TIME25PEND A FEW MINUTES READING ABOUT RECRUITS

This week's Hootmail: Looking at the most intriguing new Owls from Jerry Mack's first full recruiting class.

A personal note to start this week, as sometimes this whole website turns into me throwing around a lot of info to look smart. That’s a little self-scouting out of the Hoot State corporate offices: Try to sound less like ChatGPT describing effective field goal percentage.

Anyway, we got to take our daughter to her first Owls game last Saturday, with pink headphones on (AAR tribute, not for safety) and a KSU outfit purchased like 24 hours after we found out we were having a girl. She’s only five months old and unfortunately doesn’t quite know ball yet. I’d still like to treat it as an early unofficial visit for this Class of 2042 recruit. Thinking she’ll golf, mainly for her dad to get on at Pinetree. Shooting guard works, too — we don’t have a problem being flexible on which sport.

A surreal, full-circle experience after coming to campus all the time as a kid and going to my first game during the ‘04 season, obviously not realizing how much real estate the Owls would later occupy in my brain. My dad and I both got degrees from very different versions of Kennesaw State. That old gym turned into just one small portion of a massive rec center, housing indoor soccer of all things. Who knows what it will look like when Baby Hoot gets to campus?

There’s not some deep connection or hidden meaning between taking her to the FIU game and thinking about the football schedule, latest signees, or whatever else we could talk about. Eventually, all this stuff will matter to those third- and fourth-generation Owls as KSU fandom becomes a little more of an inheritance. The first step: Take infants to games that you’ll never stop reminding them about once they get older.

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Signing Day: Five new Owls to watch

When did we officially break contain on recruiting hashtags? Way before the February signing day stopped being the main event, right? Time25oar is a completely ridiculous string of letters and numbers, but you have to really respect the creator here, as always. We might be wasting our sharpest minds on branding annual recruiting classes.

Mack’s first group of signees won’t win any collective offseason awards, though there was still some good work on a limited timeline during the regime change. He’s fought a multi-front war since taking the job in early December — hiring a staff, recruiting his own roster, making moves in the portal, and trying to lock down some HS players. All told, even if 247 ranks it at the bottom of CUSA, I think you have to call this class a win. Mack’s early mission seemed to be raising the talent floor of the program, rather than chasing down a bunch of highly-rated P4 transfers, hoping for new stars. You’d love those guys, to be clear, but those aren’t the roster spots Kennesaw’s addressing right now.

Let’s take a look at some of the most intriguing newcomers who signed with the Owls since our last roster deep-dive a few weeks ago.

Byron Jackson - Edge

6’4”, 225 | HS signee | Tallahassee, FL

Looking at the premium positions in football - quarterback, offensive tackle, and edge rushers - Kennesaw State found themselves short on options at all three spots last year. On QB and tackle, we know the deal there as Mack has been busy addressing those deficiencies. As for the edge, I’m not sure the KSU defense ever fully recovered from losing Donovan Westmoreland in the spring.

In former South Alabama commit Byron Jackson, Mack and DL coach Jonathan Bradley may have found an answer for the future. We’ve talked a bit previously about what Bradley, who would’ve been Jackson’s position coach in Mobile, may import from his time with the Jaguars (like principles of the Swarm defense). The hybrid Bandit role where Jackson projects is one element that will almost assuredly translate to Kennesaw.

“Byron has the physical presence you look for in those defensive end players,” Mack said in his quick NSD vignette on Jackson. “Those guys who have power and speed off the edge. It’s going to be hard for any offensive tackle to control him off the edge when he’s rushing the passer.”

Even if Mack loaded that review with hyperbole, Jackson’s 6’3,” 225 frame hasn’t been a common prototype on the edge for the Owls, which have mostly relied on out-of-position linebackers in recent years. According to Jackson’s 247 profile, Maryland, WKU, USF, and a handful of others made a run at signing him out of Gadsden County HS. You like the pedigree there, and the fact that Bradley trusted the eval enough to bring him along under a different DC.

The other bright spot is a common theme for a few newcomers on defense: Jackson also liked the idea of playing for Bradley enough to follow him to Kennesaw. A couple incoming transfers with more experience ease up the drastic need for him to play right away, too.

Chase Belcher - RB

6’1”, 218 | West Georgia transfer

Out of every newcomer (non-QB division), Belcher would be my pick for the most likely to make an early impact. He transfers in from West Georgia, where new WR coach David Whitlow was on staff last season, and started his college career at Northern Arizona. Watching Belcher’s NAU highlight tape, you can preview the yards after contact (3.26 per carry across his career) and versatility at RB, WR, and even Wildcat QB for a few packages.

Belcher showed up in Flagstaff listed as a WR after playing all over the field during his time at Lowndes. He somehow got an inch shorter in the formal move to running back for the 2023 season. Even during that season listed as RB on the roster, NAU used him in the slot or out wide on almost a third of his passing downs. The counting stats don’t blow you away — 484 all-purpose yards in his most productive season — but the skillset fits perfectly. Less milage than you’d expect from a senior transfer, too.

A RB with power on the ground and versatility in the passing game will do wonders in Mack’s new offense, built on extreme tempo and running between the tackles. I’m picturing a personnel group with Belcher, Gabe Benyard, two WRs and a tight end that could be anything from empty to a two-back set with an in-line TE. That’s a matchup nightmare for defenses if you can give that many looks without needing to substitute.

