Saguaro spring football shows recruiting is back on track, but portal makes navigating different

They came from Oregon and Yale and all sorts of places in-between.

Last week, during the last of the big spring football showcases on Arizona high school fields, Scottsdale Saguaro greeted 87 coaches from 54 different colleges. All getting eyes on players from six schools:

Host Saguaro, Gilbert Higley, Scottsdale Horizon, Scottsdale Desert Mountain, Phoenix Mountain Pointe and Goodyear Desert Edge.

Since the pandemic derailed recruiting in 2020, this was the first time Division I college coaches were able to step on a high school campus and observe spring football workouts.

"I think ultimately what you try to accomplish (by having spring football showcases) is having multiple teams to one location to make it easier for the college coaches," Saguaro coach Jason Mohns said. "Instead of having to compete and drive around and choose what schools they're going to see, this is a great way.

"Arizona high school football coaches have gotten together to get exposure for all of our kids. Not necessarily what Saguaro needs to do or Desert Edge needs to do. I think when we come together like this, it helps our kids, it helps the other teams' kids. That's the one thing that has transitioned in Arizona over the last four or five years. More coaches have built a relationship as far as coaching staffs and working together."

Mohns pointed out how the Arizona High School Football Coaches Association has come back strong in the past two years, under great leadership, led by Phoenix Brophy Prep head coach Jason Jewell.

"The first step of the AzFCA was trying to organize the showcase so there was as little overlap as possible," Jewell said. "(Saguaro assistant) Louie Ramirez did a great job with that."

The biggest event happened on May 13, when 53 high schools showed up at Bell Bank Park in Mesa for the MegaShowcase, which was partnered by American Youth.

Teams went in three shifts on the 19 synthetic turf fields that were lit. It was attended by more than 100 college coaches, a smorgasbord of talent on display.

"As I tell (the high school coaches), it's a fat man's buffet," Idaho State head coach Charlie Ragle said. "You can go there, and you can get it all. It benefits everybody, in my opinion. It benefits the coaches. But it benefits the kids.

"If you got a good player that's not at a quote and unquote power, now all of those coaches that there to see Kid X, gets to see Kid Z, and it's helping that kid's recruiting, too."

Jewell credits American Youth and the Arizona Interscholastic Association for getting the 53-team showcase in Mesa done. The AIA had to approve it.

"I have not seen or heard of a bigger showcase in America," Jewell said.

Spring football falls under the AIA as a fully supported season.

Big 150: Top college football prospects in class of 2023 in Arizona high schools

In 2020, there was no spring football. There were no spring sports after a few weeks, because of COVID-19.

It wasn't until this spring that Division I college football coaches were allowed to hit high school campuses for those workouts due to COVID restrictions still in place by the NCAA.

“I just do what I do, nothing really changes with the college coaches, no matter where I’m practicing,” said Desert Mountain 2024 safety/wide receiver Dylan Tapley, who has picked up offers this spring from Oregon, Iowa State, Arizona and New Mexico State.

Although the coaches were back in droves, there still are concerns about when recruiting will be back to where it was before the pandemic hit in early 2020.

Most of the offers went out to those in the 2024 and '25 classes.

"What is currently affecting to-be seniors is the (college transfer) portal and the number of scholarships available," Hamilton coach Mike Zdebski said. "With the NCAA allowing teams to max out scholarships and remove the 25-max rule, this should help but the portal may trump this."

Read more: New Desert Vista football coach Nate Gill has Thunder rolling this spring

The transfer portal is allowing established college players to move to other schools more easily, filling spots on rosters that might otherwise be filled by new recruits.

Ragle, who led Scottsdale Chaparral to three state football titles in a row, before leaving to become a college assistant in 2011, first at Arizona, then California, before get his first head college coaching job this year, acknowledges how the portal has changed recruiting.

Players now are arranging their summer schedules to get to camps.

"It's going to help them, getting out and getting seen at camps, but I think the game has changed no matter what with the portal," Ragle said. "I think that hurts high school kids. I think it hurts junior college kids. There just aren't as many opportunities for kids because of the guys in the portal. Coaches are looking for guys who have played at a high level."

Arizona and Arizona State football coaches made their rounds in the Valley and through the state early in the spring football season. But by the last couple of weeks, it was hard to find them.

Last week, the Chandler Unified School District Spring Football Jamboree staggered the days so recruiters could visit six different campuses: Chandler, Hamilton, Perry, Basha, Casteel and Arizona College Prep.

There were 80 or so coaches just for Perry's 1:30 p.m., workout.

"Hoping our in-state schools can keep the Arizona kids here," Zdebski said. "We have great kids here in Arizona and have multiple, nationally ranked teams. Should be that way at the NCAA level with our AZ schools."

Read more: Perry football adjusting under new coach Joseph Ortiz to become an elite team again

So far in the 2023 class, none are committed to ASU or UA.

Even Chandler quarterback Dylan Raiola, the first 2024 Arizona high school football player to commit, announced Ohio State as his college choice.

"I tell everybody the explosion (in the Phoenix metro area) is equated to a couple of things," Ragle said. "Population growth. But I think the enhancement and emphasis on the offseason programs that the schools are doing. You see the development in the kids that you didn't seen 15, 20 years ago, when I first go there."

ACP coach Myron Blueford said that recruiting is back on track with 54 college coaches coming to his campus.

"The dynamic that is becoming interesting to navigate is the transfer portal," he said. "We had a player last year that had a spot taken by a player that entered the transfer portal late.

"You have some schools that are waiting to see what they will get from the portal before they look at high schools. Just another hurdle to navigate but Arizona has become a hotbed of recruiting, so there will still be plenty of opportunities for our kids."

Arizona HS football 2023 tracker: Saguaro DB Cole Shivers becomes 3rd Valley player to commit to Northwestern

New Tempe coach Sean Freeman said he loved seeing a large number of college coaches back at the showcases, reaching out to high school coaches via email about players.

"But, after speaking with a lot of the coaches, my concern is transfer-portal players taking up spots from our players," Freeman said. "Now this is mainly based on needs of the program and maturity. So my staff and I have been working with our guys on not burning bridges and keeping their options open when it comes to picking a school to play for after high school.

"This would be a great time for whomever is in charge to possibly reopen JUCO football in Arizona. Players who need an extra year or two before moving on to play out of state would really benefit from Arizona’s JUCO football programs."

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on Twitter @azc_obert.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Spring football showcases bring out college coaches to high schools