Bryce Johnson went to Colorado State last summer on a football recruiting visit and left Fort Collins with a dream scholarship offer to play for the Rams.
“It was Division I football and a full ride in your home state,” said Johnson, a star two-way player for Lutheran High School, and a finalist for The Denver Post’s annual Gold Helmet Award. “That’s a huge opportunity. I jumped on that right away.”
Johnson’s dream turned into a nightmare six months later.
That’s because Johnson’s commitment became null and void in December after the program hired former Nevada coach Jay Norvell to replace fired Steve Addazio as head coach. Johnson is not alone. Norvell’s re-evaluation of the Rams’ 2022 recruiting class led to offers being pulled for a handful of local commits seen as improper fits.
Among those taking their spots: previous Nevada commits and transfers.
“Their staff came in with an entirely different scheme on both sides of the ball. They had a lot of changes that needed to be made. So, they ended up pulling my scholarship to use in the JUCO and transfer portal,” said Johnson, who is now considering New Mexico State, South Dakota State and others. “They talked to me about blue-shirting and getting me in the 2023 class. But they said that wasn’t approved by their compliance.”
Norvell didn’t hide from that uncomfortable truth when speaking to reporters last month during the early signing period.
“It’s not a thing that people like to hear,” Norvell said back on Dec. 15. “That they had a scholarship, they had committed (to CSU) and you’ve got a new coaching staff and you kind of have to start all over again. It’s unfortunate. But it is the reality.”
Where do those former commits go from here? CSU’s 2022 sendoffs are scrambling for new opportunities. Highlands Ranch tight end Jade Arroyo — with 107 career receptions for 1,515 yards and 16 touchdowns — pledged to the Rams back in July. He’s now considering multiple Ivy League programs.
“It’s kind of hard right now. Most schools have already filled up their class for this year,” Arroyo said. “Especially with COVID, there are limited scholarships. I’m just talking to schools with coaches (direct messaging) me on Twitter. I’m just trying to build relationships at the moment.”
The list goes on: Arapahoe outside linebacker Jareb Ramos is also no longer committed to the Rams but recently picked up a scholarship offer from Penn. Addazio’s staff stayed close to home offering scholarships at Fort Collins High School to wide receiver Dorion McGarity and safety Dontay Johnson. Neither player signed with the Rams and their college destinations are still undetermined.
Roosevelt High School linebacker Cooper Walton is another do-it-all local product looked over by FBS Division I programs until the Rams came calling. Then CSU pulled its offer. He’s since reported scholarship offers from Montana, Northern Colorado and CSU-Pueblo.
“My world was turned upside down,” Walton said. “It’s been a struggle, for sure. There’s been a lot of sleepless nights thinking about this. It’s a really hard thing to go through as a young man and trying to figure out who you are. … Within like 24 hours, I received all three of those other scholarship offers. It was really out of the blue and I wasn’t expecting it. That made me happy just to have something like that happen.”
The traditional signing period for college football is Feb. 2 with several of the state’s best players still scrambling to find a school.
“It sounds like we’re all kind of in the same boat,” Johnson said. “Just trying to find leftover scholarships they haven’t signed in the early period.”
This content was originally published here.
