Blane Morgan is thinking long term with his recruiting strategy for the Lamar University football team.
When he took over Cardinals’ football program in December of last year, Morgan immediately noticed the roster was “littered” with junior college transfers. Those players can offer quick fixes for a struggling Lamar program, but that’s not what Morgan wants.
Instead, Lamar’s first-year coach is hoping to build sustained success by focusing on the development of high school players. That strategy was on full display Wednesday, when Morgan secured 23 players in the early signing period — all of them being high school athletes from either Texas or Louisiana.
Morgan wants to build a winner at Lamar, but he wants to do it “the right way.”
“We really believe in the development of the high school football player,” Morgan said. “If you’re going to commit to signing a lot of high school players, then you’re talking about having a little patience. We want to build something sustainable, not just win now and create something that’s temporary.
“That’s what I’ve said since the time I interviewed, and I think we really backed that up today by signing all high school guys,” Morgan added.
Lamar’s class features balance on both sides of the ball, including 12 offensive and 11 defensive players. Of those, the most additions came at the line and in the secondary. Lamar signed five offensive linemen and six defensive backs.
The recruiting process was admittedly different for Morgan and his assistants this year. Working through the current coronavirus pandemic made things a bit more difficult for both coaches and players.
Instead of visiting high schools, watching games live and getting to know players in person, Lamar coaches were forced to do all that virtually.
“We worked really hard at painting a picture for recruits over the phone or on Zoom calls to give them a realistic view of what campus life is like, and what we’re about and what we are building toward,” Morgan said.
Lamar has “six or seven” spots left in the class to sign players in the regular period, according to Morgan. Although he’s focusing on high school players, he said a few of those scholarships could very well go to junior college transfers.
Locally, Silsbee defensive lineman Ayden Bell was the only player from Southeast Texas to accept a scholarship offer from Lamar. Legacy Christian left tackle Alex Potter took a preferred walk-on spot.
Lamar is set to play a six-game Southland Conference schedule this season, starting on Feb. 20 against Northwestern State at Provost Umphrey Stadium.
Below is the full list of Lamar signees announced Wednesday:
CB Damian Alexander 6-0, 180 – New Orleans, La./Booker T. Washington HS
K/P Alex Auer 6-0, 170 – Shreveport, La./Captain Shreve HS
OL Jacob Bayer 6-4, 315 – Grandview/Grandview HS
DL Ayden Bell 6-3, 270 – Silsbee/Silsbee HS
DL Reggie Brooks 6-3, 295 – Wylie/Wylie East HS
RB RJ Carver 5-10, 215 – McKinney/McKinney HS
OL James Collins 6-3, 270 – Mesquite/Horn HS
CB Antorius Hambric 5-11, 175 – Forney/North Forney HS
WR Dozie Ifeadi 6-1, 185 – Tyler/Bishop Gorman Catholic HS
QB/S Dane Jentsch 5-11, 198 – Grandview/Grandview HS
OL Caleb Leonard 6-4, 310 – Pearland/Shadow Creek HS
S Kerry McMillion 6-4, 190 – River Ridge, La./John Curtis Christian HS
OL Drew Moss 6-4, 270 – Richardson/Richardson HS
LB/QB Darion Peace 6-1, 210 – Malakoff/Malakoff HS
CB Demarco Roberts 5-8, 170 – Aledo/Aledo HS
K/P Colby Sessums 6-1, 180 – Haslet/V.R. Eaton HS
CB Ramond Stevens 5-10, 165 – New Orleans, La./Warren Easton HS
WR Javonta Thomas 5-11, 190 – Van/Van HS
OL James Williams 6-3, 293 – DeRidder, La./DeRidder HS
LB Jase Williams 6-2, 210 – Slidell, La./Slidell HS
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