By Justin Lee jlee@oaoa.com - 432-333-7773
It’s an interesting proposal Justin Carrigan is pitching.
The first full recruiting season is winding down for the first head football coach in UTPB program history, as college football’s national signing day approaches on Feb. 3.
For Carrigan, who is looking to bring in a new boon of talent ahead of the team’s inaugural season this fall, there isn’t much to sell to prospects in the way of program history.
The Falcons have never played a down. As Carrigan tries to convince potential recruits to come to UTPB, he can’t point to any kind of long-standing reputation or history of past successes. He can’t tell them about any championships the Falcons have won, or any prestigious legacy they’d become a part of.
But he can offer an opportunity to build all of that.
“We’re having to convince the guys to come to something where there is no history, there is no tradition, there are no trophies on the wall — to come in and create all that,” Carrigan said over the phone Monday afternoon, while driving across a Texas highway. “We’re trying to convince guys to come be the tradition, come be the history, come be everything that they’re hearing about at the other places. Come here and be that.”
With just over a week left until signing day, Carrigan and his staff are traveling far and wide to assure the signatures of players they hope will build a strong foundation for UTPB’s football program in its first season and beyond.
“Things are going better than good,” Carrigan said. “We’ve got a good handful of commitments that we feel great about. As we get closer to signing day, we’ll pick up more. Things have been great.”
Carrigan was named UTPB’s first head coach on Jan. 9, 2015, less than a month before last year’s national signing day — meaning this year’s signing class will be the first the staff could put together over a full recruiting period. Carrigan said all of UTPB’s signees from last season committed and signed after national signing day.
So this year, for the first time, the Falcons are competing heads-up against other Division II and Lone Star Conference teams out on the recruiting trail.
“We’re driving all over the state to go do home visits and see kids every last second that we can, and make sure that we stay relevant with them and don’t let another coach come in and convince them otherwise,” Carrigan said.
Recruits will be able to sign their letters of intent to play at the school of their choice the morning of Feb. 3.
Permian linebacker Josh Nguyen is set to sign with UTPB, according to a release sent out by the ECISD on Monday afternoon. Later Monday evening, Andrews linebacker Keegan Gray announced on Twitter that he had also committed to UTPB.
“We’ve got some great talent coming in that’s committed right now,” Carrigan said. “We’re on the road trying to finish it all out and we’ve got a good handful of guys coming in (to visit campus) this weekend
.
The first full recruiting season is winding down for the first head football coach in UTPB program history, as college football’s national signing day approaches on Feb. 3.
For Carrigan, who is looking to bring in a new boon of talent ahead of the team’s inaugural season this fall, there isn’t much to sell to prospects in the way of program history.
The Falcons have never played a down. As Carrigan tries to convince potential recruits to come to UTPB, he can’t point to any kind of long-standing reputation or history of past successes. He can’t tell them about any championships the Falcons have won, or any prestigious legacy they’d become a part of.
But he can offer an opportunity to build all of that.
“We’re having to convince the guys to come to something where there is no history, there is no tradition, there are no trophies on the wall — to come in and create all that,” Carrigan said over the phone Monday afternoon, while driving across a Texas highway. “We’re trying to convince guys to come be the tradition, come be the history, come be everything that they’re hearing about at the other places. Come here and be that.”
With just over a week left until signing day, Carrigan and his staff are traveling far and wide to assure the signatures of players they hope will build a strong foundation for UTPB’s football program in its first season and beyond.
“Things are going better than good,” Carrigan said. “We’ve got a good handful of commitments that we feel great about. As we get closer to signing day, we’ll pick up more. Things have been great.”
Carrigan was named UTPB’s first head coach on Jan. 9, 2015, less than a month before last year’s national signing day — meaning this year’s signing class will be the first the staff could put together over a full recruiting period. Carrigan said all of UTPB’s signees from last season committed and signed after national signing day.
So this year, for the first time, the Falcons are competing heads-up against other Division II and Lone Star Conference teams out on the recruiting trail.
“We’re driving all over the state to go do home visits and see kids every last second that we can, and make sure that we stay relevant with them and don’t let another coach come in and convince them otherwise,” Carrigan said.
Recruits will be able to sign their letters of intent to play at the school of their choice the morning of Feb. 3.
Permian linebacker Josh Nguyen is set to sign with UTPB, according to a release sent out by the ECISD on Monday afternoon. Later Monday evening, Andrews linebacker Keegan Gray announced on Twitter that he had also committed to UTPB.
“We’ve got some great talent coming in that’s committed right now,” Carrigan said. “We’re on the road trying to finish it all out and we’ve got a good handful of guys coming in (to visit campus) this weekend
.
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