FORT COLLINS — Jeremy Bennett doesn’t keep receipts. But when it comes to recruiting, he does keep score. And he’d love for CSU to make some halftime adjustments.
“I hear from Washington State, and our recruiter out there, a half-dozen times a year,” Mullen’s football coach told me Wednesday night. “And (he’ll make) probably three visits to our school in a year.”
And with a specific target in mind. Mullen’s home to one of the top prep football recruits in Colorado’s Class of ’26 in 6-foot-6 tight end Mason Bonner, a 3-star guy with 5-star length.
Wazzu’s offered. Florida’s offered. Minnesota’s offered. Duke’s offered.
The Rams haven’t.
“(The Wazzu coach) makes no bones about it, he’s a relationship guy, he wants to come and see us, he wants to build relationships,” Bennett continued. “But again, maybe that’s not (Rams coach) Jay Norvell’s style. I’m sure there are relationships (they’ve) built there in a big state that looks like a steak plate.”
The Rams are bowl-bound for the first time in seven years and notched eight wins for the first time in a decade. CSU (8-4, 6-1 Mountain West) just set a program record for single-season average attendance. Almost every arrow on Pitkin Street is pointing up.
And yet the first day of the early national football signing period at Canvas Stadium was sort of notable for what wasn’t there as much as what was.
The Rams on Wednesday landed commitments from a 6-foot-5 tight end from Missouri, a 5-8 tailback from Nashville and a 6-6 punter from Australia.
No Colorado kids.
Not yet, anyway.
“I think it’s the year,” Norvell said Wednesday. “Next year’s going to be really good. Next year (in-state) will be very, very good.”
Now, in Norvell’s defense, you’ve got caveats galore here. The first signing period is the earliest it’s ever been. Prep commitments have been diluted by the transfer portal, which opens up Monday. That’s when the madcap, Black Friday-style shopping spree really begins.
“If you can grab a kid that maybe hadn’t been (featured) for two years at an SEC school — maybe they carried the ball 25 times at Arkansas. You’re probably going to take that kid over a local high school product,” Bennett said. “That makes sense to me. I can buy that Toyota Tercel brand new or I can buy that other car that’s four years old and way nicer for the same price. I understand that.”
Here’s the part he doesn’t understand, the part that really bugs him: According to the 247Sports database, the Rams made just one offer to an in-state prep prospect in the Class of ’25: 3-star Cherry Creek tackle Soren Shinofield, No. 1 in 247Sports’ composite rankings, who committed to Utah.
CSU and Norvell extended 13 offers to Colorado preps in the Class of ’24. They put out 14 in ’23 and 17 in ’22.
CU, if you’re curious, had at least three in-state offers out for ’25. The Buffs got a signature from one on Wednesday in 6-6 Loveland tight end Zayne DeSouza. That was after 10 in-state offers in ’24 and 13 in ’23. Wyoming had four offers extended for ’25 after 10 in ’24 and nine in ’23.
Maybe it was one of those years. Maybe pickings were seen as slim for everybody.
“I think, in fairness to (CSU), the landscape has changed so much (with the portal), that maybe the top 5% in every state are getting offers, so there’s that piece of it,” Bennett said.
“I don’t know. I honestly think the staff thinks there’s a stigma that these kids can’t play here. And it’s quite the contrary.”
Fun fact: CSU football’s recruiting classes have featured at least one player from a Colorado high school in every cycle since 1999. There’s still time.
Norvell’s trying to build up the Rams to compete for titles in the new-look Pac-12, not stump for Gov. Jared Polis’ job. But as someone who played for a big brother (Iowa) and then coached at a little one (Iowa State), he also understands full well the value of a roster where at least half the shoulders come with salty, bitter chips on them.
“In this NIL period and transfer portal period, it always benefits you to have local kids on your roster,” Norvell continued. “Kids are less apt to leave if they’re from close to home and there’s families after them.
“And we’re not done yet. So, I would be surprised if we don’t have, actually, several Colorado kids by the time we’re done … maybe some portal kids — like (Valor Christian alum) Gabe Kirschke was a Colorado kid that was at Wisconsin, and he came back home to play for us. And I think we have heard of several kids like that, that have interest (in us) … I would be surprised if we didn’t have several Colorado kids before we’re done.”
After all, where would these Rams have been without Jack Howell? Without Henry Blackburn? Without Kirschke?
Based on 247Sports reports, CSU had six in-state offers out toward the Class of ’26 as of Wednesday. Bennett just wants to make sure Bonner doesn’t somehow get lost in the shuffle.
“As someone who’s been doing this for 30 years and wants to get kids to the next level, it’s frustrating,” the Mullen coach said. “Because I’ve had kids who can play there. It seems, especially when they got (to Fort Collins), they went the whole other direction. Maybe they needed to. But it’s frustrating because I know my kids can play.”