Griz Busy On National Signing Day

Today, college football coaches across the country sat eagerly around the fax machine, waiting to see which prized recruits had selected their particular school.

In a year, where the Montana Grizzlies lost just 15 seniors to graduation, head coach Robin Pflugrad managed to pull in 21 new recruits.

Taking a look at the new Griz, a couple of things stand out to me.

First, 10 players from the state of Montana are included in this year's class, including a couple of legacies.

Secondly, pipelines were re-established to both Butte and Hawaii. One Butte Bulldog (Matt Berg) and two Butte Central Maroons (cousins Aschan and Jonathan Richards) signed with the Griz, as did 3 athletes from Hawaii (offensive lineman Samson Kaleikini and Mililani teammates Trent McKinney and Hassan Richardson).

Finally, safety and offensive line were the teams' biggest priority as 4 at each position signed letters of intent with UM. 

Here is a complete rundown of the 20 newest members of the Grizzly football program.

1. Matt Hermanson - Freshman, Safety,  Washington HS (Sioux Falls, SD)
2. John Schmaing - Freshman, Offensive Line, Senior HS (Billings, MT)
3. Archie Woulard - Junior, Wide Receiver, Chandler HS (Chandler, AZ)
4. Connor Lebsock - Freshman, Safety, Skyview HS (Billings, MT)
5. Trent McKinney - Freshman, Quarterback, Mililani HS (Mililani, HI)
6. Jesse Ginn - Freshman, Defensive Tackle, Hellgate HS (Missoula, MT)
7. Kevin Frank Jr. - Junior, Cornerback, Sierra College (Rocklin, CA)
8. Jonathan Richards - Freshman, Linebacker, Butte Central HS (Butte, MT)
9. Samson Kaleikini - Freshman, Offensive Line, Kapolei HS (Kapolei, HI)
10. Gavin Hagfors - Freshman, Running Back, C.M. Russell HS (Great Falls, MT)
11. Nate Harris - Freshman, Cornerback, Chino Hills HS (Chino, CA)
12. Aschan Richards - Freshman, Tight End, Butte Central HS (Butte, MT)
13. Joe Dahl - Freshman, Offensive Line, University HS (Spokane, WA)
14. Nelo Butler - Freshman, Running Back, Helena HS (Helena, MT)
15. Addison Owen - Freshman, Linebacker, Camas HS (Vancouver, WA)
16. Zach Gratton - Freshman, Safety, Senior HS (Billings, MT)
17. Hassan Richardson - Freshman, Wide Receiver, Mililani HS (Mililani, HI)
18. Chase White - Freshman, Quarterback, Shelby HS (Shelby, MT)
19. Stephen Shaw - Freshman, Kicker/Punter, Capital HS (Boise, ID)
20. Matt Berg - Freshman, Quarterback/Kicker, Butte HS (Butte, MT)
21. Christian Licciardi - Freshman, Offensive Line, Orange Lutheran HS (Orange, CA)