One of the more popular off-season blogs is the “Where is the roster from?” blog.  So as I gear up to write the position previews, I thought this blog might be a good place to start.  The roster on GoJacks.com has still not been updated so I had to manually subtract the known defections from the roster as well as use the info that I have for the incoming freshmen.  So with that said, this may not be exactly right but it’s going to be pretty close.  

The Jacks remain strong in their known hot beds but also dipped into some new states this year.  We talked about that with Coach Lujan in our recruiting wrap up podcast for the c/o 2021 and how COVID allowed/forced coaches to watch film from players out of traditional recruiting areas.  So here is the breakdown of where the players on the Jackrabbit roster come from.

South Dakota: 22

• I think we can all say that we are proud that the Jacks start local and move out.  The roster is filled with South Dakota kids who are making an impact.

Minnesota: 16

• The Jacks have done well in recent seasons adding quality to the roster from both the metro and greater Minnesota.  

Iowa: 14

• Northwest Iowa has been good to the Jacks throughout the years.  The Jacks have also expanded their recruiting presence to the entire state. 

Nebraska: 12

• The #NebraskaJacks still have a strong presence on the roster but the Jacks did not sign anyone from the 2021 from Nebraska and have yet to get a commit from 2022 out of the state.

Illinois: 11

• I always hear “There are so many high schools in Illinois.” and that explains why there are so many players from Illinois on this roster.  All of these players are impact players and major contributors to this team.

Arizona: 9

• Until the class of 2021 the Arizona pipeline appeared to have dried up.  However, adding 8 players in the most recent class replenished the well.  Arizona has been a GREAT state for the Jackrabbits in the last 15 years. 

Wisconsin: 8

• The Jackrabbits are starting to make waves in Wisconsin.  Coach Eck, Coach Erickson and Coach Erickson all have strong ties to the state and that may be paying dividends.

Missouri: 6

• Missouri has been strong for the Jacks in recent years.  The Jacks have landed some big time talent over the past few seasons; Isaiah Davis being one of them.

Florida: 4 

• The Jacks still have a presence in Florida landing players in each of the past 3 classes.

Kansas: 3

• Kansas is a fairly new area for the Jacks, who saw the potential in Quinton Hicks, and they have remained active in the state for the class of 2022 class.

Arkansas: 2

• Former running back coach John Johnson has a ton of connections in Arkansas, that is part of the reason how the Jacks landed the best running back in the FCS, Pierre Strong. 

Texas: 1

• It has been awhile since the Jacks had a player from Texas.  I’m excited for the future of Colby Huerter as I think he has the chance to be darn good.

Ohio: 1

• The Jacks landed their QB for the c/o 2021 in Cade Rice.  Coach Lujan searches high and low to find the top and talent and he went to Ohio to get his man last year.

Oklahoma: 1

• Grad Transfer Landon Wolfe is the Jacks first connection to Oklahoma in recent memory.

Alabama: 1

• They say that the world of football coach staffs is a pretty small world.  That may be the case here as Coach Rogers had a connection with Cade Reynolds that helped the Jacks land their first player from Alabama. 

Saskatchewan (Canada): 1

• Ethan Vibert is still the lone #CanadaJack on the roster but will be joined by a recent commit in the fall of 2022.