Vandals sign highest-rated class in Big Sky during early signing period

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

Dec. 4—Idaho Vandals coach Thomas Ford Jr. was in a position for the first time in his head coaching career to sign a completely new high school class during the early signing period and he made it count with the highest-rated class in program history, the school claims.

Ford and the Vandals staff signed a group of 20 football players, including 19 high school athletes and one transfer from a junior college.

According to 247sports.com, Idaho's signing class is the highest-ranked class in the Big Sky Conference, excluding Sacramento State, which provided a notice to withdraw as a member of the conference effective June 30, 2026.

Idaho reports that the 2026 class is the highest-ranked class in the team's history, and it's the second-highest rated class in the Football Championship Subdivision, per 247sports.com.

"I couldn't be more fired up about our 2026 class," Ford said in a news release. "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."

The Vandals prioritized the trenches, signing four offensive linemen, which along with linebackers is tied for the most of any position group.

Here is a full look at the latest Vandals:

Players who chose Idaho despite bigger offers

Many of the future Vandals chose Idaho over offers from Football Bowl Subdivision programs, including some who even had Power Four options.

Kingston Kerkhoff, a 6-foot-6, 265-pound three-star offensive commit from Tacoma, Wash., chose UI over Arizona State, Cal, Michigan State, Nevada, Oregon State, San Jose State and Washington State.

Three-star running back Kenny Golston of Valliant, Okla., standing at 6-0 and weighing in at 216 pounds, chose Idaho over offers from Indiana, Missouri, North Texas, Oregon, Oregon State, UNLV and WSU.

Tau Mareko, a 6-1 and 215-pound linebacker and three-star commit from Lakewood, Wash., had offers from Boise State, Nevada and Washington.

Blitz McCarty, a 6-3, 200-pound three-star quarterback from Denver, chose Idaho over Kent State and Utah State.

Three-star wide receiver Tristan Baker of Lacey, Wash., standing at 6-1 and weighing 190 pounds, had offers from Nevada and North Dakota.

Omar Kaba, a three-star 6-4 and 290-pound offensive line commit from Mesa, Ariz., had other offers from New Mexico, Utah State and Montana.

Jace Winchester (Littleton, Colo.), a three-star 6-3 290-pound offensive line commit, could've gone to Colorado State, Fresno State, Navy, Nevada, Washington State or Wyoming.

JJ Homuth, a 6-7, 230-pound transfer tight end, had other offers from Syracuse and Miami.

"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," Ford said.

Staying local

The Vandals have 10 commits from the Pacific Northwest.

That includes six from Washington, two from Idaho and two from Oregon.

Ford has a pipeline from the west side of Washington due to his brother, Tracy Ford, and his Ford Sports Performance facility, known for its elite athletic training in Tukwila, Wash., near Seattle.

A historic signing class

The Vandals signed 17 three-star commits, who have a combined recruiting score of 148.54 according to 247sports.com. This puts this year's class, as of Wednesday evening, as the 111st best recruiting class in all of college football for 2026, one spot ahead of FBS Nebraska.

According to the recruiting website, Idaho has the most high school commits in the Big Sky with 19 total student-athletes.

The Vandals' recruiting score is nearly 30 points above the next school, Northern Arizona.

Daily headlines, straight to your inboxRead it online first and stay up-to-date, delivered daily at 7 AM

Idaho signed a total of nine student-athletes who had FBS offers and four student-athletes who had offers from Power Four schools.

"I'm proud of our coaching staff for the job they've done building the top class in the Big Sky," Ford said. "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."

Here is the full list of the signees on Wednesday from the early signing period:

Full list of signees

Athletes are listed with full name, position, height, weight, year and hometown/high school or previous school.

Kingston Kerkhoff, OL, 6-6, 265, Fr. Tacoma, Wash./Curtis Senior

Kenny Golston, RB, 6-0, 216, Fr., Valiant, Okla./Valliant HS

Tau Mareko, LB, 6-1, 215, Fr., Lakewood, Wash./Lakes HS

Nui Meyers, Edge, 6-3, 220, Fr., Hau'ula, Hawaii/Kahuku HS

Landon Schrom, LB, 6-2, 215, Fr., Oceanside, Calif./Army & Navy Academy

Blitz McCarty, QB, 6-3, 200, Fr., Denver, Colo./Grandview HS

Geovoney Burks, LB, 6-1, 215, Fr., Portland, Ore./Roosevelt HS

Tristan Baker, WR, 6-1, 190, Fr., Lacey, Wash./Lakes HS

Omar Kaba, OL, 6-4, 290, Fr., Mesa, Ariz./Williams Field HS

Carter Paul, OL, 6-7, 310, Fr., Portland, Ore./Lakeridge HS

Jace Winchester, OL, 6-3, 290, Fr., Littleton, Colo/Dakota Ridge HS

Luca Moore, S, 6-0, 185, Fr., Anacortes, Wash./Anacortes HS

Jerry Allen III, CB, 6-2, 180, Fr., Spokane, Wash./Rogers HS

Ethan Rodriguez, Ath, 6-5, 220, Fr., Rochester, Wash./Rochester HS

Jermell Green, CB, 6-4, 175, Fr., Sacramento, Calif./Destiny Christian Academy

JJ Homuth, TE, 6-7, 230, RFr., Burnsville, Minn./Rochester Community & Technical College

Dominic Wolthuis, WR, 6-1, 170, Fr., Eagle, Idaho/Bishop Kelly HS

Britton DeWitt, QB, 6-2, 195, Fr., Gilbert, Ariz./American Leadership Academy

Nash O'Kelly, LB, 6-2, 210, Fr., Boise, Idaho/Timberline HS

Ocean Taufa, DL, 6-3, 265, Fr., St. George, Utah/Bishop Gorman HS

Junt can be reached at 208-848-2258, tjunt@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @TrevorJunt.

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos