Mountain West

Between Colorado and Colorado State, the collective football coaching staffs are allotted 170 scholarships in a season, 85 per team, to fill their rosters with players from far and wide.

“We have to recruit nationally,” CSU coach Mike Bobo said, echoing the long-term strategies of coaches Mike Macintyre (CU) and Troy Calhoun (Air Force) during the dog days of summer recruiting.

The chase to reload with the best possible talent?

Heating up like you might not believe.

With about five months left until the next early signing period Dec. 19, the state’s two largest universities have combined to offer 358 football scholarships to 2019 prospects — CU with 189 and CSU with 169 — according to 247 Sports as of late Friday. It’s a massive figure considering the NCAA allows for the addition of no more than 25 new scholarship players in each academic year.

The legitimacy of those robust offer totals, though, varies depending on who you ask.

“That number is not accurate,” Macintyre said, suggesting the under.

Bobo countered CSU’S total “might be more than that.”

“We are turning over a million rocks and stones and putting our pan in about every stream, creek and river that’s out there, trying to find a guy that might be a fit,” Calhoun added, though coaching at a military academy, Air Force doesn’t have football scholarships, instead providing the opportunity for congressional appointments.

Each coach agreed the rise of online game film sharing and a revised recruiting calendar has led to more scholarships offered earlier in the process than ever before. Some programs have gone to the extreme — such as Iowa State.

The Cyclones offered an eyepopping 415 scholarships for its 2018 class, per 247 Sports, and even extended one to an eighth-grade quarterback. That rubbed oldschool coaches, like University of Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz, the wrong way. Ferentz told the Des Moines Register: “(T)here were a lot of offers in the 2018 class that went out very early out of Ames. And I’m not sure all those guys were able to commit to them if they wanted to.”

The practice of mass scholarship offering at major-college football programs in Colorado varies pending the size of the program, needs and resources. Air Force’s search for recruits hoping to play football along while serving on active duty military makes sense of the Falcons’ wide recruiting net. And, like CSU, their Group of Five limitations are manifested in the summer months.

“Right now, there’s not a kid in the country really that thinks they’re coming to Colorado State, to be honest. They think they’re going to Southern Cal or Ohio State or Florida or Georgia,” Bobo said. “I know we could have visits starting in April, and I elected not to do any of them. If a guy wants to come on campus unofficially, we’d love to have them, but I think we’d be wasting visits and wasting money.”

But there is still great value for CSU in chasing players with Power Five scholarship opportunities in hand. The Rams first offered quarterback Patrick O’brien (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) in 2015, and when O’brien sought a transfer from Nebraska three years later, it was CSU that received the call.

“We have a (group of ) offers out and then guys that we’re actively recruiting that show interest in Colorado State,” Bobo said. “Sometimes we might offer you, but you’ve got 23 Power Five schools, but you never know what might happen at the end.”

Bobo added that of those reported 169 scholarship offers for the 2019 class, handed out by a specific list of qualified coaches, none will be official until Aug. 1. Each offer is given with the condition that it is a limited-time deal. If Player A waits while Player B commits at the same position, the line of communication to Player A is cut.

“You had the chance to commit,” Bobo said. “It’s over after that.”

CU takes the same cutthroat approach. However, the Buffaloes feel more comfortable using the spring and summer months for official visits to lock down commitments ahead of the early signing period. CU team camps and satellite camps have also allowed the staff to identify talent earlier than ever before.

“We have offered a few more guys — and you have to,” Macintyre said. “We saw a lot of 2019 kids a year ago, and we saw a lot of 2020 kids this summer.”

The search for 2020 talent is well underway, too. The Buffs, Rams

Pac-12 Oregon: 313 Utah: 198 Arizona State: 194

Colorado: 189

Oregon State: 188 Arizona: 181 Washington State: 156 USC: 150 California: 128 Washington: 87 Stanford: 67 UCLA: 66

Air Force: 371 Colorado State: 169

Nevada: 137 San Jose State: 135 New Mexico: 128 Utah State: 121 UNLV: 116 Hawaii: 112 Fresno State: 100 San Diego State: 87 Wyoming: 85 Boise State: 66

and Falcons have already offered a combined 92 opportunities to incoming juniors this fall, per 247 Sports. And, a seemingly endless cycle continues.

“To be able to recruit in today’s world,” Macintyre said, “you’ve got to offer quicker than you used to.”