PITTSBURG, Kan. — Pittsburg State welcomed a new wave of Gorillas to the football program via live stream to celebrate National Signing Day on Wednesday.
Pittsburg State head coach Brian Wright and his coaching staff touched on each of the 38 high school seniors who signed letters of commitment as well as two college transfers in the presentation.
“The first thing that stands out is the versatility of the players we wanted,” Wright said. “Athletes that come in and have a lot of skill sets that played different positions in high school. We started this thing out a year ago today knowing that we wanted to get bigger as a football team, and faster. We wanted to recruit tough football players, and I felt like we got that accomplished.”
Of the 40 total athletes making their way to Pittsburg State, 10 of them are offensive line recruits.
“It all starts up front to me, on both sides of the football,” Wright said. “We had to address a depth issue there. We did that. I am excited about not only the depth, but the talent and caliber of player we are getting at the position.”
The Gorillas are also bringing in two quarterbacks, two running backs, four wide receivers, two tight ends on offense. Defensively, Pittsburg State inked four defensive linemen, five linebackers, five cornerbacks and three safeties. PSU also earned commitments from one long snapper, one athlete and one kicker.
“It helped that we were able to be on the road this season while the Division I schools were not,” Wright said of the recruiting process during the COVID pandemic. “I like to think we went out a year ago today and started working really, really hard to develop those relationships with these kids and their parents. That was the biggest difference between this year and last year, just the fact that we had a lot more time to form that relationship and more time to get them here and show them Pittsburg State.”
Locally, Pittsburg State added seven student-athletes to its commitment list—Webb City offensive lineman Grant Goltra, Lamar defensive lineman Rylan Wooldridge, Frontenac cornerback Ty Gates, St. Mary’s Colgan defensive lineman Kannon Keller and kicker Janko Kalan, Paola offensive lineman Carter Stanchfield and Cassville linebacker Zach Coenen.
“I think it is critical to get the good local talent here,” Wright said. “Those kids have been dreaming about Pittsburg State for a long time. They want to become really good football players and good representations of this program and this area. They are going to give you everything they have.”
For the full list of Pittsburg State’s recruiting class, click the link below:
