Boise State lands signature recruit in 2022 class; Idaho State hires new football coach
With early signing day less than a week away, the Boise State football team landed a verbal commitment from the highest-rated recruit in its 2022 class on Friday.
Dishawn Misa — a four-star linebacker from Eastside Catholic High School in Washington — announced his commitment Friday afternoon on Twitter. He’s the third four-star recruit in the class after linebacker Jayden Virgin and running back Ashton Jeanty both earned a fourth star a couple of weeks ago.
Misa is the 18th known recruit in Boise State’s 2022 class — most of whom are expected to sign their national letters of intent during early signing day on Wednesday.
Misa has a 90 overall rating from 247Sports and an 89.1 in the company’s composite rating, which averages a player’s rating across several national recruiting platforms. Virgin and Jeanty also have ratings of 90 from 247Sports, but neither has a composite rating as high as Misa’s.
Misa is not only Boise State’s highest-rated recruit, but he’s the highest-rated recruit to commit to a Mountain West program this year, according to 247Sports National Recruiting Editor Brandon Huffman. He’s also likely to make an early impact, Huffman said.
“I think he’s an instant-impact guy, and I would guess he’s being brought in with those expectations,” Huffman said on Friday. “Boise State has been in the lead for him for a long time, and they locked him up this week.”
Another linebacker verbally committed to Boise State, Kaeo Akana, has an 89 overall rating and an 87.8 composite rating. He has been heavily courted by Utah and Nebraska since verbally committing to Boise State in June. Misa joining the class likely means he will end up elsewhere, Huffman said.
“Akana was likely to end up elsewhere anyhow,” Huffman said. “But getting Misa still secures an elite linebacker prospect.”
Misa is the No. 5 overall recruit in Washington and the No. 33 linebacker in the 2022 class, according to 247Sports. He also has scholarship offers from USC, UCLA, Oregon, Cal, Washington, Utah, Oregon State, Penn State, Colorado, Arizona State, Washington State, Wisconsin and Hawaii. His final decision reportedly came down to UCLA, Utah, Colorado and Boise State.
The 6-foot-3, 230-pound native of Sammamish, Washington, was a starter at Eastside Catholic since his freshman year, playing defensive end, linebacker and tight end. He helped the Crusaders win two 3A state titles in the past three years. This fall, Eastside Catholic made it to the state semifinals before getting knocked out by Kennewick.
Boise State coach Andy Avalos offered Misa a scholarship when he was the defensive coordinator at Oregon, and Avalos offered again after taking over at his alma mater in January.
Misa has a more direct connection to the Broncos’ coaching staff, though. Former Boise State and Seattle Seahawks safety Jeron Johnson coached defensive backs at Eastside Catholic for a year before he was hired to coach the Broncos’ cornerbacks in January. Johnson played a large role in landing what may be the signature piece in Boise State’s 2022 class.
With the addition of Misa, Boise State’s 2022 class is ranked No. 47 in the country, according to 247Sports. That’s 20 spots higher than the Broncos’ 2021 class.
Idaho State hires Ragle
Idaho State has found its new football coach.
The Bengals have hired former Cal special teams coordinator Charlie Ragle, the school confirmed Friday afternoon. He replaces Rob Phenicie, who was fired earlier this month. Phenicie amassed a 16-35 record in five seasons in Pocatello.
Ragle’s contract is for three years with a base salary of $205,000, and annual bonuses up $90,500, based on academic progress rate, wins, championships and attendance, among other factors. The university plans to go before the Idaho State Board of Education in February to request that the deal be extended to five years, according to a spokesperson for Idaho State.
“When you watch us play, you will see a team that is smart and tough,” Ragle said during his introductory press conference on Friday. “We will be fixated on the process of winning. It is not about the end results. The fixation on the process is what will take care of the results on Saturday.”
Ragle spent the past five seasons as the special teams coordinator at Cal, and the past three exclusively in that role after also coaching tight ends during his first two seasons on former Boise State assistant coach Justin Wilcox’s staff.
The 45-year-old opened his introductory press conference by thanking a long list of people who influenced his career, including former Boise State football coach Dirk Koetter and Wilcox, who was the defensive coordinator at Boise State from 2006 to 2009.
“At a time in college football when loyalty seems to be waning, Justin Wilcox is the epitome of what that means,” Ragle said. “I owe a lot to coach Wilcox and hope the people of Berkeley, California, understand what they have.”
Ragle credited Koetter for opening the door for him to begin coaching in college. Koetter was the head coach at Arizona State in the early 2000s while Ragle was coaching at Moon Valley High School in Arizona. Koetter allowed him to come coach summer camps at Arizona State and even hired him as a graduate assistant in 2006. They have maintained a relationship for more than 16 years, Ragle said.
Koetter — an Idaho State alum who was the head coach at Boise State from 1998 to 2000 — was on the search committee that identified Ragle as a candidate, and he gave the Bengals’ new coach a push to apply for the job.
“Dirk taught me how to be a pro,” said Ragle, adding that Koetter once kicked him out of practice because of an issue with the scout team play cards. “He was tough. The thing I valued about Dirk is you always knew where you stood.”
Before he joined the staff at Cal in 2017, Ragle spent four seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Arizona, where he coached special teams and tight ends from 2013 to 2016.
Idaho State ended this season with a 14-0 loss to rival Idaho, which dropped the Bengals’ record to 1-10. Idaho State has finished with a winning record just once since 2015 — a 6-5 season in 2018.
Notes:
▪ Ragle said Friday that he has an idea of who he wants to bring in to fill his coaching staff, but he wants to speak to the coaches currently on staff before making any hires public.
▪ Idaho State President Kevin Satterlee said Friday that two more assistant football coaching positions have been added to the staff.
BOISE STATE 2022 RECRUITING CLASS
CB Dionte Thornton, 6-3, 185, Lawndale (California) High
OT Kage Casey, 6-6, 250, Clackamas (Oregon) High
TE Austin Terry, 6-5, 230, Tumwater High (Olympia, Washington)
LB Kaeo Akana, 6-3, 205, Theodore Roosevelt High (Honolulu, Hawaii)
WR Keenan McCaddy, 6-4, 180, Moanalua High (Honolulu, Hawaii)
OT Roger Carreon, 6-5, 295, Jal (New Mexico) High
DL JJ Talo, 6-3, 250, Kearns High (Salt Lake City, Utah)
LB Jayden Virgin, 6-3, 220, Mt. Carmel High (San Diego, California)
OT Hall Schmidt, 6-7, 300, Peninsula (Washington) High
WR Zamondre Merriweather, 6-2, 200, Valencia (California) High
QB Maddux Madsen, 6-0, 185, American Fork (Utah) High
LB Jake Ripp, 6-3, 215, Los Gatos (California) High
LB Gavin Hambrick, 6-2, 220, Apple Valley (California) High
RB Ashton Jeanty, 5-9, 195, Lone Star (Texas) High
P James Ferguson, 6-1, 175, Pro Kick Australia
OT Tyson Molio’o, 6-4, 295, St. John Bosco (Bellfower, California)
DE Cortez Hogans Jr., 6-3, 265, Snow College (Palatine, Illinois)
LB Dishawn Misa, 6-3, 230, Eastside Catholic (Sammamish, Washington)
This story was originally published December 10, 2021 at 1:51 PM.
