BOWLING GREEN — On the field, almost nothing has gone well for Bowling Green this season.
On the recruiting trail, however, the Falcons think they're still in good shape with the early signing period just weeks away.
Although the Falcons are 0-4 on the season, Bowling Green coach Scot Loeffler said he believes BG has a solid foundation in the class of 2021.
The Falcons added the second-ranked class in the MAC last season, and Loeffler has said previously the ’21 class will be equally as important.
"Whenever you're not doing well, you always worry about recruiting,” Loeffler said. “These kids that we recruited, they are fired up to come here. They see it, they know who we recruited a year ahead of them. They know [the 2020 class] are good players. They're good players, so they're very excited about it.”
Bowling Green has mostly held onto its recruiting class through the fall, although the Falcons did see movement early this week.
Cashius Howell, a three-star athlete from Kansas City, announced he joined BG's class on Monday, picking the Falcons against offers from Akron, Ball State, and North Dakota State, among others.
At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, Howell has the ability to play multiple positions, but the Falcons project him as a defensive end.
But before Howell’s commitment, BG lost a quarterback. Jacksonville quarterback Jacory Jordan — a three-star prospect who committed to Bowling Green in April — announced Sunday that he was withdrawing his pledge to BG and reopening his recruitment.
The Falcons signed three quarterbacks in the class of 2020, and current starter Matt McDonald is a redshirt junior.
Asked about the upcoming class on Monday, Loeffler said he expects Bowling Green still will sign a quarterback. Former Syracuse quarterback Drew Gunther announced his transfer to BG earlier this year, although Gunther is not yet on the Falcons’ roster. Gunther would have four years of eligibility remaining.
Elsewhere, the Falcons have secured two of northwestern Ohio's top seniors — Central Catholic wide receiver Tae'Shaun Johnson and Perrysburg offensive lineman Cade Zimmerly — and gone heavy on skill players.
Johnson is BG's top overall recruit, according to 247Sports' composite rankings, and is followed by another three-star receiver, Jaylen Smith from Jacksonville Mandarin High School.
With just fewer than three weeks to go, the Falcons have a total of four receivers, four defensive ends, and three safeties.
Overall, 247 ranks the Falcons' class fifth in the MAC in terms of average player rating.
It has been an odd year for recruiting with campus visits off the table, but Loeffler said BG's coaching staff planned to secure this class in unconventional ways.
"We foresaw that recruiting was not going to occur this year," Loeffler said. "I said it the minute that this thing broke. I go, ‘The chance of having regular recruiting is not happening in 2020.’
“We attacked it, we came up with a plan, and we got good players in this class. I think they'll be just as good, if not better, than the '20 class.”
Although the weeks before signing day are often filled with movement, Loeffler said he thinks the lead-up to the early signing period will be relatively quiet.
BG's second-year coach said there is always one or two surprises in a recruiting cycle, but this year could be different from a wider perspective.
"You don't have guys walking into their homes right now. The only way a recruiter is flipping them is through a phone call," Loeffler said. "... I don't know if there's going to be a ton of change. I think kids are pretty much locked into where they're going to go.”
First Published November 30, 2020, 9:34 p.m.
