Spartan Daily

SJSU Football Lands Notable 2012 Recruiting Class

SJSU took another big step towards building an elite football program last Wednesday, having a total of 20 football recruits sign National Letters of Intent with the school.

The Spartans are ranked by Scout.com as having the 97th best recruiting class in the nation for 2012, and one of the best among teams in the Western Athletic Conference.

Last year, SJSU had the 108^th-ranked recruiting class by Scout.com.

“Today is definitely an exciting day,” SJSU head coach Mike MacIntyre said on Wednesday.  “It’s like Christmas morning for me.  We are really excited about where we are going with our program and how our recruiting worked.”

In December 2011, Monterey Peninsula College quarterback David Fales signed his National Letter of Intent to join the Spartans.

Fales was recruited by the University of Nevada, Reno, in 2009, but transferred to Monterey Peninsula College in 2010 in search of more playing time.

“There was a pretty good quarterback named (Colin) Kaepernick,” Macintyre said.  “ He thought he was going to be playing behind him for awhile, so he transferred to Monterey Peninsula.”

Fales threw for 2,807 yards, 27 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in his 2011 season with Monterey Peninsula College, leading his team to a Coast Conference co-championship.

“He can throw it and can run the football,” MacIntyre said.  “So he’ll be right in the mix along with Dasmen (Stewart) and Blake (Jurich) to compete for the starting job.”

Other notable signers from Wednesday include three-star recruits Fernando Villanueva and Christian Tago.

“I learned this from Bill Parcells.  You want to look for big athletic bodies that can do a lot of things,” MacIntyre said.  “So we signed quite a few guys that are linebacker, running back, tight end-type bodies, and they will grow into all types of things.”

Villanueva, a 6-7, 285-pound offensive lineman from Independence High School in San Jose was the Mount Hamilton Division Offensive Lineman of the Year in 2011.

“Fernando played defensive end, defensive tackle and offensive line in high school,” MacIntyre said.  “He had a lot of offers from PAC-12 schools and we’re glad he stayed local.  He’s a heck of an athlete.”

MacIntyre said it is difficult persuading nearby recruits, such as Villanueva, Brad Kuh (Bellarmine Prep.) and Eugene Taylor (Oak Grove High School) to not leave home and join the SJSU program.

“There’s a situation sometimes that some young men want to get away from home, and some want to stay right here,” he said.  “So that is something you have to figure out right in the beginning, and then when you figure out that they are interested in staying at home, then you’re excited about recruiting them.”

Tago, a player from Highland High School in Southern California, played both quarterback and linebacker in 2011, and he will see time on both sides of the ball during the Spartans’ offseason, according to MacIntyre.

“If you watched a game of his, you would say ‘Who is No. 4?’”, he said.  “He just makes plays all over the place.”

Because of Tago’s versatility, MacIntyre was unsure as to what position he would play once on the field at Spartan Stadium.

“We will give him an opportunity to play quarterback, but you’ll see him playing both sides of the ball until we figure out what is best for him,” he said.

The Spartans' 2012 recruiting class is ranked higher than long-time WAC members Nevada and Fresno State, who will be leaving the conference for the Mountain West Conference starting in July.

MacIntyre was proud that his program landed such a strong recruiting class, given their much-improved 5-7 season in 2011.

“You’re based off your recruiting,” he said.  “We’ve been working extremely hard at it, and it’s definitely hard work.  It’s a year-round process, not just a six-week process in December and January.”

MacIntyre said he is already planning ahead for next year’s recruiting class.

“We were just talking about it today, we already started for next year,” he said.  “We’ve got our camp brochures out and telling people about it.  It’s exciting.”