Wide receivers and offensive linemen made up the bulk of the 2026 Southeastern football spring signing class announced recently with seven of the 29-player class coming from each of those positions.
Southeastern head coach Bo Atterberry was excited about his new crop of incoming freshmen, but also stressed that recruiting has changed considerably – and will continue to change – as they adapt to the ever-changing NCAA recruiting portal.
“We are really excited about this class,” he commented. “It’s smaller than last year because of our retention of players. You’re probably going to see some smaller classes for a while due to the transfer portal now. You have to have space available for a guy here or there that you need to add as a transfer. We gained some on the portal as well and are glad to have them here already.
“We were looking for something in various positions. We felt we signed some really quality offensive linemen that could help us sooner rather than later. We were looking for more transfers on the defensive line and also got some at tight end and running back. We have two transfer backs and tight ends that we believe have the ability to be difference makers.”
Eighteen of the signees are on the offensive side of the ball with 14 coming at wide receiver and offensive line. They also picked up a pair of small school quarterbacks in Isaiah Drake from Weleetka and Carson Schertz from Fairland along with one running back (JeVaughn Waldron from Houston) and one tight end (Camden Jackson from Crandall, Texas).
There were just 11 signees from the defensive side as the safety position led the way with four newcomers. There was also one cornerback, three defensive tackles and three linebackers, including two from nearby.
One of those was Durant three-year tackle leader Axel Thurman and the other was Kingston multi-purpose standout Parks Ratzlaff.
“In this age of recruiting you’ve got to look for guys that you feel like can play or be backups,” Atterberry said. “There’s not a lot that are willing to wait and develop before playing. You always must have guys ready in this day and age. We had some young receivers that redshirted last year that we are really high on as well. Our two quarterback recruits both have high ceilings with athletic skill sets that we like a lot.
“We are excited about Axel Thurman from Durant. The transition from high school to college is not always easy but we try to get those guys that we can and look forward to seeing how they can come in and develop.”