Brian Stanbra (Grossmont) – are expected to contribute immediately.
The class includes 12 players from California, half of whom prepped at San Diego County high schools.
According to the national recruiting database Rivals.com, the Aztecs last night were rated as having the 86th-best recruiting class in the nation and fourth-best in the MWC behind Utah, defending champion TCU and UNLV.
“We feel like we've signed quality,” Long said. “We didn't have the quantity this year, just because there wasn't a big number of players in the graduating class, which makes it good for the future because we have a young team (15 starters) coming back.
“But as a coaching staff, we're going to swarm this county from here on out. We want to make sure those players don't go out of the county.”
It was scurry and scramble for Long, who essentially had one month to recruit after Craft's firing in early December. Hired Dec. 17, Long said he used the NCAA's recruiting “dead period” (Dec. 19-Jan. 1) to organize as quickly as possible.
“You always feel like you're behind when there's transition,” Long said. “But the dead period really did allow us to catch up. We had a great plan coming out of the dead period, and I think we executed it very well.
“But thank goodness we had the month of January to recruit and that signing day wasn't until February. In the last week, we really rushed and closed some deals in a hurry. There were some fast decisions that we had to make in a short period of time.”
One of those decisions, clearly, was to address the offensive and defensive lines. The Aztecs, who lost center Jasper Harvey, right guard Taylor Schmidt and right tackle Chris Pino to graduation, signed three offensive linemen.
SDSU also addressed what was considered a defensive line short on bulk by signing seven defensive linemen. The standout of the group could be Stanbra, a 6-4, 235-pound end who earned all-state honors last season while helping lead Grossmont to the mythical JC national title.
“I think (SDSU) was a little thin last year on both lines,” said defensive coordinator Bob Elliott. “It's always important to have quality guys up front where it's noisy and where the spit is flying.
“We did get a late start, but it's been my experience that a late start pales in comparison to getting the right head coach. We rallied pretty well. This class is better than I envisioned it being. And I think we sent a message to all the coaches in San Diego County that we're going to work as hard as we can to go after all of the great players not only in this area, but in all of Southern California.”
Extra points
Long said he intends to fill the team's vacant offensive line coach position by late next week but is not setting a timetable. Spring practice begins March 20 . . . Long said freshman quarterback Kevin Craft, son of Tom Craft, will remain with the team.
Mick McGrane: (619) 293-1850; mick.mcgrane@uniontrib.com
