MOSCOW, Idaho – Head Coach Thomas Ford Jr. and the Idaho Vandal Football program kicked off the early signing period by welcoming 20 new student-athletes to the Vandal Family on Wednesday. 

The Vandals made waves in the recruiting world by signing the highest-ranked class in the Big Sky Conference, the second-highest rated in FCS, and the highest-ranked class in program history per 247Sports. Information on UI's signees can be found on Idaho's Signing Day Central page.

COACH FORD ON IDAHO'S RECRUITING CLASS

I couldn't be more fired up about our 2026 class. We developed deep relationships with these student-athletes and their families, some of which have spanned over two years. We are not only bringing in high-level athletes, but also high-character young men. This class has multiple prospects that had FBS offers but chose Idaho because they value our program's culture and the relationships we've built. I'm proud of our coaching staff for the job they've done building the top class in the Big Sky.  The future of Vandal football is very bright, and I won't be surprised to see some of these guys battling for playing time next fall!

VANDAL SIGNEES

KINGSTON KERKHOFF 
Offensive Line | 6'6" | 265
Tacoma, Wash. (Curtis Senior)
⭐ ⭐ ⭐| 85.00
Other Offers: Arizona State, Cal, Central Michigan, Michigan State, Montana State, Nevada, Oregon State, San Jose State, Washington State

KENNY GOLSTON 
Running Back | 6'0" | 216 
Valliant, Okla. (Valliant HS)
⭐ ⭐ ⭐| 84.00
Other Offers: Indiana, Missouri, North Texas, Oregon, Oregon State, Tulsa, UNLV, UTSA, Washington State

TAU MAREKO 
Linebacker | 6'1" | 215
Lakewood, Wash. (Lakes HS)
⭐ ⭐ ⭐| 84.00
Other Offers: Boise State, Hawaii, Nevada, Northern Arizona, Washington

NUI MEYERS 
Edge | 6'3" | 220
Hau'ula, Hawaii (Kahuku HS)
⭐ ⭐ ⭐| 84.00
Other Offers: Idaho State

LANDON SCHROM
Linebacker | 6'2" | 215
Oceanside, Calif. (Army & Navy Academy)
⭐ ⭐ ⭐| 83.00
Other Offers: UC Davis

BLITZ MCCARTY
Quarterback | 6'3" | 200
Denver, Colo. (Grandview HS)
⭐ ⭐ ⭐| 83.00
Other Offers: Kent State, Lindenwood, Portland State, Southern Miss, Utah State

GEOVONEY BURKS
Linebacker | 6'1" | 215
Portland, Ore. (Roosevelt HS)
⭐ ⭐ ⭐| 83.00
Other Offers: Eastern Washington, Idaho State, Sacramento State

TRISTAN BAKER
Wide Receiver | 6'1" | 190
Lacey, Wash. (Lakes HS)
⭐ ⭐ ⭐| 83.00
Other Offers: Eastern Washington, Nevada, North Dakota

OMAR KABA
Offensive Line | 6'4" | 290
Mesa, Ariz. (Williams Field HS)
⭐ ⭐ ⭐| 82.00
Other Offers: Hawaii, Montana, New Mexico, Northern Arizona, Sacramento State, Utah State

CARTER PAUL
Offensive Line | 6'7" | 310
Portland, Ore. (Lakeridge HS)
⭐ ⭐ ⭐| 82.00
Other Offers: Eastern Washington, Portland State, Sacramento State

JACE WINCHESTER
Offensive Line | 6'3" | 290
Littleton, Colo. (Dakota Ridge HS)
⭐ ⭐ ⭐| 82.00
Other Offers: Colorado State, Army, Brown, Cornell, Fordham, Fresno State, Montana State, Navy, Nevada, Penn, South Dakota, Washington State, Wyoming

LUCA MOORE
Safety | 6'0" | 185
Anacortes, Wash. (Anacortes HS)
⭐ ⭐ ⭐| 82.00
Other Offers: Idaho State, New Mexico, Portland State

JERRY ALLEN III
Cornerback | 6'2" | 180
Spokane, Wash. (Rogers HS)
⭐ ⭐ ⭐| 82.00
Other Offers: Montana State