I wouldn’t read too much into the stats at West Georgia, where he was a little stuck behind a back who’d been there since 2019, for the entirety of the FCS transition. Still, he ended up as the Wolves’ third-leading receiver with 182 yards. From the KSU roster, only Jaden Robinson finished with more yards per route run than Belcher’s 1.7.

Also: If you’re curious, Belcher’s up to 218 pounds and back to 6’1” as he heads to Kennesaw. Credit to the UWG training staff for figuring out that missing inch.

Jamari Harrold - TE

6’4”, 210 | HS signee | Norcross, GA

Originally offered under the Bohannon regime, Harrold comes to campus as the best receiving tight end prospect the Owls have ever signed, mainly because that’s not where he spent most of his career at Norcross. That’s not the hottest take ever, given Kennesaw State’s limited history recruiting the position.

Harrold boasts one of the most impressive offer list among KSU’s incoming freshmen, including App State, Liberty, Jacksonville State and a few other G5 mainstays as suitors at one time or another. Are the Owls getting a steal here based on valuing him at tight end, instead of the wideout position he played in high school?

Take a look at just one example of the ball skills Harrold brings to the table:

Mack’s Letterboxd review of the film ahead of the position change: “Jamari Harrold is the new version of what tight ends look like in college football.”

His value prop isn’t too dissimilar from Chase Belcher in the form of versatility. Looking at other Veer and Shoot teams out there, we’re about to see a big-time spike in how often KSU tight ends line up in the slot. Carson Kent hit 40% of passing snaps there last season, up from just 6.1% in ‘23. That’s a little below the absolute floor for the comparative offense. Tennessee’s go-to TEs were above 50% for most of Mack’s tenure in Knoxville and approached that number this year. You’ll see similar usage at other branches of the coaching tree, like USF and Mississippi State.

Jackson Manning’s the only returning tight end to play any career snaps in Kennesaw, with 79 last season. Just 17 of those were on pass plays, leaving a wide-open position battle to replace Kent after the program’s first true tight end transferred to Oklahoma.

The highest upside play appears to be finding a big WR and telling him to eat and lift his way into the tight end position. Even if you don’t count on him RIGHT away, Harrold has the ideal profile for what Mack needs if he can figure out the blocking part of the game — not to mention all the Commons swipes required to add those extra 15 pounds.

Jayce Cora - WR

6’4”, 185 | HS signee | Naples, FL

Mack said Cora “plays above the rim” during the NSD social media recap we keep revisiting. That’s accurate, both in his red-zone metaphor and also in the literal sense on the court. Enjoy Cora’s basketball highlights — two and a half minutes of dunking on kids and pinning shots against the backboard:

Cora, at least based on 247’s database, boasts the top offer list from Kennesaw’s ‘25 class. A couple ACC schools and Notre Dame were among the programs that showed serious interest in the receiver at one point during the recruiting process:

Kennesaw’s WR room, like many position groups in the program, is undergoing a pretty thorough rebuild as the botched flexbone transition carries over into Mack’s tenure. Blake Bohannon departs the program after racking up more than a thousand snaps in ‘23 and ‘24, leaving plenty of work to go around for the returning and incoming wideouts to fight over. You still bring back the most useful pieces from the past roster; the question is how they all fit in.

It’s impossible to have too many 6’4” wide receivers, especially with the pace at which the Owls plan on running. Cora is joined in the recent batch of signees by fifth-year transfer Jordan Jackson (6’3”, 210), another WR with a bigger frame. These are the types of wideouts that either haven’t existed within the program, or haven’t developed once they get on campus.

Obviously Cora’s offer list influences picking him as an interesting recruit, but it’s more about what his career trajectory shows you regarding the Kennesaw program as a whole. If the offensive operation is running smoothly, Cora is the kind of high-potential, rangy wideout that 1) shouldn’t have to play right away, and 2) will develop into a solid contributor down the road. A fascinating test case for Mack, Militello, and Whitlow right from the jump.

Tay’vion Lawson - CB

6’2”, 187 | HS signee | Jacksonville, FL

Am I crazy to say we’ll see an Owls corner on an NFL roster sometime in the next 3-4 years? That’s what I keep coming back to every time I hear James Williams talk about the position and look at the profile of DB they’re bringing in. Say hello to a lengthy DBs in the 6’2” range, both from the HS ranks and his previous stop at Alabama State. If the Owls - and everyone out there - want to load up on bigger WRs, only makes sense to counter that with the guys who cover them.

The newest addition, Tay’vion Lawson, comes from in Jacksonville and planned to attend one of the service academies before the Owls came calling within the last couple weeks. Apologies to our old friend Brian Newberry for the steal. Williams built a relationship with the corner and offered him while at ASU, so it’s a similar deal as Bradley bringing Byron Jackson to Kennesaw — a good sign on both sides of the equation.

There’s plenty to like from the corner’s highlight reel at Jackson HS, where he played some WR in addition his defensive duties. Corner’s definitely a position like OL where game tape might be a little more beneficial to watch, though. Those ball skills will travel regardless. Lawson will arrive to campus in a friendly landing spot this summer, when he can learn the nuances of the position at the college level while the Owls aren’t desperate for immediate snaps.

At the risk of repeating myself about the corners, Kennesaw already put together a strong group, even after the signing of James Shellman from MTSU appears to have gone awry. Tyler Hallum and JeRico Washington both return as starters, then Williams adds Offord (6’1”) and Tookes (6’2”) from ASU to the mix. All that said, Mack pinpointed Lawson as “someone who can play sooner rather than later in our system.”

Every coach says nice things about new signings, obviously. That’s still extremely high praise for a true freshman walking into the best position group on the team.