Holgorsen has easy day amid chaos.
C5
On what used to be one of the most important days on the college football calendar, University of Houston coach Dana Holgorsen hit the snooze button Wednesday morning.
“National signing day used to be stressful. You’d go to bed nervous and wake up at 6 a.m. working the phones to make sure guys are signing,” he said. “I slept in this morning. It’s not a stressful day anymore.”
The addition of an early signing period in late December has taken most of the suspense out of how (and when) schools wrap up their 25-member classes. After being hired Jan. 2, Holgorsen put a bow on his first abbreviated signing class with the addition of four players: Harvey (La.) running back Terrell Brown, Shadow Creek offensive tackle Cam’Ron Johnson and junior college defensive linemen Atlias Brown and Jamykal Neal.
Having also added three mid-year enrollees — cornerback Damarion Williams, Texas A&M transfer Jordan Moore and defensive lineman Olivier Charles-Pierre — Holgorsen signed seven players among a group that includes nine holdovers from the class signed by former UH coach Major Applewhite.
With the calendar change, Holgorsen said, the four additions Wednesday are “a small part of what we’ve been doing over the last five weeks.”
Just don’t call it signing day.
“In my mind, it’s another day on the job,” Holgorsen said.
And what a busy time it has been for Holgorsen, who said he has made 32 staff hires and visited 60 high schools “from Houston to New Orleans” since taking the UH job after eight seasons at West Virginia. He has met with former and current Cougars players, attended “tons of booster club events” and held two recruiting weekends. (Wednesday’s signees were the four players who visited campus last weekend.) This week marked the first time Holgorsen watched video of his incoming players.
Counting the five graduate transfers to play for the Cougars last season, Holgorsen still has four spots to fill in the 2019 class. The remaining needs are on defense and the offensive line. He also would like to add a transfer quarterback to the only two scholarship signal-callers (D’Eriq King and Clayton Tune) on the roster.
With the switch from a three-man to four-man front, the Cougars placed an emphasis on the defensive line with five signees, among them 6-2, 345pounder Olivier CharlesPierre from New Mexico Military Institute. On the offensive line, the Cougars added size with four signees, including 6-5, 340pound Rodquice Chaney from Elsik and 6-7, 330pound Patrick Paul from Jersey Village.
“One thing we can’t ignore is the offensive line,” Holgorsen said. “We’ve got to get those numbers way up.”
Brown, a three-star recruit who had offers from Florida and Arkansas, provides the Cougars with a young back in a seniorheavy backfield.
“He was our main target when we came in,” Holgorsen said of Brown, who goes by the nickname “Smoke.”
The highest-rated player in the signing class is Nelson Ceaser, a four-star linebacker from Ridge Point.
Holgorsen said the school will submit a waiver to petition for Moore, who played in four games at Texas A&M last season, to play immediately next season.
“He had to come back to Houston for a reason,” Holgorsen said. “We’ll file something to try and see if we can get him on the field next season.”
Holgorsen said he plans to complete his staff with the addition of a running backs coach in the next few days. He also clarified roles on his staff: Shannon Dawson will coach tight ends, Zac Etheridge will handle corners, and Blake Gideon will work with nickel backs in addition to being special teams coordinator.
On Wednesday, Holgorsen announced four hires to his strength staff: Kevin McCadam, assistant director of strength and performance; Marquis Johnson, coordinator of strength and performance; and assistant strength and performance coaches Brett Holgorsen and Nate Majnaric. Darl Bauer was previously announced as director of strength and performance.