Recruiting was a frequent topic of conversation with Arkansas State football Coach Butch Jones this season.
From his perspective, it might've been too frequent. But when your team is in the midst of a 2-10 season and what was once an eight-game losing streak, it's easy to look ahead.
"Recruiting is the lifeblood of any program," Jones said in November. "When you don't have [good] recruiting classes ... it usually gets you two to three years down the road. So the mindset we have to have here is that every recruiting class we have, we're looking to out-recruit [the previous] class."
Today will be the first chance to see whether Jones and his coaching staff are on track to do that as the Red Wolves are set to sign around a dozen prospects once the early signing period begins.
ASU hosted several recruits in Jonesboro the past two weeks and today it expects secure signatures from two of their top high school targets in tight end Miller McCrumby and quarterback Jaxon Dailey.
The 3-star prospects -- both of whom are ranked among the nation's top 800 per 247Sports -- have been locked in with the Red Wolves for several months. Dailey, a native of Des Moines, Iowa, was the first verbal commit among the 16 high schoolers listed by 247Sports, announcing his commitment in late April.
"You always want to go where you're loved," Dailey told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "They made sure that I know how they felt about me, and over time, I realized where that's where I needed to be."
Dailey, a 6-2, 180-pound left-hander, also had offers from across the Division I spectrum -- Michigan and Iowa State at the Power 5 level, Buffalo, Rice and Western Kentucky at the Group of 5 level and FCS Princeton.
Once recruiting restrictions were lifted this fall with covid subsiding nationwide, multiple coaches approached Dailey looking to flip his commitment.
He didn't budge from ASU.
"No, not at all," Dailey said when asked if he ever thought about reconsidering. "I've never wavered and it never crossed my mind to look elsewhere."
When he arrives in Jonesboro, he'll have a classmate to throw to in McCrumby. The tight end from Mount Pleasant, Texas, had a different recruiting process given that he changed positions over the summer after playing wide receiver his entire football career.
McCrumby, 6-4 and 205, told the Democrat-Gazette that he wants to be able to create mismatches from different spots on the field and began to transition to the position during his senior season this fall.
Dailey and McCrumby are two of only three nationally-ranked prospects in the Red Wolves' 2022 class. Thus, both were heavy priorities for the ASU staff. Last week, Jones, offensive coordinator Keith Heckendorf, tight ends coach Andy Kwon and linebackers coach Jon Shalala all visited McCrumby in east Texas.
"It feels like they're trying to set a foundation," McCrumby said, "and I feel like we're the players that can do it."
While Dailey, McCrumby and the rest of the soon-to-be Red Wolves watched ASU struggle from afar this past season, they see opportunity in a situation that can pretty much only improve after the worst season in two decades.
"It's going to sound very weird, but it excites me," McCrumby said. "I know there's so much we can build on ... and I know if we all come together and take on [Coach Jones'] vision, we can do special things."