Rebuilding Cowboys sign 19
Published 3:55 pm Wednesday, December 20, 2023
- McNeese State head coach Gary Goff talks to the Cowboys after a scrimmage on Saturday, Aug. 12, at Cowboy Stadium. (Rodrick Anderson / American Press)
“I’m very excited with the class we just signed and the players we got coming,” said Cowboy head coach Gary Goff. “We think we are building something here. Getting this many on campus early really helps.”
McNeese is coming off the worst season in program history after finishing 1-10 with that lone victory being by forfeit. Goff understands the task at hand.
“Right now we have to fix everything,” he said. “We think we really improved our roster with this class at just about every spot.
“We had to add depth and size everywhere and we think we did that.”
The 19 signees were split evenly with nine each on offense and defense and one being punter Finn Lappin from Melbourne, Australia. Lappin can punt the football with either leg according to Goff.
“It is really something to see,” he said.
Maybe the biggest news is that there is no news coming from linebacker Micah Davey, who has not entered the transfer portal. Davey earned FCS first-team All-American honors from the American Football Coaches Associated Wednesday.
“So far so good with Micah,” Goff said. “We knew we had to surround him with talent and get him some help on defense.”
Despite Davey’s huge sophomore season, McNeese’s defense wasn’t good, especially against the run. With that in mind, the Cowboy staff went after players who could help that right away.
McNeese even stole a player from Alabama. Lafayette Christian linebacker Sandy Lewis flipped his commitment from the powerhouse Tide to the Cowboys in large part to play with his brother, Masey, a defensive lineman for the Pokes.
“McNeese is a place where I can get developed and have a chance to play with my brother,” Sandy Lewis told The Advocate. “A lot of brothers can’t even do high school (together) and me and my brother are doing college.”
The 6-foot-1, 240-pound Lewis is a 3-star recruit and just one of five linebackers the Cowboys signed.
Leading the group is Tristen Digger, a 6-1, 202 transfer from Louisiana-Monroe. Digger was a preseason All-Sun Belt Conference selection last season. After one year in junior college Digger played the last two years at Monroe and recorded 83 tackles, 7.5 for loss. He also had 2.5 sacks.
All-Ivy Leaguer Marques White (6-2, 232) comes to McNeese as a graduate transfer from Dartmouth where he played four years and recorded 9.5 sacks.
McNeese signed three defensive linemen, all from FBS schools. Thomas Lane is a 6-foot-6, 340-pounder from Marshall and will play inside with 6-3, 298 Connor Knight, a transfer from Alabama-Birmingham, who was a 3-star recruit out of high school according to 247Sports.
Myles Winslow is a 6-3, 275 edge rusher from Georgia Southern.
Goff said he still is hopeful of adding two more defensive linemen in January, including one from FBS he said would be “a huge get” for the Cowboys.
“We had to get better with our front seven and we did that,” said Goff. “We got both size and depth. We felt this was the biggest area of need after last season.”
On offense, the Pokes signed four wide receivers to make up for the four that left last season for various reasons. Iowa High product Curtis Deville returns to the area after spending two seasons at Purdue.
Deville was a consensus 3-star recruit in high school and became Iowa’s first player ever to play at a Power 5 school. He scored 23 touchdowns his senior year as a prep star.
Jessie Campbell caught 38 passes for 601 yards and nine touchdowns at Riverside (CA) City College last year and Tyrique Carter had 26 catches for 351 yards and three scores at Snow Junior College. Both should help the McNeese passing game.
“We got really good in that room,” Goff said of his receivers. “We replaced everybody we lost and are happy with what we got coming in.”
McNeese also added two quarterbacks, Alex Flores (6-2, 192) from Mt. San Antonio College (CA) and freshman Jackson LaTour (6-2, 190) out of Oviedo, Florida. Flores threw 22 touchdowns and just four inceptions last season while LaTour finished his high school career with 62 TD passes.
“Those two guys really add to our quarterback group,” said Goff. “We had to replace a couple from last year and both can throw the football.”
Kam Sixkiller will enter spring camp as the starter for the Pokes but is coming off a couple of injuries, so adding depth was key.
The Cowboys also added three offensive linemen, two from Division II Southwest Baptist University. William Bress (6-6, 342) is a center and Cody Bracken (6-3, 309) can play both guard and tackle.
Freshman Sam Liu (6-2, 317) picked the Pokes over UL-Monroe among other schools.
“We have a lot of work ahead of us to get this turned around,” said Goff. “We understand that, but we think this is a really good start to doing that.”
There will be another signing day in Feb. while the transfer portal will close on Jan. 4. It will open for 15 days in the spring.
