‘These guys are winners:’ Wazzu focuses on secondary, offensive line with ’25 signing class

Washington State coach Jake Dickert made some calls around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday night, making final check-ins ahead of college football’s national signing day.

His Wednesday began around 5 a.m. Pacific with a call from Liam Vaughan, the Cougars’ 295-pound, 6-foot-2 offensive line recruit out of Walled Lake, Mich.

Over the next seven hours, 23 high school seniors signed with WSU. At noon, Dickert strolled into his news conference with a bright grin.

“These guys are winners,” Dickert said. “Twenty-one of these guys are in the playoffs. Fifteen of these guys are team captains. And I believe in winning. There’s a culture to it. There’s an understanding to it, and a bunch more are from some of the best high schools, really, across the country.”

Dickert and his staff assembled a 2025 signing class that includes 23 student-athletes from nine different states. WSU recruited 14 players from the West Coast, three from Texas, two from Colorado, one from Nevada and expanded its footprint with recruits from Nebraska, Michigan and Illinois.

Two of the 23 — cornerback David Kuku (Kamiaken High School, Kennewick, Wash.) and Malijah Tucker (Tumwater High School, Tumwater, Wash.) — are in-state recruits with Kuku being the No. 1-ranked corner in the state.

A Dickert-era record nine of the 23 signees will enroll in January, joining in on winter workouts and spring camp.

The class, which is ranked as the No. 69 class in the nation per 247sports.com, includes six defensive backs, four offensive linemen, three wide receivers, two edges, two defensive tackles, two linebackers, two tight ends, a running back and a quarterback.

“They trust us”

Dickert fired defensive coordinator Jeff Schmedding on Monday and saw his offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle accept the same position at Oklahoma.

Despite these top coaching changes occurring two days prior to signing day, Dickert said that each signee completed their paperwork within the first 10 minutes of their first hour.

“They trust us,” Dickert said. “The player needs to love it here, not the families, not the brothers, not the coaches, the player. The guys that thrive here in Pullman, Wash., they love every facet of our program.”

Dickert credited the stability at head coach and strength and conditioning coach (Ben Iannacchione) in particular for earning their signing class’s trust.

“We created a vision for them, that vision isn’t changing,” Dickert said. “Every opportunity as a staff change is an opportunity for our program to get better. That’s the way I look at it. ... That’s not a knock to anybody, it’s just a viewpoint I have as a competitor. There’s a lot of great coaches at a lot of levels, and we’re going to put the best in front of these kids.”

DB-U

Dickert and his staff have proven a knack for developing defensive backs. Four of the 14 Cougs active in the NFL are defensive backs who were coached by Dickert.

To keep pace with a program strength, WSU signed six defensive backs, including Kuku, Ishmael Gibbs (Los Angeles), Aiden Knapke (Aurora, Colo.), Gaylon McNeal (Fort Worth, Texas), Kyle Peterson (Pearland, Texas) and Jamarey Smith (Santa Clarita, Calif.).

Gibbs, Knapke, Peterson and Smith will be early enrollees arriving in Pullman for the start of the spring semester and winter workouts in January, setting each up to compete for meaningful playing time as true freshmen.

“Versatility is a premium, but there’s a steep learning curve,” Dickert said. “This is a complicated game played at warp speed, but these guys will give them a chance to come in early and kind of go through that process with the team.”

“Hammering the offensive line”

WSU’s four offensive line recruits include Arion Williams (Fontana, Calif.), Aidan Martin (Denver), Turner Bertrand (Kearney, Neb.) and Vaughan.

Williams is a 6-foot-2, 280-pound tackle from Orange Lutheran High School.

Dickert said Williams plays in the best high school league in the country and will switch to center for WSU.

“Super athletic, 33-and-a-half-inch arms — like, that’s a long arm,” Dickert said. “So it isn’t just about the height, it’s about creating that contact in there. And his athleticism is off the charts.”

Martin, at 6-6 and 265 pounds and Bertrand at 6-7, 290, will train at the tackle position.

Vaughan, standing at 6-2, 295, recorded 108 pancake blocks and did not allow a sack or a quarterback hurry in his senior season. He will play guard for the Cougs.

WSU’s starting left tackle Esa Pole is graduating, but upperclassmen guards Christian Hilborn, Brock Dieu and Rodrick Tialavea, center Devin Kylany and right tackle Fa’alili Fa’amoe could return in 2025.

“For three years we’ve been hammering this offensive line unit,” Dickert said. “It’s the heartbeat of the team. We got it where we want, now we need to replenish, and I think these guys will be the staple of this football team going forward.”

Here are several other signees who stand out and may be able to make an immediate impact:

Edge Lucan Amituanai

Dickert said Amituanai may be able to immediately contribute to a line that is losing graduating senior edges Syrus Webster, Andrew Edson and Quinn Roff

“Lucan had 10 sacks. He’s power. He’s gonna be big time,” Dickert said. “He’s almost ready to go right now when we get him in the summer.”

Amituanai chose WSU over offers from Utah, Boise State, San Diego State, Idaho and others.

Linebacker Jovan Clark

Clark will come to Pullman from Chicago’s Morgan Park High School, where he played linebacker and safety.

“Jovan is just a utility knife,” Dickert said. “He played a little bit of safety, but he’ll be kinda more down in the box in our scheme.”

Clark had offers from UNLV, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Wyoming and others.

Running back Jamar Searcy

As a senior at Pittsburg High School in Oakland, Calif., Searcy racked up over 1,400 rushing yards and nearly 300 receiving yards, scored 21 touchdowns and averaged 9.4 yards per carry.

Searcy had offers from California, San Diego State, San Jose State, Idaho and others.

Other players

WSU recruited three wide receivers, including Sean Embree Jr. (Santa Margarita, Calif.), Jack Foley (Bend, Ore.) and Noah Westbrook (Corona, Calif.).

The Cougs got a pair of tight ends from Portland, Ore., in Cash Landau (Franklin High School) and Peyton Read (Westview High School).

Joining Amituanai and Clark in the front seven are defensive tackles Josiah Pratt (Houston) and Tucker (Tumwater, Wash.), edge Luke Webb (Huntington Beach Calif.) and AJ Tuitele (North Las Vegas, Nev.).

WSU’s one 2025 quarterback is Steele Pizzella (Simi Valley, Calif.). Pizzella is a 5-foot-11, 180-pound dual-threat quarterback, playing a similar style to WSU’s John Mateer.

“More than anything, at that quarterback position, like, ‘how mentally sturdy are you?’ And I think Steele is sharp as they come,” Dickert said. “He battled against some of the best in the country. And I think that’s just a new-age kid. I think they want to be dual threat, right? We want to be a dual-threat offense.”

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