Jared Cohen
For any college football program, success on the field can lead to success off of it. Two seasons in a row, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks have seen a ton of success in the Big Sky Conference consisting of post season play and high national rankings.
In turn, NAU Head Coach Jerome Souers signs a 2014 recruiting class that has him excited as ever.
“When you start the recruiting process and create your recruiting board of possible prospects, your board will have multiple guys at each position,” said head coach Jerome Souers. “This year we got the top guy at every recruited position on that board. That not only proves how hard our coaching staff worked recruiting these student/athletes, but it also speaks to our success as a program. Most of those kids are turning down multiple offers to be a Lumberjack. Our recruits can see the direction the program is headed and it’s an exciting time!”
On Signing Day Wednesday, the Lumberjacks signed 28 players to their program. Over the last few seasons, they have made a much stronger push for the state’s top in-state recruits and it is paying off. Of the 28, 16 are from the state of Arizona.
“We’ve made a concerted effort to outwork every other program when it comes to recruiting the State of Arizona,”stated Souers. “Our goal is always to have more than 50% of our roster consist of Arizona kids. We want everyone in this state to be Lumberjack Fans! When they fill the “Sky Dome” we know they’ll feel connected to this team on a personal level. The High School programs in Arizona have great coaches that have elevated these programs. The talent in this state is all over the place and we don’t want these kids going anywhere else. We want the bestArizona student/athletes to know they have a home here in Flagstaff.”
Below is the complete list of NAU’s 2014 recruiting class:
Siupeli Anau, DE, 6-2, 242, Phoenix, Ariz. (Horizon HS/Scottsdale CC)
Josh Bamrick, LB, 6-1, 240, Glendale, Ariz. (Mesquite HS/Glendale CC)
Tyler Brown, RB, 5-8 165, Walnut, Calif. (Diamond Bar HS)
Emmanuel Butler, WR, 6-3, 210, Phoenix, Ariz. (Mountain Pointe HS)
Jake Casteel, LB, 5-11, 200, Tucson, Ariz. (Salpointe Catholic HS)
Kelepi Fifita, DL, 6-0, 275, Phoenix, Ariz. (Central HS)
Cruz Flores, DL, 6-2, 275, Tempe, Ariz. (Chandler HS)
Dan Galindo, WR, 6-0, 175, Phoenix, Ariz. (Pinnacle HS)
Rod Gilleo, OL, 6-6, 245, Kingman, Ariz. (Kingman HS)
Corbin Gouby, LB, 6-2, 215 Tucson, Ariz. (Mountain View HS)
Calvin Gray, S, 6-0, 180, Stockton, Calif. (Edison HS)
Patrick Green, TE, 6-4, 235, Turlock, Calif. (Turlock HS)
Cole Habib, OL, 6-5, 254 San Diego, Calif. (Saint Augustine HS)
Eddie Horn, S, 5-11, 208 Livermore, Calif. (Granada HS/Chabot CC)
Nick Johnson, DL, 6-3, 270, Saint Clair Shores, Mich. (South Lake HS/Palm Desert CC)
Elijah Marks, WR, 6-1, 175, Goodyear, Ariz. (Desert Edge HS)
Jarius McDade, DT, 6-3, 300, Auburn, Wash. (O’Dea HS)
Jordan Morgan, S, 6-0, 210, Chandler, Ariz. (Blue Ridge/Cal University)
Bryant O’Georgia, WR, 6-0, 180, Phoenix, Ariz. (North Canyon HS)
Marquice Paige, RB, 5-11, 190, Litchfield Park, Ariz. (Agua Fria HS)
Vincent Parrish, WR, 6-3, 175, San Diego, Calif. (Madison HS)
Blake Porter, OL 6-0, 270, Newhall, Calif. (Hart HS)
Andrew Robateau, DL 6-3, 260 Moreno Valley, Calif. (Moreno Valley/Chaffey CC)
Josh Sparks, OL, 6-6, 285, Fontana, Calif. (Jurupa Hills HS)
Xavier Stephens, LB, 6-0, 230, Tulare, Calif. (Tulare Union HS/Nevada-Reno)
Cole Sterns, Athlete, 5-11, 175, Tucson, Ariz. (Sahuaro HS)
Wes Sutton, CB, 6-0, 170, Chandler, Ariz. (Chandler HS)
Ben Sweet, P/K, 6-2, 200, Phoenix, Ariz. (Pinnacle HS)
