![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/SUT-L-azfoot-1201-17.jpg\")
The San Diego State football team has added a third player from the spring transfer portal. (Xavier Hernandez for the UT)\nWhat\u2019s in a word?<\/p>\n
The San Diego State football team has all but completed its 2026 recruiting class as it shifts the focus to fall camp and the 2025 season.<\/p>\n
The Class of 2026 includes two dozen players, but no quarterback.<\/p>\n
Not that the Aztecs haven\u2019t tried to get one.<\/p>\n
In fact, Ventura High School quarterback Derek Garcia was the first member of the 2026 class when he committed to SDSU on Jan. 10.<\/p>\n
Garcia decommitted in April, and SDSU searched for a replacement at the position. The Aztecs had a commitment lined up with Rancho Cucamonga High School quarterback Jacob Chambers in June when that, too, went sideways.<\/p>\n
Both QBs have committed to SDSU\u2019s Mountain West rivals \u2014 Garcia to UNLV and Chambers to Fresno State.<\/p>\n
It speaks to the nature of recruiting in an era where the word commitment is defined differently than in years past.<\/p>\n
The San Diego State football team has added a third player from the spring transfer portal. (Xavier Hernandez for the UT)
\nWhat\u2019s in a word?<\/p>\n
\u201cCommitment usually means an engagement,\u201d said Brandon Huffman, national recruiting editor at 247Sports.com. \u201cYou\u2019re not married, and we see engagements broken all the time. I\u2019ve said the last couple of years that all a commitment does is show other schools that want you how much harder they have to recruit you because you made reservations at one place.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, with the way NIL\u2019s involved, it\u2019s almost like I make a commitment so I can up the ante with other schools. It\u2019s completely changed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everything is sped up now, with some players committing nearly a year before signing day. For decades, commitments came during a player\u2019s senior season, or shortly after it ended.<\/p>\n
\u201cCommitment is the word the industry still uses, and it\u2019s the word coaches still seek from players,\u201d said Huffman, prompting a memory from the movie \u201cThe Princess Bride\u201d regarding the definition of the word inconceivable. \u201cYou keep using that word,\u201d the character Inigo Montoya says. \u201cI do not think it means what you think it means.\u201d<\/p>\n
Case in point: Four-star wide receiver Jasen Lopez committed to Florida State last month. Then he told Rivals.com: \u201cThis isn\u2019t me shutting down my recruiting.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to stay in contact with other coaches,\u201d said Lopez, who was still considering Miami (Fla.), West Virginia, Georgia Tech and North Carolina State. \u201cIt\u2019s just me committed to a school verbally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Said Huffman: \u201cWell, then you didn\u2019t give a commitment if you\u2019re still fielding offers. It\u2019s basically a buzzword more than there means anything to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Ventura](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/QB.Derek_.Garcia.jpg\")
Ventura High School quarterback Derek Garcia passed for 2,593 yards and 27 touchdowns in 2024 for the Cougars. (Courtesy of Derek Garcia)
\nFeeling at home<\/p>\n
When the Union-Tribune contacted Garcia after his commitment to SDSU in January, the three-star QB said: \u201cSan Diego State has made me feel at home since the first time being there. They are going to be a steady program for me to be at and they are going to build it up to be a great school.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey also are going to a great conference (the Pac-12 in 2026) when I am going to be a freshman that I am super excited about. The staff has always made me feel confident and made me feel wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Feeling wanted is more of a thing these days with recruits, so much so that some need to feel wanted by other schools even after they\u2019ve committed.<\/p>\n
On March 12, Garcia tweeted: \u201cGrateful to be re-offered by UNLV.\u201d<\/p>\n
On April 28, Garcia announced that he was decommitting from SDSU. Four days later, he announced his commitment to UNLV.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the time, I thought San Diego State was the right fit for me,\u201d Garcia said in an interview with The Scarlet Standard. \u201cUNLV hadn\u2019t jumped in the mix at that time, and once they did, I kind of stayed in contact with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Garcia focused on the Rebels\u2019 past two years of success, as opposed to decades of struggles, as one of the reasons for changing his commitment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have that experience how to win,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cThey have that experience how to produce guys. \u2026 Also, the resources, I always talk about, at UNLV are just unmatched. They help you out in everything you do there and their facilities are top-tier. So it was a really easy decision after the first time I was able to go out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Too many cooks<\/p>\n
