---

2016 Minnesota Football Recruiting Class: It’s a new era of Minnesota football, and head coach Tracy Clayes made his mark with a good class that could be among the best the program has signed in years.

---

Follow, or just provide your love to @PeteFiutak 

Minnesota Football Recruiting Class Overview

New head coach Tracy Claeys came up with a stronger recruiting class than Jerry Kill came up with last year, helped by four key JUCO transfers and by keeping a few great local talents at home. It’s not a class that’ll change what Minnesota football is, but there were enough midrange recruits to keep on being in the hunt for the West title down the road.

The Class Is Heavy On …

Defensive backs. Minnesota has to replace a ton of talent from a terrific pass defense, but there aren’t a lot of instant impact players from this group. However, there are enough good players to expect big things down the road, helped by local product Tyler Johnson at one safety spot and Antoine Winfield at corner. This is a good-sized, fast group that should be one of the team’s biggest strengths in three to four years.

The Star of the Class Is …

LB Carter Coughlin, 6-4, 221 – A local star, he had his share of huge options with Ohio State, Michigan State, Oregon and Wisconsin all going after him, but he’s staying home. Give him time to bulk up a little bit, and he’s going to look like the prototype with pass rushing skills and tremendous athleticism. Depending on how he develops, he could become a hybrid end.

The Team’s Biggest 2016 Depth Chart Hole Is …

The secondary. The offensive line has to replace three starters, and there are some key losses on the defensive front, but the terrific secondary gets hurt the most losing three starters including corners Eric Murray and Briean Boddy-Calhoun along with safety Antonio Johnson. The openings will be there for all the great defensive back recruits coming in.

2016 Minnesota Football Recruiting Class

Thomas Barber LB 6-1 225 Plymouth, Minn. (Robbinsdale Armstrong HS)
Vincent Calhoun OL 6-4 335 Roswell, Ga. (Southwest Mississippi CC)
Carter Coughlin LB 6-4 220 Eden Prairie, Minn. (Eden Prairie HS)
Taiyon Devers DL 6-4 215 Pompano Beach, Fla. (Georgia Prep Sports Academy)
Seth Green QB 6-3 215 Woodbury, Minn. (Allen HS)
Drew Hmielewski WR 6-1 190 Marshall, Minn. (Marshall HS)
Phillip Howard WR 5-11 175 Minneapolis, Minn. (Robbinsdale Cooper HS)
Merrick Jackson DL 6-2 320 East St. Louis, Ill. (Iowa Western)
Tamarion Johnson DL 6-5 215 Detroit, Mich. (Bradford Academy HS)
Tyler Johnson WR 6-2 180 Minneapolis, Minn. (Minneapolis North HS)
Ko Kieft TE 6-4 225 Sioux Center, Iowa (Sioux Center HS)
John Mack K 6-0 178 Hartland, Wis. (Arrowhead HS)
Kamal Martin LB 6-3 230 Burnsville, Minn. (Burnsville HS)
Kobe McCrary RB 6-1 230 Chipley, Fla. (Butler CC)
Connor Mohs FB 6-1 220 Woodbury, Minn. (East Ridge HS)
Conner Olson OL 6-5 288 Monticello, Minn. (Monticello HS)
Danny Pietruszewski ATH 6-3 213 South St. Paul, Minn. (South St. Paul HS)
Sam Schlueter OL 6-6 280 Victoria, Minn. (Mayer Lutheran HS)
Calvin Swenson DB 6-0 190 Kaukauna, Wis. (Kaukauna HS)
Kiondre Thomas DB 6-0 170 Fort Smith, Ark. (Northside HS)
Mark Williams QB 6-0 180 Jackson, Ala. (Jackson HS)
Antonie Winfield Jr. DB 5-10 185 The Woodlands, Texas (The Woodlands HS)
Garrison Wright OL 6-4 318 Beattie, Kansas (Butler CC)

MORE: Ranking No. 1 Recruiting Classes Since 2002