Jake Spavital said that “changing the profile” of Texas State football can be done by addressing three crucial needs: depth, experience and body types.
After signing 19 scholarship players – 12 of which are transfers with collegiate experience – and receiving commitments from nine other preferred walk-ons, Spavital said on national signing day, “I think we ended up doing that.”
Depth: Even before accounting for the 22 departed seniors from 2019, the offensive line and linebacker positions were in dire need of retooling. Those needs were met with 10 of the 19 scholarships going to those two positions, five each. (The other nine: three receivers, three defensive backs, two running backs and one defensive lineman.)
But the Bobcats are also adding depth from preferred walk-ons (PWO’s). Nine players, including four offensive lineman, have publicly committed to the Bobcats as PWO’s. Among them are three junior college players – Fort Scott C.C. receiver Kevin Howard, Tyler J.C. defensive back Aaron Reynolds and Blinn C.C. offensive lineman Brandon Castillo.
“We can’t discuss it right now but we have a lot of preferred walk-ons committed to us,” Spavital said. “This coaching staff has done a pretty good job at making sure that we are on the same page, filling needs and body numbers. We never filled the roster last year. You can have around 120 kids on your roster and we never got over 110 guys over the course of the year. We are going to be at max capacity moving forward.”
Spavital was allowed to comment on Howard – a 6’4”, 220-pound receiver -on national signing day with the other 19 because Howard is already enrolled at Texas State and will be at spring practice. Reynolds will reportedly join the team in the summer.
Along with Castillo – who is 6’7”, 290 pounds – the Bobcats received PWO commitments from three other offensive linemen – Magnolia’s Tristan Simpson (6’2”, 280 pounds), Lake Travis’ Andrew Salem (6’2”, 265 pounds) and Midland Lee’s Eric Cisneros (6’2”, 290 pounds). This would give the Bobcats nine new bodies along the offensive line. Considering that Spavital revealed he was using tight ends as backup tackles last season, this is a positive sign for the Bobcats.
The other two committed PWO’s are Cypress Ranch linebacker Logan Stiba and Greenwood tight end Austin Groeschel.
Experience: When coaching staffs go heavy after junior college prospects, it’s an obvious indicator that they are looking for immediate fixes. They’ll lose out extended eligibility for the athlete, but will gain an experienced player that needs less polishing.
Seven of the Bobcats’ nine JUCO signees will have just two years left to play but five of those seven have Division I experience. The other two that have three years left, running back Brock Sturges and receiver Drue Jackson, also have DI experience, with Sturges going to Butler from Arizona State and Jackson going to Tyler after a stop at Washington State.
The three four-year college transfers – defensive back Tory Spears (Iowa State), offensive lineman Silas Robinson (Arkansas) and running back Jahmyl Jeter (Oklahoma State) – will have three years to play. Spears, who is the son of former NFL player Marcus Spears, is the only one that is immediately eligible, with the other needing NCAA approved waivers to play in 2020.
Including Howard, all but two transfers – defensive lineman Derrick Ray and offensive lineman Alex Costilla – will be practicing with the Bobcats at spring practice. Having that few extra months to get 11 new players acclimated to a new team and system was another big reason to go the JUCO route.
Quarterback Brady McBride should also be factored into the experience discussion. While he’s been with the Bobcats since August, he had to sit out last season after transferring in from Memphis so he is “new” to the team as well, relatively speaking. Spavital made an unprompted declaration at signing day that he didn’t sign a quarterback this class because McBride is already there.
“We did not sign a quarterback in this class,” Spavital said. “(McBride) is considered the quarterback for our class. Just from the transfer portal and how that opportunity came up after fall camp at the end of August, it was a great opportunity for us to bring him in. He’s an experienced Memphis transfer that played at Coppell. His dad is the head coach at McKinney Boyd, so he’s a coaches’ kid. We’ve already talked a little bit about (McBride) and how we’re excited for him, but he is the quarterback spot.”
(Should also be noted that McBride was instrumental behind the scenes in recruiting a lot of these transfers.)
Body types: “Big people beat up little people.”
It’s a simple phrase but one that speaks volumes in the world of football. Spavital said that was his theory for his recruiting strategy because he felt the Bobcats’ collective physical stature last season was the smallest in the Sun Belt.
“This is football and that’s how it is,” Spavital said. “We wanted to be a bigger, longer, more athletic team. We have some talented kids, don’t get me wrong, but we have a lot of small body types out there. We tried to get the biggest body types that we possibly could.”
The average height and weight of the five signed offensive lineman is 6’4 1/2”, 290 pounds, with just one of the 19 signees under six-foot (Sturges, 5’11”). Even the committed PWO’s have size (see above in Depth).
19 Signees with height and weight (Twitter pages linked to names)
RB: Jahmyl Jeter, Oklahoma St. 6’0”, 200 pounds
OL: Silas Robinson, Arkansas. 6’4”, 306 pounds
DB: Tory Spears, Iowa State. 6’3”, 200 pounds
OLB: Maureese Wren, Tyler J.C. 6’4”, 245 pounds
WR: Drue Jackson, Tyler J.C. 6’1”, 200 pounds
OT: Alex Costilla, Tyler J.C. 6’4”, 295 pounds
S: Grid Isidore, Tyler J.C. 6’1” 185 pounds
DE: Derrick Ray Jr., Trinity Valley C.C. 6’2”, 250 pounds
RB: Brock Sturges, Butler C.C. 5’11”, 200 pounds
G: Russell Baker, N.E. Oklahoma A&M. 6’5”, 300 pounds
WR: Marcell Barbee, Iowa Western C.C. 6’2”, 200 pounds
LB: Isaiah Karriem, Mississippi Delta C.C. 6’0”, 200 pounds
LB: Josh Emmanuel, Dallas Bishop Dunne H.S. 6’0”, 216 pounds
LB: John Emmanuel, Dallas Bishop Dunne H.S. 6’1”, 190 pounds
OT: Trenton Scott, Luling H.S. 6’6”, 262 pounds
C: Austin Markiewicz, McKinney North H.S. 6’4”, 290 pounds
WR: Jaycob Horn, Tupelo H.S. 6’2”, 205 pounds
DB: Zion Childress, New Caney H.S. 6’1”, 183 pounds
LB: Issiah Nixon, Elkins H.S. 6’0”, 220 pounds
One more Spav quote: “We still have – and you can talk about blue shirt opportunities and all of that – but we have about four scholarships available for certain needs just in case for the rest of this summer because this transfer portal has been pretty good for us.”
