Football inks 13 on signing day

The foundation for the next four years of Truman football has been laid. Thirteen high school seniors signed letters of intent to play football at Truman on Wednesday.

This season's class is much smaller than those from former head coach Shannon Currier. Last season the Bulldogs signed a record 33 players. In 2008, the 'Dogs signed 28 players.

"We really want to focus on quality and not quantity," head coach Gregg Nesbitt said.

Nesbitt became head coach in December, the middle of the recruiting period, but said that did not affect recruiting. He praised the coaching staff for its hard work with recruiting.

"No excuses, I don't think the timing made a lick of difference in terms of this recruiting class," Nesbitt said. "We hit the ground running."

Nesbitt said Truman did not target specific positions, but wanted a balanced class. The class includes two punters/kickers, three players listed on offense, three players on defense, four listed as playing both way and one listed as an athlete.

Of the 13 recruits, seven are from Missouri, four are from Illinois, one is from Iowa and one is from Texas. Nesbitt said one of his goals is to establish a recruiting base in areas north of Interstate 70 and especially around the St. Louis area.

Truman finished 2-9 last season and was last in the MIAA in total defense, but could get some help from defensive end Nic Abbate of Carol Stream, Ill. Abbate had 75 tackles, nine sacks and six forced fumbles for Glenbard North High School. He was also a member of the Chicago Sun-Times all-state team his senior season.

"He has that edge of a defender that we want to create," Nesbitt said. "Here's a Bulldog defender. That's already there. I can see it on video. He has a fabulous knack for rushing the quarterback."

Linebacker Connor Nagel from Lemont, Ill. also will try to help shore up the defense. Nagel had 125 tackles, seven sacks and three fumble recoveries as a senior at Lemont High School. He led the South Suburban Conference in tackles and received honorable mention all-state the last two years. Nagel said Nesbitt and the academic rigor attracted him to Truman.

"I'm just going to push myself hard and do the best for the team," Nagel said.

The class includes one quarterback, Brady Nowak from Belleville, Ill. Nowak threw for 1,500 yards and 19 touchdowns last season at Althoff Catholic High School. He also ran for 600 yards and had six rushing touchdowns.

Other notable recruits include kicker Brian Rosser from Kirkwood High School. Rosser was first team all-Suburban West Conference last season. He made all 28 extra point attempts and 5-of-6 field goals. Rosser could get the opportunity to play right away because of the departure of Mickey Masucci, who handled the kicking duties the last four seasons.

Rosser, who also played soccer at Kirkwood, said one adjustment he will have to make when transitioning to college is learning to kick off the ground. High school kickers are allowed to use a tee when kicking field goals.

"I've already practiced, and it's a little bit hard to get used to," Rosser said.

Nesbitt said the new recruits will compete for spots like every player, but many new recruits end up redshirting.

"Most of the time in this conference kids are going to redshirt," Nesbitt said. "Certainly they are going to be more productive players their third, fourth or fifth years than their rookie season. But if you're a competitor, that redshirt year can probably be one of the longest years of their athletic career. We'll let them come in and compete and see where it goes."