ETHAN RODRIGUEZ
Athlete | 6'5" | 220
Rochester, Wash. (Rochester HS)
⭐ ⭐ ⭐| 82.00
Other Offers: Eastern Washington, Montana

JERMELL GREEN
Cornerback | 6'4" | 175
Sacramento, Calif. (Destiny Christian Academy)
⭐ ⭐ ⭐| 81.00

JJ HOMUTH
Tight End | 6'7" | 230
Burnsville, Minn. (Rochester Community & Technical College)
⭐ ⭐ ⭐| 81.00
Other Offers: Syracuse, Albany, Central Arkansas, Miami, Morgan State, Sacramento State, Western Illinois

DOMINIC WOLTHUIS
Wide Receiver | 6'1" | 170
Eagle, Idaho (Bishop Kelly HS)
⭐ ⭐ | 78.00
Other Offers: Central Washington

BRITTON DEWITT
Quarterback | 6'2" | 195
Gilbert, Ariz. (American Leadership Academy)
Other Offers: Eastern Washington

NASH O'KELLEY
Linebacker | 6'2" | 210
Boise, Idaho (Timberline HS)

NOTES AND NUGGETS

SUPERLATIVES

• Idaho has far and away the highest-rated class in the Big Sky Conference. The Vandals have the most signees (19), and the most three-star signees in the conference (17)
• In addition to having the highest-rated class in the conference, Coach Ford and company have signed the second-highest rated class in all of FCS
• This is the highest-rated class in school history

RECRUITING BATTLES

• Idaho has signed four student-athletes who had offers from P4 schools (Golston, Homuth, Kerkhoff, Mareko)
• The Vandals signed a total of nine student-athletes who had FBS offers
• UI signed 12 student-athletes who had offers from other Big Sky schools
• As of this writing, Idaho's class is ranked one spot behind Nebraska
• As of this writing, the Vandals have a higher-rated class than 26 FBS teams

HOME TEAM

• Proudly rooted in the Pacific Northwest, half of the Vandals' 2026 class hails from the PNW
• The Vandals signed two student-athletes from Idaho in Nash O'Kelley from Boise, and Dom Wolthuis from Eagle – both of whom won state championships and originally caught the Idaho coaching staff's eyes at UI football camp
• O'Kelley is a fourth-generation Vandal

APPLE STATE PIPELINE

• Idaho signed six players from Washington in the class of 2026
• Including the six signees, Idaho has 35 players from the Apple State on roster as of this writing
• Kerkhoff, the highest-rated player in this year's class, is from Tacoma
• The Vandals beat out Washington schools for 10 players in this year's signing class

SPREAD THE WORD

• Golston is currently the first player on the 2026 roster from Oklahoma
• McCarty and Winchester will be the first two players from Colorado currently on the roster
• Meyers joins defensive lineman Titus Ringor as the only two players on the team from Hawaii

BUILDING THE TRENCHES

• Idaho's offensive line was a strength of the team last season, and the Vandals continue to prioritize the trenches
• Coach Ford signed four offensive linemen to this class – tied with linebackers for most of any position group – and all four linemen are three-star signees

NEED FOR SPEED

• The Vandals signed many players with impressive track times
• Wolthuis, a receiver, has a 4.35 shuttle time and an 11.33 100m time
• Baker, a receiver, has recorded a 100m time of 11.25
• Schrom, a linebacker, has a 100m time of 11.05 – 91^st percentile for linebackers – and a 200m time of 22.62 – 92^ndpercentile for linebackers
• Burks, a linebacker, has a 40 time of 4.65, a 100m time of 11.13, and a 200m time of 22.40 – 98^th percentile
• Green, a cornerback, has an 11.15 100m time and a 22.61 200m time

GEOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN

• Arizona: 2, California: 2, Colorado: 2, Hawai'i: 1, Idaho: 2, Minnesota: 1, Oklahoma: 1, Oregon: 2, Utah: 1, Washington: 6

POSITION BREAKDOWN

• QB: 2, RB: 1, WR: 2, TE: 1, OL: 4, DL: 2, LB: 4, CB: 2, S: 1, ATH: 1