After 33 new Grizzlies signed letters of intent Wednesday, Daste and UM head coach Bobby Hauck could relax and reflect on what is Montana's largest recruiting class since 1985.
A large senior class for 2007 partly explains the number of signees, but the Griz also split some scholarships, something you can do in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision, but not in the FBS (formerly I-A).
“You almost have to be a salary cap (expert) to be able to figure it out,” Hauck said. “Dom did a great job of keeping everybody directed and organized.
“This is a big recruiting class, and he basically had to sit me down almost two weeks ago and just say, ‘Stop. We're done. We've got to quit taking guys, because the class is full.' We did leave room for some particulars right here at the end, but essentially we've been done for a few weeks.”
Daste took on the added role of recruiting coordinator after Hauck asked him last year.
“It was about getting a little more responsibility,” he said. “And getting a little more hands-on with recruiting. Doing the background work, the financial part and knowing every aspect of the recruiting process is something I was really interested in.”
The coaches put in their miles. Daste said he, along with offensive coordinator Rob Phenicie and receivers coach Cedric Cormier, recruited Northern California. They brought in linemen Kyle Kmet and Charles Burton, quarterback Gerald Kemp, receiver Jabin Sainbrano and linebacker Andrew Douglass.
Defensive backs coach Tim Hauck hit Southern California, and Bobby Hauck credited his brother for recruiting lineman Blake LeBeau and receiver Trumaine Johnson. But Tim Hauck's biggest inroads came in Arizona, where the Griz landed four signees: Running back Dan Moore, defensive backs Mike McCord and Mike Cummings and defensive lineman Matt Hulse.
“We haven't recruited many players out of Arizona, but Phoenix is the fifth-largest city in the country,” Bobby Hauck noted.
Recruiting services helped get the ball rolling. The coaches then began hitting the road to evaluate players. Word of mouth helps, too.
“That's how I found Jabin,” Daste said of the speedy receiver. “I was at a school up the road, and their coach said, ‘There's this kid at Great Oaks who's really good. Gave us hell.' I went down there and really liked the kid.”
Former Griz assistant Dave Schramm, now with Utah, put his former team on the trail of Kemp, Daste noted. Kemp became the Grizzlies' quarterback signee for 2008.
The Griz signed four defensive linemen, three of them Montanans, all of whom are projected to play end: DeBruycker, Harris and Bozeman's Eric Homec.
“When you look Dustin Dlouhy, Mike Murphy and Kroy Biermann going out of the program, you need to cycle through with some defensive ends,” said Hauck, who last fall saw Biermann win the Buck Buchanan Award as the Division I FCS defensive player of the year. “It's a little unique that the three guys outgoing were Montanans and a guy (Dlouhy) from Idaho Falls, Idaho.
“And the incoming guys are Montana kids. With DeBruycker, Homec and Harris, we've got a really good-looking raw product.”
Homec and Harris, oddly enough, were born on the same day: Sept. 15, 1989.
QUICK KICKS: The Grizzlies begin spring ball on March 10. Their final spring scrimmage is set for April 12 in Polson. ... Montana signed 42 players in 1985, Larry Donovan's last year as head coach.
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