Bonamego talks football recruiting class at National Signing Day celebration
Students, residents and football fanatics gathered at Hunter’s Ale House Wednesday night to get a sneak peek at the future of Central Michigan football.
As part of National Signing Day — the day when high school football players are required to have their letters of intent sent in to the college they plan on attending — CMU football unveiled its 2017 recruiting class with video highlights and analysis on each player.
Head coach John Bonamego was joined on stage by several of his assistant coaches to give analysis on each of their incoming recruits, while fans watched video highlights of them on the screen.
Class Breakdown
In total, CMU signed 26 recruits on NSD, including 12 on offense and 14 on defense. It was the program’s largest recruiting class since 2012.
The group is currently ranked 91st overall and fifth in the Mid-American Conference, according to the 247 sports composite rankings.
Bonamego said recruiting players can sometimes take years and other times be a last minute process.
"We've got players in this class we found out about late. We've got players we've recruited since their sophomore year," Bonamego said about his second class at CMU. "In the end, its about getting to signing day. But in the beginning, it's open-ended.
The Chippewas were able to acquire nine players from the Detroit Free Press “Fab 50 — more than any other Michigan school and twice as many as any other MAC school.
Bonamego said him and his staff searched for a certain type of player while on the recruiting trail.
“We were looking to get bigger, stronger and faster,” Bonamego said. “Six of our signees are 6’4 or taller, six of them run sub 11.2 (seconds) in the 100 meters. So we did a really good job in that regard.”
Expanding its Footprint
While the Chippewas were successful in bringing a lot of the in-state talent to Mount Pleasant, Bonamego and his staff made it a point to bring in talent from across the country.
Central Michigan signed nine players from out of state on NSD. The group featured two players from Alabama, two from Florida, two from Ohio, one from Illinois, one from Missouri, one from New York, and even an Austrian born player.
Bonamego said it is important not to limit yourself when looking for talent.
“It’s strategically planned. You want to be careful you don’t spread yourself too thin,” he said. “We’ve gone head-to-head with Rutgers, Boston College, Illinois, Nebraska, Purdue, Minnesota and we’ve won some of those (recruiting) battles.”
While the Chippewas do not currently have any commits for next year's class, Bonamego said him and his staff have already begun working on the 2018 and 2019 classes.
“Our staff does a tremendous job of getting around and working. The hardest part is getting kids on the plane here. Once they get here, they are always pleased, surprised and inspired by what they see.”
