Brandon Crosby looked to address immediate needs when he hit the road in recruiting after the end of the 2019 Fort Lewis College football season.
In his first full season as head coach and going into his second season in charge of the Skyhawks, Crosby look to mid-year transfer players when it came to December’s early signing period. Crosby landed five transfers who have already reported to class and will be ready for spring practices.
“It’s my favorite part, to be honest. Creating a team, player personnel and getting the right type of guys that you want,” Crosby said. “I really enjoy being able to recruit these guys and letting them know they’re gonna have an opportunity to play. If we hit on a couple, it could be the difference in what our program looks like.”
Among the new additions are two quarterbacks as well as offensive lineman Ryan Barkley, a 2018 Durango High School graduate who will return to his home town after two years at Montana State University.
“The last two years we’ve been here, we’ve had some injuries with quarterbacks. Quarterback by committee, so I made it a thing for the rest of my career. I’m always going to try to recruit the two best quarterbacks I can find,” Crosby said. “If another one falls in our lap, we’ll take him.”
Barkley is a 6-foot-5, 285-pound offensive lineman who will have three years of eligibility remaining. He took a redshirt his freshman season. Last season, the Bobcats went 11-4 and reached the semifinals of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. Montana State fell in the semifinals to eventual champion North Dakota State.
Barkley saw limited action in 2019, and he is eager to get more playing time with the Skyhawks.
“To be a walk-on at that level and stick it out for two years and travel and play a little bit shows a lot about how much he loves the game,” Crosby said of Barkley. “I know how hard it is to go through that process up there. Being away from home, they don’t get summers off like we do. It’s a year-round deal. He loves football, and that’s what I loved about him and our conversation. He just wants to play.
Crosby said Barkley will get a chance to win a starting tackle job but envisions him finding a starting spot somewhere on the line this spring. The coach will look to add one or two more offensive linemen to compete for jobs throughout this year’s recruiting process.
Crosby’s two new quarterbacks are Armando Herrera and Austin Nuessle. They are expected to compete with returners Erik Ornduff and Connor Apodaca. Jake Lowry, who won the starting job in 2018 and 2019, will be moved to wide receiver for his senior season. Injuries cut his season short in each of the last two seasons. Apodaca was not eligible to play last season after he transferred from University of Northern Colorado. Durango High alum Terrence Trujillo, who transferred from Eastern New Mexico to FLC a year ago, will be moved to defense for his senior season.
“The quarterback position, you see them transferring all over the place,” Crosby said. “There are a lot of good ones out there. They may have not got an opportunity where they were at. Both (Herrera and Nuessle) bring a good dynamic to what we’re looking for.”
Nuessle is a 6-4, 190-pound transfer QB from Long Island University. Nuessle is from Fountain Hills, Arizona. He spent two seasons at Long Island and sat out the 2019 season. He took a redshirt in 2017. During the 2018 season, he saw time in three games but threw only one pass and never attempted a run.
“Coach Crosby has given me a tremendous opportunity that I will not take for granted,” Nuessle said on Twitter.
As a senior at Desert Mountain High School, Nuessle passed for 3,177 yards, 34 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 10 games. He completed 65% of his passes. In high school, he was coached by NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner.
“(Nuessle) is a taller quarterback, pretty athletic, can kind of do a bit of everything, but definitely more of a gunslinger,” Crosby said. “He looked really good. Being coached under Kurt Warner, he knows his son pretty well that’s over in Nebraska, so it’s nice to have. I’ve been trying to get an Arizona tie for us to help us in recruiting, and this is a move int hat direction, as well.
“He’s very intelligent, knows the games, knows what we’re talking about, knows the numbers, and I think, moving forward, he’s gonna be a competitor at that position.”
Herrera is a 6-1, 200-pound transfer from Texas A&M Commerce who previously played at San Bernardino Valley Community College. At Commerce, he never played a snap and left the program.
Herrera was a dual-threat QB coming out of Redlands East Valley High School in Southern California. In junior college, he developed more as a pure passer, as he thew for 3,262 yards, 44 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 11 games as a sophomore. He ran for 142 yards and four touchdowns, too.
“(Herrera) is an extremely athletic kid, kind of like Jake Lowry type,” Crosby said. “He’s got two years to play one.
Crosby landed an in-state Division I transfer in 6-3, 200-pound wide receiver Dylan Holt out of Colorado State University. Colorado State tried to convert Holt to defensive back after he spent two years at wide receiver at Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona.
Shortened Version of my JUCO Highlights @SixZeroAcademy @CoachWalters1 @CoachJayNorvell @CoachBobo_CSU @Coach_mtucker #DungeonFamily pic.twitter.com/HjTq0Aglnc
— Nephew Dyl (@DylanDHolt1) February 20, 2019
At Vista PEAK Preparatory School in Aurora had nine catches for 258 yards and two touchdowns his sophomore season at Pima. As a senior at vista PEAK, Holt had 49 receptions for 647 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Holt never played a snap for the Rams. He is the son of former FLC football player Stanley Holt, a 1987 graduate.
“My buddy that’s at Colorado State recruited him over there just from a workout to play defense,” Crosby said. “I like him at receiver. He’s a focused kid right now, seems like he’s all about business and wants to take an opportunity at the next level. He’s taking this very seriously. He’s a great kid and we’re happy to have him.”
Crosby also signed 6-2, 195-pound defensive back Clayton Rutz out of Tyler Junior College. Rutz, originally from Flower Mound, Texas, As a sophomore at Tyler, Rutz had five tackles and one interception. He had 10 tackles as a freshman.
While FLC has yet to announce any of its freshman signing class and intends to wait until after the February National Signing Day, Crosby said he plans to add another 35 to 40 players before fall camp.
Crosby said he is eager to evolve the offense and will look for the pieces to make that possible.
“This is definitely the direction we want to go as far as being a high-tempo offense, spread offense. Back to really my roots of an air-raid team,” he said. “I’m at the point I want to score as many points as possible. If the defense can hold up, we’ll just try to score as many points as we can.”
