2019 Signing Day Focus: Minnesota State

Few college football programs in the state of Minnesota can boast about a resume as impressive as Minnesota State. They have participated in the Division II playoffs six of the last seven years; including a trip to the semi-finals last season. They have been able to sustain that success – in part – because of recruiting philosophies that don't focus on getting immediate gratification but has a longer-term plan for the athletes on and off the field. Joe Beschorner is the Mavericks' quarterback coach/offensive coordinator. He also heads up recruiting the state of Minnesota. "Every program talks about their class being a great class, but nobody really knows," Beschorner admitted. "I think this group of kids we signed – specifically the guys from Minnesota – were awesome guys to recruit. They were on top of things, were respectful, were engaging and were great communicators. I am excited about every single one of them." Beschorner likes the intangibles of the 2019 recruiting class. "First and foremost, you have to get good people, with tremendous work ethic and I think all of the kids have worked extremely hard." The coaching staff at MSU uses many ways to evaluate what kind of a kid each of their recruiting targets is. "All the kids in this class came to our camp during the summer," Beschorner told northstarfootballnews.com. "Every single kid - with one exception – we saw at another camp. When you see them on your campus and how you see how they react to things like the facilities and the coaches. You have a few sets of eyes on them. That is worth its weight in gold. Everybody gets a chance to interact with them, and they can talk about how their interaction went with that kid, and you also get to see them interacting with other campers, you see them interacting on the tour – are they engaged?" The Mavericks' staff makes sure they are engaged off the field too. "We talk to people they know – their teachers, their coaches – that will give you an example of what kind of character they have." Most football players look good when colleges first see them. The internet has done a great job of opening doors to kids, but ultimately MSU's interest comes down to not only watching how that kid performs live during the play but how he acts after the play. "Hudl and social media are kind of like internet shopping," Beschorner explained. "You can watch anyone's highlight tape on the internet. Everybody looks good on a highlight tape. It is one thing to see a tape, but it is another thing at a camp when you can watch them, you can get a feel for them. We go out every Friday night and watch games. In a game, you can see how a kid handles failure, how he handles success. You can see how he interacts with teammates on the sidelines and how he interacts with coaches." Beschorner feels the guys they got to commit will especially help two years down the road – when they lose what will be a big senior class. "We were successful filling our needs," Beschorner said. "You never recruit for next year; you recruit for two years down the road. We only had six seniors on our team in 2018. The next year we are going to have over twenty seniors – a lot of those guys play up front. We put a big emphasis on running the football and dominating up front – that is the foundation of our program. That is what we went after. From there you put bricks on top of bricks to build the house. I think we did a great job filling the needs we are going to have two years down the road." The incoming freshmen will have a chance to play right away, but it would not be ideal. "We want every kid to come in with the mindset that they are going to play, and redshirting is not an option," Beschorner explained. "We want to have to convince them to redshirt. The best guys will play, but we want them to prepare like they are going to have an opportunity to play, but most of the guys will redshirt." Beschorner likes what the Minnesota kids up front should be able to do before they graduate. "I thought there were a lot of great players in the state of Minnesota this year. With the guys from the state that we brought on – Andrew Yogei, Jack Hanson and Michael Galgano are three guys at the point of attack we feel are going to be great players down the road for us. We pride ourselves on playing well on both sides of the line of scrimmage." Although they are a DII school, that doesn't mean they don't go after potential DI kids. "We are going to try to go after the biggest fish," Beschorner said. "We are going after the guys who are being recruited by Division I schools. If those guys have DI offers or have accepted DI offers, we will stay in contact in case something happens. From there we are going to go after the guys who we feel is going to be the best fit for what we are looking for positionally and the best fit for our culture." The culture is part of what the coaching staff stresses to potential incoming freshmen. "It is a great school. You will get a great education," Beschorner said. "We have a huge network of alumni. We are the second biggest school in the state. If you are looking for a bigger school, if you are looking to compete at a national level, and get a great education, you are going to get that. We have great facilities and a great stadium that is a great game day environment. We have a lot of things we can offer on and off the field." The coaching staff hopes the 2019 recruiting class has a lot to offer – if not right away than down the road as more and more Mavericks' shoes must be filled.