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SALT LAKE CITY -- The University of Utah football program is coming off one of the best offseasons a team could hope for with fans, media and recruits taking note. In joining the PAC-10 conference along with a 3-0 start to the football season, it's the hope of Ute coaches to parlay it into unprecedented recruiting success.
Utah is a program that has recently fared well on the recruiting front in attracting a lot of good talent to benefit their program. They've done some good recruiting work in the regions of Southern California and in Texas, most notably without ignoring the top in-state talent.
They're well on their way in attracting yet another top recruiting class with 17 currently committed players. But they're certainly not done with those 17. Due to momentum garnered through their PAC-10 inclusion, Ute coaches are aiming higher.
"Utah has fewer offers out right now than I can ever recall", noted UteZone.com founder Tom Cella, who's covered Utah recruiting intently since 2005. "They're going after a lot of guys that they usually go after, but they have 40-50 offers out currently and a lot of those offers are to kids that appear on the rivals100 list which are basically the top 100 recruits nationally, so they‘re being a lot more selective."
Utah being more selective this year obviously has to do with them already having 17 of those offers filled with commits. Going forward, the hope is to hone in on only the top national talent from now until signing day as Ute coaches believe the recent success of their program coupled with their PAC-10 affiliation will bring in more top-flight talent.
So far, so good, according to Cella on that front because Utah has been able to contest with some of the top programs nationally for some of the top recruits. While their PAC-10 affiliation certainly isn't the only factor in attracting these recruits, it certainly doesn't hurt.
"Recruits are excited about it, no question", said Cella. "Every recruit I talk to, it's a big thing in their minds. How couldn't it be? Recruits would obviously much rather play in the PAC-10 than in a conference some of them have never heard of."
While spreading their wings nationally, Utah hasn't ignored the talent here locally in securing commits from the top of the Utah prep ranks.The first commit of the 2011 class was Highland's Nate Fakahafua, which was followed up by a commit from Spanish Fork's Isaac Asiata. Asiata is a 6-foot, 4-inch, 319-pound offensive line prospect who committed to Utah in January after being courted by several schools.
"A lot of people thought I was crazy committing to Utah so early," he said. "People would say that I should wait for some more offers, but I really didn't see the point of waiting. I knew Utah was the place I wanted to be and really the only place I wanted to play football."
Asiata obviously committed long before Utah received their official invite to join the PAC-10 conference, but was attracted to Utah simply because it felt like home to him.
"I remember attending my first game there last year and I completely loved it," he recalled. "The energy of the place, the student section, those were the kind of fans I wanted to play for. I love the atmosphere of Utah. It's a bit of a younger and more enthusiastic atmosphere and I love that about Utah."
The coaches and how they work with their players obviously left an impact on him as well.
"I remember the first time meeting Coach Whittingham before I even committed and he greeted me with a hug," said Asiata. "I immediately felt like I was wanted there and knew that they had my best interest in mind as a football player and as a student. I love all of the Utah coaches."
Since his commit, Utah's received 15 more from some prospects both in and out of state. After it was announced Utah would join the PAC-10, seven players committed in one week. "Players are excited and I know that I'm excited," said Asiata about Utah's new opportunities. "It was crazy and exciting seeing all the new commits come in. We got some pretty big names after we got invited to the PAC-10 and hopefully that will continue."
Since his own commit, Asiata has done his part in sort of shepherding the 2011 signing class.
"I call almost everyone that is committed every week", he explained. "I don't keep in touch with all of them, but the ones I do, I usually call them every Saturday and if I don't get to talk to them, I leave messages. I just want to make sure everyone keeps excited about coming to Utah and I want all of us to be real close, so we can be that much better as teammates."
Asiata firmly believes the 2011 signing class will be the start of something great at the university .
"People are already excited with Utah winning two BCS bowls and all, but we all feel that we're going to become something even bigger," he said. "It's a special thing to be part of the first signing class after Utah joined the PAC-10. And I know through my conversations that we all feel the same way. Utah football is only going to be better and I'm so excited to be part of it."
