Feb. 4, 2016
Past Mick McGrane Features
2014
Kaehler: A Thinking Man's Game (Aug. 5)
Whittaker: Long Time Gone, Never Forgotten (Aug. 6)
Life in the Weight Room: Hall's Strong Suit (Aug. 15)
Roberts: A Career Comes Full Circle (Aug. 21)
The Season's in Session, Take Your Seats (Aug. 29)
How Quickly we Forget (Sept. 7)
Looks can be Deceiving (Sept. 19)
O-Line has Aztecs' Running Game in High Gear (Oct. 23)
Falling Short is no Longer an Option for Aztec Football (Nov. 29)
Winds of Change: "Rise To 25" Fuels New Direction for Football (Dec. 23)
Pumphrey in Need of a Playing Partner (Dec. 24)
2015
Football no Longer Needs Sun to Sell Itself (Feb. 4)
Aztec Football is Flush with Experience in 2015 (Feb. 20)
Regardless of Road, Whittaker's Future is Flush with Success (July 23)
Gordon no Longer Wrestling with Football Future (July 30)
Kazee has the Corner Covered in Aztec D (Aug. 5)
Hageman has Given Boot to Aztec Kicking Woes (Aug. 14)
Life is a Snap for Aztecs' Overbaugh (Aug. 21)
Munson Shines upon Emerging From Shadows (Aug. 28)
Pumphrey Prioritizes Winning in Rush to Stardom (Sept. 2)
Aztecs Positioned to Take Next Step in '15 (Sept. 4)
Aztecs Look to Get Offense in Gear (Sept. 6)
Penny's Stock Rising on Rate of Returns (Sept. 7)
Sorry, No Apologies Forthcoming (Sept. 11)
Seeking a Solution at Quarterback (Sept. 18)
Aztecs, Hauck Have Something Special (Oct. 2)
Aztecs Positioned to Make Statement (Oct. 22)
Aztecs Deliver Message to MW (Oct. 24)
Aztecs' O-Line Removing All Doubt (Oct. 30)
Aztecs' Offense in High Gear (Nov. 15)
Long has Razed, Resurrected Aztecs (Nov. 20)
Aztecs Have Taken the Long Way Home (Nov. 27)
Aztecs Roll with Punches --- and Pumphrey (Nov. 29)
A Future Flush with Fortune (Dec. 2)
A New Dark Side Dawns at SDSU (Dec. 4)
SDSU's Potential Packed with Promise (Dec. 6)
For Aztec Fans, the Fun has Just Begun (Dec. 12)
2016
Continuity Makes a Comeback (Jan. 15)
SDSU Hits Its Stride in Recruiting Race
By Mick McGrane, @GoAztecs Senior Writer (@MickOnTheMesa)
Now that college football's scouting services have regaled us with their annual anointing of recruiting royalty, and ESPNU can go back to being, well, ESPNU, San Diego State special teams coordinator Bobby Hauck has some news for the blue-chipper and the can't-miss-prospect, the recruiting coup and the player most prized:
The reality bullet can leave a nasty impression.
"Everybody who saw the Super Bowl last year heard that quote about how there were no five-star recruits playing in the game," Hauck said. "How do you define four- and five-star guys? They're the guys that are watching the two- and three-star guys win championships while they're sitting on the sideline for three years."
SDSU concluded National Letter of Intent Day on Wednesday by adding 26 players. What it means is anyone's guess, including those intent on assigning stars to any head in a helmet. To guarantee that any will play is to guarantee coaching longevity, a concept found comical to most athletic directors and wholly hilarious among all head coaches.
Football, however, is no longer a laughing matter where the Aztecs are concerned. Gone are the days of apathy and indifference, the days when losses amassed like fallen leaves and recruiting forays were forged largely with the knowledge that a "no" would be forthcoming. While opponents continued to fatten themselves with fruit from local trees, SDSU's subsistence was largely limited to leftovers and the subsequent non-winning seasons, which numbered 11 straight before Brady Hoke broke through in 2010.
"In this class, in at least two cases and maybe even three, there were guys that we don't get four or five years ago," said Tony White, who has continued to serve as the Aztecs' recruiting coordinator and cornerbacks coach under head coach Rocky Long after arriving with Hoke in 2009. "Five years ago there was no way we were going to walk in there and get these guys.
"Now we have the chance to walk in and sit down with a guy who has a legitimate offer from a Power 5 school and sell the farm. In the past, you would be, let's say, politely declined much sooner. You knew right from the get-go that you were not going to be able to compete. Now they want to listen, and as a recruiter all you want is for them to listen to you. If you can do that, you have a legitimate shot."
Winning has a tendency to knock down a lot of doors, particularly given a 2015 campaign in which SDSU concluded matters by winning 10 straight games, a span that included securing the West Division title of the Mountain West, beating Air Force in the league championship game and pummeling Cincinnati 42-7 in the Hawaii Bowl. The Aztecs won 11 games for the first time in 46 years and finished four spots out of the AP Top 25.
"A lot of people on the outside have always referred to San Diego State as this sleeping giant for football," White said. "But the football component could never match up to the educational part of it, which is a particularly big part now when you see so many students applying to get in. It's a very popular school right now.
"But in terms of recruiting, the football component is the most important part of all. Kids aren't about to come to a place where you're winning one, two, three games a year, no matter where it is. So, the football part of it has now matched everything else the school has to offer. And kids see that once you get them on campus."
Even kids from Philadelphia. Just as the program has raised its goals, it also has extended its reach. No longer limited to merely combing the West, one player signing with the Aztecs on Wednesday was Yasir Durant, a 6-foot-7, 345-pound offensive tackle from Imhotep Institute in Philadelphia who spurned offers from Arizona State, Illinois, North Carolina and Texas Tech, among others.
"The one position that you're going to go anywhere in the country for are the bigs, offensive and defensive linemen," White said. "With Yasir, we saw film of him early in the recruiting process and we always kept in touch with him. He was recruited by a lot of schools, but our thinking was that an inner city kid in Philly might want to get away from it all, so we scheduled a trip to get him out here and he really loved it. And he loved the support he's going to get."
He'll get plenty from Hauck, the former UNLV head coach who feels the Power 5 programs are making far more promises than they'll deliver.
"We're in a culture now that's really driven by different forms of media, and the recruiting process is certainly subject to that," Hauck said. "We beat people on recruits this year from the Power 5 conferences, because those kids were interested in the school and the education and they were able to see through it. But some kids are part of the ESPN culture, and all they can see is that (Power 5) label. There were teams that we finished 30 places ahead of in the national rankings, but the kids don't care because they don't see it.
"The guys that are smart in the process see not only a good place, but also a good fit, and that's where they go. You may not overcome the (Power 5) culture, because with some kids it's a lost cause; they don't care. I lost a recruit this year who ended up at a Power 5 school that hadn't talked to the kid in six months. I talked to him every week. But he just jumped ship. The guys that make a decision that way are in for a rude awakening. If you don't make the effort to find out what (a program) is all about, you're going to be jumping into a situation where you don't know where you're going to land. They get sold a bill of goods based on a label."
At SDSU, at long last, they are being sold on a staff that didn't lose a single member from last season and a head coach who is the first at SDSU since 2001 to last longer than five years. They're being sold on a program that has posted six straight winning seasons, advanced to six consecutive bowl games and is fiercely fighting to recapture a city that once held Aztec football close to its heart.
In short, they're being sold on a winner.
"The two goals of every recruiting season are to fill the holes in the roster and upgrade the talent," White said. "It's the same plan we've had in place the last three, four, five years. And you know what? It's working."