Idaho football coach Robb Akey hasn’t had much reason to be festive in the last couple months, but National Letter of Intent day Wednesday provided both optimism and relief after a dismal 2011 season. Idaho officially welcomed 23 new members to its football program — a class Akey said is well-rounded.
“These (days leading up) are probably the worst 10 days of the year for a football coach. It’s aggravating, exciting, all rolled in to one,” Akey said. “We’ve got these signatures in, and I think some very good additions to our football program.”
Idaho attacked positions of need in the secondary, linebacker, quarterback and offensive line in this recruiting class.
Seven junior college transfers who Akey said could make immediate impacts are in the class.
Wide receiver Kyren Watts comes to Idaho from Texas via the College of the Siskiyous in California. Inside linebacker Mathew Willis from Los Angeles Harbor Junior College and 380-pound behemoth Semisi Tupou will be counted on to push a struggling offensive line unit. The Vandals also brought in three Idaho natives, including two standouts from Coeur d’Alene High School: Athlete Deon Watson, whose father played basketball at Idaho, and quarterback Chad Chalich.
“The best of Idaho is likely to stay and represent the state of Idaho,” Akey said. “You’re representing your home state, you bring a following with you already and that adds a little bit to it. That has me as the head coach here being proud.”
Chalich will be given an opportunity to compete for the starting job, but Akey hopes the situation will allow him to redshirt in 2012.
The star of the class may be safety Ma’ne Manaea of Lakewood, Wash., — a one-time Colorado commit. Idaho fended off Utah State and Hawaii pushes to keep Manaea.
“He is a hittin’ son of a gun,” Akey said. “He’s shot out of a cannon and he’s gonna blast ya. I loved that from day one. He’s got a great personality — fly around guy.”
Akey said Idaho was able to weather the recruiting storm by staying persistent in recruiting him from day one, when Colorado and other BCS programs got in line.
“The way that he played, and as he got in here, he saw the family that we had built in our program,” Akey said.
Manaea will have the opportunity to start right away and make an impact in a secondary that had problems with pass coverage.
Akey and his staff were able to keep it in the family literally with the addition of current Vandal Rob Siavii’s younger brother, Russell. Russell will join his brother in the linebacking corps.
“We talked about a family, and talked about the way we’re doing things with our football program,” Akey said. “If he wasn’t excited about what this university brings to the table, the way that this team is headed, there’s no way big brother lets little brother head to this football team.”
The kind of family and trust Akey talked about allowed the Vandals to reach into the American Midwest and grab defensive tackle Matthew Neal. Neal signed an LOI with Toledo last season and was asked to greyshirt, but was not satisfied with the situation in Ohio. Neal’s father placed a call to Akey, brought Neal to Moscow for a visit and now Neal will play football in the Kibbie Dome.
“He’s strong, got great explosiveness … gonna live in that weight room,” Akey said. “Great fit. Another situation where you have a tie, and people trust the way you are doing things.”
Akey said the Vandals are largely done with their recruiting class, but will have room for one more player during late spring if the opportunity arises.
The lone scholarship left was intended for West Mesquite, Texas, cornerback Cranston Jones. Jones expressed a strong verbal commitment to Idaho, but signed a LOI with New Mexico at the last minute Wednesday.
Akey said he does not anticipate any player having problems qualifying academically at this time.