Multiple bye weeks afford Wyoming coaches opportunity to focus on recruiting
LARAMIE -- Gordie Haug's suitcase is going to be a tad heavier when Wyoming visits Fresno State in the regular-season finale.
Not only is he the program's director of recruiting, California is his territory. It's a chance to make some last-minute sales pitches before Dec. 21, the NCAA's early signing day.
"100%, you can just stay out there and not fly back with the team and just recruit," Haug said. "That will be beneficial."
Currently, eight high school players have verbally committed to ink with the Cowboys this winter.
That includes a pair of three-star recruits -- Quarterback Kaden Anderson and running back Keany Parks -- according to Rivals.com. Defensive tackle Dante Drake, tight end Jake Davies, offensive lineman Quinn Grovesteen and defensive end Tell Wade, have two stars behind their name.
Another tight end and offensive lineman, Lucas Samsula and Rocky Shields, respectively, are not rated, per the recruiting website.
Anderson is a 6-foot-4, 205-pound prostyle signal caller from Texas powerhouse, Southlake Carroll High School in the Dallas area. He received offers from Bowling Green and Texas State, as well as Stephen F. Austin and Houston Christian. He verbally committed to UW back on Aug. 1.
He is completing better than 77% of his throws this fall, according to MaxPreps.com. Anderson has also thrown for 1,113 yards and 14 touchdowns while leading the Dragons to a 9-0 record and their fifth straight district title.
That's the same school that produced star quarterbacks Chase Daniel (Missouri), Greg McElroy (Alabama) and current Texas signal caller, Quinn Ewers.
Parks has rolled up 497 rushing yards on just 64 carries this fall at Bradford High School in Kenosha, Wisc. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound back is averaging 7.8 yards per attempt and has scored four touchdowns, per wissports.net.
Parks has also received interest from Arizona State, Iowa State and Wisconsin, according to Rivals.com.
Haug, who also serves as Wyoming's running backs coach, isn't permitted to talk about individual prep players, per NCAA rules, but did say plenty will be on the sidelines Nov. 19 when Boise State pays a visit to War Memorial Stadium for a game that could have Mountain West title implications.
"That will be a big weekend for us with official visitors and things like that, but we feel good about it," Haug said. "You know, this bye week is going to be important for us to get on the road and see some of the guys that we've been targeting and talking to on the phone."
Craig Bohl echoed Haug's sentiments. He likes where things are at in terms of quality and numbers. Wyoming's ninth-year head coach, along with his staff, hit the road hard during the team's first bye week of the season. That won't be the case during this off week, but recruiting is still a top priority.
Bohl said he also has his eye on other player movement around the country.
"You know, it's such a different year because you're always looking now at what's going to happen with the transfer portal and who's out there," he said. "We feel good about where we're at. We've identified some things and, you know, there's a couple guys that are on the bubble right now that I think are going to commit here as we go. So yeah, we're pleased."
With 49 days to go before players can officially put pen to paper, Haug said he is optimistic yet realistic.
"Obviously you never feel 100% great about recruiting and the ebbs and flows with it," he said. "But we're doing everything we can and we feel like there's a lot of really good football players that we're targeting and got a shot at, so we feel good."
University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players
- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players