Colorado State football coach Steve Addazio keys on Colorado, linemen as recruiting opens

The state and the trenches.

Those were the focuses for new Colorado State football coach Steve Addazio as recruiting re-opened last week.

Addazio signed 10 players in December, but that was a seat-of-the-pants effort that came a week after being hired. 

The new coach and staff had time during the recruiting dead period to plan out an attack for recruiting when it opened Jan. 17 and the goal was clear.

CSU has landed four known commitments from the weekend. Three offensive lineman and a defensive tackle.

A look at the four commits:

• Dirk Nelson, Central Valley Christian Schools (California): A 6-foot-2, 291-pound center who is rated as a three-star recruit by 247Sports. Nelson committed to UNLV in November, but flipped after visiting Fort Collins over the weekend. He also has reported offers from Oregon, New Mexico, Nevada and Air Force, among others. He's rated as the No. 31 center in the nation.

• Gage Gaynor, Marjory Stoneman Douglas (Florida): The 6-foot-3, 266-pound lineman is rated as a three-star recruit by 247Sports. He's listed as a center in several recruiting rankings. He has eight reported offers, including Louisville, Marshall, UNLV and Air Force. He's rated as the No. 35 center in the class.

• Cam Reddy, Boston College: The 6-foot-2, 300-pound offensive lineman announced he'll transfer, following former Boston College coach Addazio to CSU. He appeared in one game in 2019 as a redshirt freshman. Reddy was a tight end in high school and walked-on at Boston College.

• Cameron Bariteau, The Peddie School (Massachusetts): The 6-foot-1, 300-pound defensive tackle committed to New Hampshire in December before flipping to CSU after a visit over the weekend. He also has offers from Bowling Green and Massachusetts.

The offensive line is a big position of need and the Rams will likely add more before the Feb. 5 signing day. CSU signed one offensive lineman — Poudre's Brian Crespo — in December.

CSU lost two 2019 starting offensive linemen (Nouredin Nouili and T.J. Storment) to transfer. Another two linemen who were committed under former coach Mike Bobo have de-committed (Uriah Greene and Weston Wallace).

The defensive line is also in need of additions after the graduations of Jalen Bates, Jan-Phillip Bombek, Damion Dickens and Toby McBride. CSU did sign two defensive linemen in December. 

Another focus of the recruiting weekend for the new staff as establishing lines of connection in Colorado. 

The football program made a massive social media push to promote recruiting Colorado, with a catchy hashtag (#BoxEmIn) and all. CSU coaches claimed to hit more than 65 Colorado schools to open the recruiting period.

The Rams signed four Colorado players in December. The feet on the ground is as much about setting up future classes as adding to 2020 as the Rams handed out offers to many non-senior high school football players. 

Time will tell how much it will pay off in recruiting, but it was certainly a tool to generate buzz after Bobo's staff lightly recruited the state. 

Addazio and other coaches can't comment on recruits until they sign a national letter of intent or financial aid agreement.

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