Recruiting conversations now include a larger circle of people than just the recruit, his family and college coaches.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the other thing,\u201d Huffman said. \u201cThere\u2019s so many cooks in the kitchen now that you\u2019re not sure what\u2019s being created. \u2026 It\u2019s an agent. It\u2019s representation. The days of the DB coach going to recruit the defensive back, those are done. Now, it\u2019s a personnel assistant or personnel director who\u2019s talking with the representation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe kid still wants to go and the DB coach wants the kid, but the people doing the negotiating are hitting a snag and that marriage never happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Huffman said he has been able to evolve and pivot with the changes rather than get tired and frustrated with them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe used to joke that the day after signing day is \u2018National Unfollow-a-kid-on-Twitter Day.\u2019 \u201c he said. \u201cNow, you might have to cover his second, his third, his fourth recruitment, so you keep those relationships going.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Rancho](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/IDB-L-FB-RANCHOCUC-0824-5.jpg\")
Rancho Cucamonga quarterback Jacob Chambers (#7),scrambles away from Murrieta Valley\u2019s Vincent Ingram, (#94), during Friday\u2019s non-league high school football game at Rancho Cucamonga High School in Rancho Cucamonga, Aug. 23, 2024. (Contributing Photographer\/John Valenzuela)
\nPrioritizing truth<\/p>\n
Chambers, the Rancho Cucamonga quarterback, committed to Sacramento State after a June 6 visit to the school.<\/p>\n
On June 13, Chambers accompanied his high school team to a 7-on-7 tournament at SDSU. While there, he received a scholarship offer from the Aztecs.<\/p>\n
Chambers agreed to take an official visit to SDSU the following week, a source said, and planned to flip his commitment to the Aztecs.<\/p>\n
But SDSU\u2019s offer came with a caveat, the source said: Chambers was not to make a side trip to Fresno State before returning to San Diego.<\/p>\n
The QB agreed, the source said, only to travel to Fresno and throw for the Bulldogs anyway. When the Aztecs found out, the official visit was canceled and the scholarship offer withdrawn.<\/p>\n
On June 28, Chambers committed to Fresno State.<\/p>\n
NCAA rules preclude coaches from talking about specific players before they have officially signed. Coaches can speak in general terms about recruiting philosophy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe prioritize truth, honesty, transparency and loyalty from the families that we\u2019re going to recruit and the families that have committed to us,\u201d SDSU coach Sean Lewis said. \u201cThose are great values and priorities that they share with us. There will always be a premium put on that through our process that the families and individuals that we recruit mean what they say and say what they mean.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s how we conduct our business. The trust in the relationship that\u2019s going to be established from very early on through the high school recruiting process and has led to a solid foundation and great culture that has allowed us to retain our top guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"San](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/SUT-L-azfoot-03126.jpg\")
San Diego State quarterback Bert Emanuel Jr. (5) throws as quarterback Jayden Denegal Jr. (10) looks on, March, 11, 2025 in San Diego, Calif. (Photo by Denis Poroy)
\nStill looking<\/p>\n
SDSU is still looking to add a Class of 2026 quarterback, although there is not the urgency to do so as in years past.<\/p>\n
The advent of the NCAA transfer portal has signaled a shift. Why develop a QB out of high school, the thinking goes, when you can go grab a transfer who is game-ready?<\/p>\n
The Aztecs have brought in a transfer quarterback virtually every year the past decade. Graduate transfers were the original targets because they were immediately eligible, while underclassmen had to sit out a year.<\/p>\n
Everyone and anyone is immediately eligible now.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what allowed SDSU to bring in juniors Jayden Denegal (Michigan) and Bert Emanuel Jr. (Central Michigan) after freshman starter Danny O\u2019Neil transferred to Wisconsin.<\/p>\n
Denegal and Emanuel will compete for the starting role when fall camp opens on Wednesday. Behind them in the QB room are junior Kyle Crum and true freshmen JP Mialovski and Draiden Trudeau.<\/p>\n
So SDSU may have its 2026 quarterback on campus already. Those players, after all, have already committed.<\/p>\n
Originally Published: July 25, 2025 at 5:09 PM PDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The San Diego State football team has all but completed its 2026 recruiting class as it shifts the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":92834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,1369,1370,3549,7264,18257,62,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-92833","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-college-sports","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-san-diego","14":"tag-sandiego","15":"tag-sdsu-aztecs","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-united-states-of-america","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","21":"tag-us","22":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114916935866190682","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}