MANCHESTER, N.H. – Head Coach Joe Adam of the Saint Anselm College football team revealed a portion of his incoming class of student-athletes on Wednesday and Thursday as part of National Signing Day.
National Signing Day is the earliest opportunity for a prospective football student-athlete to officially join the institution. Many of the signees celebrated their collegiate commitments by holding "signing parties" at their local high school, flanked in their Saint Anselm gear and apparel.
Working alongside departments across campus, including admission, financial aid and residence life, Adam and his staff of assistant coaches have scoured the country in search of the next Hawks to represent the College on the gridiron.
As a high-academic NCAA Division II institution, Adam looks for recruits that display a "blue-collar mentality," specifically those who will excel socially, academically and athletically on the Hilltop. Those recruits are expected to serve the Anselmian community in a first-class manner, attacking their academic and athletic goals with relentless focus and determination.
"We are proud to welcome our new families and students to the Hawks family," said Adam. "Our assistant coaches did an outstanding job navigating through thousands of recruits in search of prospects with 'Blue Collar Mentality' – I know we did a tremendous job identifying great fits for the Hilltop, student-athletes who will live and support our vision."
One new aspect to the recruitment process is the recent introduction of graduate school programs at Saint Anselm. Student-athletes who wish to extend their Saint Anselm academic career by enrolling in graduate-level classes have the ability to play a varsity sport on the Hilltop for an additional semester, a luxury afforded to the team's NE10 peers for many years.
"Having seniors able to return for an additional year of play is a new step in the evolution of the Saint Anselm football program," said Adam. "Due to our outstanding team retention, we addressed some very specific needs and were able to choose quality over quantity with the incoming Class of 2026."
As a team, the Hawks ranked at the top of the NE10 in 2021 in several statistical categories, including passing offense (314.7), team tackles for a loss per game (7.7), and fumbles lost (three). The well-rounded Hawks ranked second in the conference in punt return yardage (12.15), sacks allowed (1.11), tackles for a loss allowed (4.11) and total offensive yards per game (380.9).
Saint Anselm, who won three out of its four games played in the friendly confines of Grappone Stadium, had four student-athletes earn All-Conference honors from the Northeast-10 Conference following the season. The Hawks roster also featured the NE10's overall Rookie of the Year in sophomore Drew Willoughby (Austin, Texas).
In addition to this year's class of student-athletes, a youthful roster will be in the cards for the upcoming 2022 season as well – the Hawks welcomed over 40 student-athletes as part of the 2021 National Signing Day celebration in what was one of the largest incoming classes in program history.
Additional commitments are expected to be finalized across the coming weeks. An up-to-the-minute list of commits can be found here.
