Delaware State, Southern Illinois highlight active FCS junior-college recruiting push

Delaware State is treating the junior-college market like an emergency room, and for good reason. After a 1-11 season in 2024, the Hornets have leaned hard into DeSean Jackson’s NFL-heavy rebuild, using a staff that includes former Pro Bowl runner Clinton Portis, wide receiver Samie Parker and offensive lineman Eugene Chung to sell mature, ready-now help before fall camp.

The clearest example is Hutchinson Community College interior lineman Rashad Smith, a 6-foot-2, 315-pound blocker who picked up a Delaware State offer after speaking with quarterbacks coach Seth Oseransky. Smith said the staff’s NFL background stood out, and his market already includes Incarnate Word, Stony Brook, Northern Arizona, Robert Morris, UT Martin, Eastern Illinois, South Alabama, South Carolina State and Alcorn State. That is not a developmental flyer. Smith started 12 games last season and did not allow a sack, which is exactly the kind of line piece a team coming off a one-win season needs.

Hutchinson’s production helps explain why Smith is drawing so much attention. The Blue Dragons played 12 games in 2024, scored 541 points, averaged 45.1 points per game and rolled up 267.7 rushing yards per game. In other words, Smith came from a line that lived in the fire every week, and he held up while helping power one of junior college football’s most productive offenses.

North Dakota is chasing JUCO and high-school targets for a different reason. The Fighting Hawks are not rebuilding from the bottom. They entered spring 2026 with 19 significant contributors expected back and coming off an FCS playoff appearance, so their recruiting push is about keeping a contender stocked, not patching holes after a collapse. That matters in how the staff sells the program and why the spring contact period is so active.

Cedar Falls, Iowa, offensive tackle Alexander Huhn came away impressed after Junior Day in Grand Forks, where head coach Eric Schmidt, coordinator Danny Freund and offensive line coach Trevor Olson all laid out how he would fit. Freund’s return as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, announced Jan. 12, 2026, gave North Dakota a familiar hand back in charge of an offense that ranked No. 13 in FCS red-zone scoring and No. 25 in rushing offense in 2024. Olson also brings continuity, having been added to the 2025 staff, and that kind of stability is selling point No. 1 when the staff sits down with linemen.

That is the real thread tying this recruiting wave together. Delaware State, Southern Illinois and Alcorn State are all hunting the same kind of prospect: older, physically ready, and able to change a depth chart fast. But Delaware State stands to alter its 2026 outlook the quickest if it lands its targets, because the Hornets do not need incremental improvement. They need linemen who can play now, and their coaching staff has built the pitch around exactly that.