Rogers adds Midwest flair to WSU’s 2025 signing class

First-year Washington State coach Jimmy Rogers and his staff have been on the job for just over a month, but the bulk of their 2025 signing class has been in the works for the better part of a year.

In the one month that coach Rogers has been WSU’s head football coach, he has had to build a staff and a roster in short order, bringing many of the coaches, players and recruits he had during his two-year tenure as South Dakota State’s coach from Brookings to Pullman.

“They were committed to the people that recruited them,” Rogers said of his class. “That developed relationships with them, that sat in their home, that talked to their parents, that got to know them for six months, that were with them every step of the way, watching and calling them after their high school games.

“They have to know you and who you are.”

Thirteen of the 18 members of WSU’s February 2025 signing class originally committed to Rogers at South Dakota State.

The Cougars retained 15 from former coach Jake Dickert’s December signing class to add 33 freshmen.

The 18-person February signing class includes nine defensive players, eight offensive players and one punter from 11 different states.

A midwest footprint

WSU is rooting its trenches in the Midwest.

About 15 of Rogers’ February signees come from the Midwest, including multiple from Missouri, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Of those 15, five are offensive or defensive linemen.

The Cougars have several 6-foot-5 prospects, including offensive lineman Trevor Bindel, an early enrollee, of Liberty, Mo. and defensive lineman Josh Wedel of Chaska, Minn.

WSU’s other 6-5 addition is offensive lineman Jorden Cunningham of Phoenix, Ariz.

Cunningham is originally from Quebec, Canada, and his father, Rick, played eight years in the NFL.

Rogers said he is confident that his FCS recruits can compete on the next level because of his staff’s track record of finding and developing pro-ready talent.

In 2022, eight South Dakota State alumni got NFL opportunities.

“If they have an NFL opportunity in general, from wherever they’re at, they are good enough to play anywhere in the country,” Rogers said. “Those are the players who we feel like we were recruiting.”

WSU beat out Boise State for QB

WSU signed two quarterbacks in their 2025 class, welcoming Dalton Anderson from Seattle’s Roosevelt High School and Owen Eshelman, who flipped from South Dakota State to the Palouse.

Anderson moved to Seattle ahead of his junior year from Stockton, Calif., where he played linebacker and wide receiver.

He signed with Utah State but decommitted following a coaching change. He chose WSU over the Cougars’ future Pac-12 rival Boise State.

Retaining Dickert’s recruits

Eight of the 33 recruits are early enrollees, having arrived in Pullman last month to begin college and participate in winter workouts and spring ball.

Seven of the eight early enrollees signed in December and stuck with WSU after Dickert left Pullman for Wake Forest.

Rogers said meeting with the December class of recruits when he got the WSU job was a slightly more personal process than getting to know the entire team.

Whereas his introduction to the team was a 100-plus person conference call, Rogers said his meeting with the incoming freshman class was a separate Zoom meeting which included each recruit’s parents, providing plenty of space for questions and conversation about the direction of the football program.

Rogers said he experienced a similar coaching transition at South Dakota State when he arrived in Brookings as a true freshman in 2006 as the position coaches that recruited him had left the school by the time he got to campus.

“They’ve been open, they’ve been great and really excited for their future,” Rogers said of the December signees who stayed with WSU.

Other names to watch

Linebacker Erimus Wright of Hazel Crest, Ill., “might have been the first guy to reach out when he heard the news” that Rogers was Wazzu-bound. Wright played running back and linebacker in high school and Rogers said he will arrive in Pullman as a dynamic player who could make an impression right away.

Safety Damarius Russell of Waseca, Minn. is the shortest player in the class at 5-foot-11 but has Rogers’ high praise as the best athlete in his area. In addition to football, Russell played basketball and ran track.

Cornerback Tyrone Cotton III of Chicago received Big Ten interest from Indiana and Rogers envisions him as the most ready to play early in his career.

Punter Adlai Lounsbury of Adel, Iowa, can punt at angles most high schoolers cannot, according to Rogers.

WSU February signing class

Dalton Anderson Fr. QB 6-2 205 Seattle, Wash. (Roosevelt HS)

Trevor Bindel Fr. OL 6-5 285 Liberty, Mo. (Liberty HS)

Jesiah Cornwell So. TE 6-4 265 Canon City, Colo. (Mt. San Antonio Coll.)

Tyrone Cotton III Fr. CB 6-1 170 Chicago, Ill. (Glenbrook South HS)

Jorden Cunningham Fr. OL 6-5 285 Phoenix, Ariz. (Brophy College Prep)

Owen Eshelman Fr. QB 6-3 195 Norman, Okla. (Norman North HS)

Donovan Fitzmaurice Fr. DL 6-3 280 Ellisville, Mo. (Marquette HS)

Dylan Hildebrand Fr. OL 6-4 300 Verona, Wisc. (Verona HS)

Adlai Lounsbury Fr. P 6-4 185 Adel, Iowa (Van Meter HS)

Brody Miller Fr. S 6-1 185 Shakopee, Minn. (Shakopee HS)

Carter Pabst Fr. WR 6-1 185 Wichita, Kan. (Eisenhower HS)

Travon Pankey Fr. RB 6-0 200 Kansas City, Mo. (Oak Park HS)

Damarius Russell Fr. S 5-11 175 Waseca, Minn. (Waseca HS)

Sullivan Schlimgen Fr. LB 6-1 220 Sioux Falls, S.D. (O’Gorman HS)

Trillion Sorrell Fr. CB 6-1 165 Bloomington, Minn. (Edina HS)

Connor Sullivan Fr. DL 6-4 270 Glenview, Ill. (Loyola Academy)

Josh Wedel Fr. DL 6-5 245 Chaska, Minn. (Chaska HS)

Erimus Wright Fr. LB 6-0 180 Hazel Crest, Ill (Hillcrest HS)

December signees

Turner Bertrand, OL, Kearney, Neb.

Kyle Peterson, DB, Pearland, Texas

Jovan Clark, LB, Chicago

Aiden Knapke, DB, Aurora, Colo.

Gaylon McNeal, DB, Fort Worth, Texas

Sean Embree Jr., WR, Santa Margarita, Calif.

Cash Landau, TE, Portland, Ore.

Peyton Read, TE, Portland, Ore.

Malijah Tucker, DL, Tumwater, Wash.

Luke Webb, edge, Huntington Beach, Calif.

Jamarey Smith, DB, Santa Clarita, Calif.

Ishmael Gibbs, DB, Los Angeles, Calif.

David Kuku, DB, Kennewick, Wash.

Noah Westbrook, WR, Corona, Calif.

Arion Williams, OL, Fontana, Calif.

Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2268, staylor@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @Sam_C_Taylor.