2027 Recruiting

[Undertherock]

On 6/17/2026 at 12:38 AM, Sioux94 said:

Recruiting has been way better under Schmidt. Our facilities are great,  but you still have to win more on the field. NDSU and SDSU still have bigger name appeal than UND at this point. This takes a while, it's only Schmidt's 2nd year. Need start beating SDSU on the field and going deeper in the playoffs and that will come. Hoping this year we take another big step in the right direction!

SDSU fan here.  Good recruiting classes are fun, but SDSU's great recruiting classes really didn't come until after SDSU started getting to Frisco (and the best class ended up following Jimmy Rogers to Frisco).  SDSU won with one offer guys.  Don't get me wrong, I'll take recruiting wins against NDSU and other garbage FBS programs, and multiple FCS offer guys, but we have yet to see high ranking recruiting classes in Brookings equate to championships.  No matter what, we're not talking about 4* and 5* sure fire guys and the development and retention is still just as important, if not more so, than subjective rankings.  Hell, JSD loses every, and I mean every, head to head recruiting battle with SDSU, but they've fielded pretty darn competitive teams the last few years 

[MadScout03]

Is it just me or is it strangely quiet on social media following the 2nd flagship camp 3 days ago? 200+ campers and I’ve only seen one post from an attendee, which I randomly came across. It wasn’t a retweet from a coach (I only follow UND football coaches on X, so I only see their retweets) nor were any of the coaches tagged in said post. 
 

Have some recruits been picked off by other schools lately so the staff is trying to be a little more incognito with the prospects? Or is there some other method to their madness? Just seems strange with how active things were after the first camp and how quiet things are now. 

[forksandspoons]

2 hours ago, MadScout03 said:

Is it just me or is it strangely quiet on social media following the 2nd flagship camp 3 days ago? 200+ campers and I’ve only seen one post from an attendee, which I randomly came across. It wasn’t a retweet from a coach (I only follow UND football coaches on X, so I only see their retweets) nor were any of the coaches tagged in said post. 
 

Have some recruits been picked off by other schools lately so the staff is trying to be a little more incognito with the prospects? Or is there some other method to their madness? Just seems strange with how active things were after the first camp and how quiet things are now. 

Might be your algorithm. I saw quite a few posts from attendees a couple days ago 

[FSSD]

15 hours ago, Undertherock said:

SDSU fan here.  Good recruiting classes are fun, but SDSU's great recruiting classes really didn't come until after SDSU started getting to Frisco (and the best class ended up following Jimmy Rogers to Frisco).  SDSU won with one offer guys.  Don't get me wrong, I'll take recruiting wins against NDSU and other garbage FBS programs, and multiple FCS offer guys, but we have yet to see high ranking recruiting classes in Brookings equate to championships.  No matter what, we're not talking about 4* and 5* sure fire guys and the development and retention is still just as important, if not more so, than subjective rankings.  Hell, JSD loses every, and I mean every, head to head recruiting battle with SDSU, but they've fielded pretty darn competitive teams the last few years 

In general, the high school recruiting and rating system has not fully penetrated the Dakotas, northern and western Minnesota, and parts of Nebraska. Typically, there are one or two standout players in each class who earn three- or four-star ratings and sign with FBS programs, but overall these regions remain under-recruited by FBS schools. As a result, many talented athletes do not receive the same level of exposure they would in other parts of the country.

USD recruited very successfully in the Sioux Falls area when O'Gorman was the dominant high school football program. UND and NDSU would occasionally land a player or two from the area as well. That changed when the Sioux Falls public schools and Brandon Valley emerged as major football powers around the same time SDSU moved to the FCS level and began making significant investments in its athletic facilities. SDSU quickly became the primary destination for recruits from those programs, particularly Brandon Valley.

The one area that USD has always had an advantage on all the Dakota schools has been in Florida in particular the Miami area.  It has always been a strong area for USD because of Joe Robbie.   He was USD alumnus and founder of the Miami Dolphins and served as the national fundraising chairman for the DakotaDome project in the early 1970s. 

I can see that dynamic beginning to level out as USD continues to establish itself within the FCS landscape and expands its facilities. The university is planning the Gassen Family Fieldhouse, a state-of-the-art indoor track and field facility expected to cost between $45 million and $50 million. The project is anticipated to be completed around 2028 or 2029 and will pave the way for a major renovation of the DakotaDome, including converting it into a football-only venue and completely rebuilding the east side of the facility.

NDSU continues to recruit South Dakota very effectively, especially in the Pierre area and the northeastern part of the state. UND, on the other hand, has had less success recruiting South Dakota in recent years, although it still signs a handful of players from the state each recruiting cycle.

As for the head-to-head recruiting battles between USD and SDSU, you're correct that there are quite a few. However, I think the dynamic differs from what exists in North Dakota, which makes those battles somewhat less frequent and less intense than the recruiting wars between UND and NDSU.

The primary difference is that USD does not offer the same breadth of engineering and STEM programs that are major draws at SDSU, UND, and NDSU. For many in-state student-athletes interested in those fields, the alternatives are South Dakota Mines and Dakota State. Both are excellent academic institutions, but neither competes at the FCS level athletically, which significantly alters the recruiting landscape.

Now that NDSU has moved up to the FBS level, I think UND and SDSU may start crossing paths more frequently in recruiting battles for FCS-level talent in the region. It will be interesting to see how those dynamics change over the next few years.

[F'n Hawks]

3 hours ago, MadScout03 said:

Is it just me or is it strangely quiet on social media following the 2nd flagship camp 3 days ago? 200+ campers and I’ve only seen one post from an attendee, which I randomly came across. It wasn’t a retweet from a coach (I only follow UND football coaches on X, so I only see their retweets) nor were any of the coaches tagged in said post. 
 

Have some recruits been picked off by other schools lately so the staff is trying to be a little more incognito with the prospects? Or is there some other method to their madness? Just seems strange with how active things were after the first camp and how quiet things are now. 

Looks like it will all be fine…

[forksandspoons]

1 hour ago, F'n Hawks said:

Looks like it will all be fine…

Six Hawks????

[siouxweet]

On 6/19/2026 at 8:20 PM, UNDBIZ said:

 

This is the least surprising committ in the history of committs.  He has been groomed for this moment. 

[SiouxFan100]

Sounds good