Red Wolf coaches to take the state by storm
Advertisement
Gus Malzahn is known for his aggressive offensive game plans. Now as head coach of Arkansas State, his most aggressive plan begins Monday.
The Red Wolves coaching staff will visit every high school in the state in one week- a recruiting strategy never executed before.
That means 215 high school football programs.
The plan should help Malzahn reach his goal of signing 20 in-state athletes each year.
"[Recruiting] is going to start in the state of Arkansas," Malzahn told RedWolfReport.com in an recent interview. "Our goal is to recruit this state like it has never been recruited. We signed 11 in-state players last year, and we look for that number to increase each year."
"I'm a big believer in the high school coaches and the players in this state," he added. "Our goal is to keep as many kids in Arkansas as we can, and that is what we are going to do."
The 215 stop plan will put the state on notice that Malzahn is serious about picking up quality in-state talent, in addition to forming relationships and creating inroads in schools which may not have many college coaches stopping by.
Malzahn certainly has the connections to entice a lot of players to take a look at the Arkansas State football program. The self proclaimed "high school coach who is coaching at the collegiate level" is well known, and well liked by high school coaches in the Natural State.
"I think it is pretty cool that Arkansas State has placed a priority on in-state recruiting," said Jonesboro head coach Randy Coleman. "It is just cool that they have targeted all of the high schools in Arkansas."
Jonesboro High School produced current Arkansas State offensive lineman Tyler Greve.
"I have to commend Coach Malzahn," Coleman added. "It is easy for a coach or any public figure to get behind a microphone and make a profound statement, but for him to back up what he said he was going to do just shows what kind of man he is."
The process will take the entire week to complete, but Red Wolf coaches have their marching orders, and are determined to make a statement in The Natural State.
That process begins Monday as coaches visit the following areas:
Coach J.B. Grimes: South East Arkansas
Coach David Gunn: Little Rock Metro Area
Coach Brandon Hall: North West Arkansas
Coach Rhett Lashlee: The River Valley Area
Coach John Thompson: North East Arkansas
Coach Casey Woods: Eastern Arkansas
Here is more from Arkansas State SID Jerry Scott
Gus Malzahn said in his introductory press conference as Arkansas State's head football coach that the Red Wolves were going to recruit the state of Arkansas like its never been recruited before, and the A-State coaching staff continues to back the statement up this week with what they are calling an "A-State Ambush" on the Natural State.
The Red Wolves are putting their full recruiting attention on the state of Arkansas this week with their "A-State Ambush," sending their assistant coaches across the entire state the next five consecutive days to visit all 215 football-playing high schools in Arkansas.
In anticipation of the week-long recruiting blitz of the state that begins today, the coaching staff rallied around the slogan "215 schools, 5 days, 1 staff, 1 purpose."
"Like we said when we first got here, we're going to recruit this state like its never been recruited," said Malzahn. "We are big believers in the players here in Arkansas and the coaches here in Arkansas, so that's going to be the foundation of our program and we're going to do everything in our power to recruit this state."
After meeting with Malzahn, ASU's assistant coaches departed ASU Stadium in various directions leading to all parts of the state.
Each coach will be responsible for visiting different regions of the state, and their time on the road will be documented and available to track on AStateRedWolves.com, the official Web site of ASU Athletics.
RedWolfReport.com will have daily updates from high school coaches and athletes as the week progresses. You can take advantage of a 30-day FREE trial by using the promo code 'wolves30'.
Keep checking with RedWolfReport.com for all of your Arkansas State athletic and recruiting news!