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Amid uncertainty regarding the future of the University of Utah football program with flurries of coaching departures, local high school prospects have waited in limbo with National Signing Day rapidly approaching on Feb. 4.
"I think there has been a lot of confusion up on the hill," East coach Brandon Matich said. "In-state recruits don't know what's going on with Utah."
This past Thursday, a day before the University announced a new four-year contract for head coach Kyle Whittingham, the program sought to re-establish comfort in the prep ranks from the agricultural valleys of northern Utah to the red cliffs in the southern canyons.
"We wanted to make a statement. We feel in order to be successful in the Pac-12 Conference, the foundation of our recruiting strategy has to be planted squarely in Utah," said Fred Whittingham, Utah's director of player personnel. "We feel the blitz was putting our money where our mouth is."
On the first day of allowable contact following the NCAA recruiting dead period, nine of Utah's football staff members and coaches enthusiastically "blitzed" roughly 63 prep programs across the state. All 103 football-playing schools will have had at least one coach visit their campus by the end of the spring evaluation period on May 31.
"It's a concerted effort to make sure the state knows Utah is our priority," said Utah safeties coach and recruiting coordinator Morgan Scalley. "… I think what you're seeing is more Division I athletes signed out of Utah, and more Pac-12 institutions coming into our state trying to recruit Utah players. We need to make sure we do a great job of protecting our home turf."
According to the Scout.com recruiting database, 292 prep players from Utah have signed with or committed to Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs since 2002. With the state's evolution into a recruiting hotbed, 161 signed or committed in the past six seasons 30 more than the previous eight years combined.
And that's not accounting for numerous Division 1-bound athletes yet to pledge in the coming weeks.
Already 22 prospects from the Class of 2015 have verbally committed to FBS programs, while 18 more hold at least one offer from major institutions. The previous high was 35 committed players from the Class of 2013.
"[Before] there were recruiters here trying to recruit really big Polynesian defensive and offensive lineman around the state," Matich said. "I think we're going to see skill kids showing up. They're finding the quality of football here. People are transplanting their families here, so our talent level is growing immensely."
Since the 2002 season, Utah has signed or received commitments from 68 local players (vs. 97 for BYU and 59 for Utah State), with half (34) of the commitments coming since the U.'s Pac-12 inception in 2011. Overall, 74 (40 excluding Utah) have signed/committed with programs affiliated with Power 5 conferences.
As the state's talent pool has gained notoriety, so too has interest from out-of-state programs. Sixty-seven players have gone elsewhere since 2002. In the previous four classes (2012-15), 35 players, including eight already this season, have committed outside the Beehive State three more than in the prior 10 years combined.
Four of the top-rated prospects in the Class of 2015 are likely headed outside state boundaries: Brighton's Osa Masina (5 stars), Salem Hills' Porter Gustin (4) and Herriman's Andre James (4), who is committed to UCLA. East's Christian Folau (4) is considering Oregon, Oregon State and Wisconsin in addition to Utah.
All four very well could serve as direct competition to Utah in the Pac-12.
"I think the top prospects that leave out of state, they're pretty much going to blue-blood, premier college football programs," Fred Whittingham said. "And for some recruits, it's a draw to have a college experience away from home, and if a kid is dead-set on traveling somewhere, that's a harder obstacle to overcome."
The blitz isn't necessarily designed to lure headline recruits this season, Scalley said, but rather to establish working relationships with high school coaches to potentially discover players in the future, including at schools not typically associated with highly-touted athletes.
Former three-year starting center Zane Taylor prepped at Class 2A's Grand County. Pleasant Grove coach Les Hamilton referred to Urban Meyer recruiting Kyle Brady at Class 3A's Tooele.
"It's not a one-shot deal," Scalley said. "In-state recruiting is something you have to take care of everyday. I think time will tell; as long as we continue to do that, then it will be effective."
Offensive line coach Jim Harding recruited at Pleasant Grove early Thursday morning after American Fork, using social media to disclose his location and generate buzz. He spent 45 minutes before hitting Riverton, Herriman and Sky View.
"It was great. He came during our weight training class, so all the guys could see Utah is here," Hamilton said. "He's traditionally not recruited Pleasant Grove that was coach [Jay] Hill and then coach [Kalani] Sitake. We're excited to see the University of Utah here, and it definitely created a buzz."
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2015 football commitments
Player HS Stars Pos College
Zayne Anderson Stansbury 3 S BYU
Chad Artist Logan 2 WR Utah State
Dalton Baker Payson 2 OLB Utah State
Cody Barton Brighton 3 OLB Utah
Branden Bowen Corner Canyon 3 OT Ohio State
Quinn Fabrizio Alta 3 S Utah
TJ Fehoko Cottonwood 3 DE Colorado
Houston Heimuli Bountiful 3 FB Stanford
Jeremiah Ieremia Hurricane 3 MLB BYU
Andre James Herriman 4 OT UCLA
Chayden Johnston Bingham 3 K Utah
Austin Kafentzis Jordan 3 QB Wisconsin
Devin Kaufusi Timpivew 3 DE BYU
Harris Lachance Herriman 2 DE Utah State
Dayan Lake Northridge 4 CB BYU
Daniel Langi Bingham 3 MLB Utah State
Wade Meacham Layton 2 OT Utah State
Hausia Sekona East 3 DE Nevada
Gabe Sewell Desert Hills 3 MLB Nevada
Lausii "Boogie" Sewell Desert Hills 3 DT Colorado
Noah Togiai Hunter 3 TE Utah
Kody Wilstead Pine View 3 QB BYU
Source: Scout.com