Alex Eisen/MDN The center piece of the Minot State football "nerve center" for National Signing Day on Wednesday inside Herb Parker Stadium.

Between playing games of Madden and coming up with creative hashtags for Twitter, the Minot State football coaches were passing around cell phones to welcome each new recruit into the family.

National Signing Day 2019 was celebrated Wednesday in the “nerve center” at Herb Parker Stadium, while #Bu1ldTheD9m was used as the social online hub to showcase player profiles and highlight reels.

A joyous occasion for players and coaches alike.

“I feel really good,” MSU second-year head coach Mike Aldrich said. “We (recruited) very heavy regional, which was important to me. Then, we were able to focus on filling various needs.”

The Beavers announced the addition of 34 student-athletes to the program on Wednesday. Thirty-two are incoming freshman plus two college transfers. Fifteen will line up on offense and 19 on defense. The new recruiting class features 10 different states: Montana (8), North Dakota (7), Arizona (6), Colorado (4) Minnesota (3), Wyoming (2), California (1), Illinois (1), Nevada (1) and Hawaii (1).

“You talk to any coach and they will tell you it’s the greatest class ever, but you never really know for 2-3 years,” Aldrich said. “But, I think we were able to address some needs that we had. Most notably, our running back position. We didn’t have many in the stable, so we made sure we recruited pretty heavy there.”

Throughout a majority of last season, MSU was forced to use wide receiver Lane Torgerson due to injuries and a lack of depth. Well, six tailbacks were brought in to fix that issue.

Standing out from the bunch is Humboldt State University transfer Isaiah Hall. The 5-foot-9 running back has already started working out with the team and will add some much-needed experience in the backfield. He rushed for over 600 yards and seven touchdowns in 20 games with Humboldt State. He will be a junior next season and transferred because Humboldt State discontinued its football program.

“The best thing about Isaiah (Hall) is he is older,” Aldrich said. “He has a lot of experience under his belt and brings that maturity. He has been awesome for the month that he has been here already by taking on leadership roles and the guys have embraced him. The interactions with him and the team, you’d think he would have been here for three years.”

All six running backs are on the smaller side, ranging from 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-10, with Hall being the heaviest at 195 pounds.

A possible future playmaker that stands out because of his size is 6-foot-5 Central Class (N.D.) wide receiver JJ Albrecht. Another in-state wideout coming to Minot is Jaxton Lorenz from Grand Forks Central.

“At wide receiver, we are going to be a little thinner,” Aldrich said. “We lost a bunch of wideouts, but that’s OK. We bring back some good experience and some good young guys that are chomping to (make their mark).”

Even with the Beavers returning four quarterbacks, including starter Ben Bolinske, who will be a junior next season, MSU made a splash in Minnesota to bring in Marshaun Campbell from Park High School. Campbell’s versatility will give him the option to play elsewhere if he can’t climb up a crowded QB depth chart.

Bolstering the front line is 6-foot-4, 250-pound tight end Carson Heinen and three offensive linemen.

The most eye-catching signing, not due to physical attributes or playing background, is Sir-Wallace Chanel who made the decision to ditch the beaches of Hawaii to play football in the frozen tundra of North Dakota.

There is also local product Cole Erickson out of Lewis & Clark-Berthold. He is the closest signing, proximity wise, to the university.

Andrew Ruelas, a transfer from Glendale Community College (Ariz.), rounds out the group (for now) and will be one of the largest bodies on the team at 6-foot-6, 320 pounds.

“If we could bring in 4-5 more (players), that would be ideal,” Aldrich said. “It’s hard to speculate… But, I wouldn’t say we are done. I still got a couple guys on the line who are late in the recruiting process. So, I would anticipate adding to our class. Offensively, we are a little bit shorter and would probably like to fill some spots over there, especially on the offensive line.”

MSU wasn’t afraid to scoop up multiple guys per school either with a trio of defensive back from Thunder Ridge High School (Colo.) — Jordan Cutter, JT Snow and Aden Scott — and three more coming from Powers Lake (N.D.) with running back Terek Enget, linebacker Aiden Nordloef and defensive back Kyle Van Berkom.

Other teammate pairings include lineman Pelenatino Vito and defensive back Dayne Bobzien from Moon Valley High School (Ariz.), as well as running back Calder Fleming and defensive lineman Grady Taylor from Circle High School (Mont.).

Sticking on the defensive side of the ball, MSU loaded up with seven linebackers and eight defensive backs.

“We have four inside backers who played last year, and were only sophomore and freshmen,” Aldrich said. “So, we are pretty deep there. But I’d say our defensive backs spot is probably going to be the most inexperienced coming into the season.”

Up front, Rugby’s first state wrestling champion since 2001, DJ Schneibel, will join former Class B wrestling champion, Jordan Will, on the defensive line.

While some of these recruits will receive redshirts next season, a handful will still be thrown into the action right away.

“They are all excited to know that there is an opportunity to play early,” Aldrich said. “We played a lot of young guys this past year and it’s the same going forward. We are still going to play the best. We got a lot of great kids on our team right now who are going to fight and compete to keep their spot. The young guys know there is an opportunity if they earn it.”

The 2019 National Signing Day class for the Minot State football team:

OFFENSE

QB: Marshaun Campbell (6-1, 183) from Park High School (Minn.).

RB: Jordan Nees (5-9, 165) from Moore High School (Mont.).

RB: Terek Enget (5-8, 170) from Powers Lake High School (N.D.).

RB: Aaron Wood (5-9, 165) from Skyline High School (Ariz.).

RB: Calder Fleming (5-9, 195) from Circle High School (Mont.).

RB: Ali Mohamed (5-10, 185) from Apollo High School (Ariz.).

RB: Isaiah Hall (5-9, 195) transfer from Humboldt State University. (Cali.).

WR: JJ Albrecht (6-5, 175) from Central Cass High School (N.D).

WR: Jaxton Lorenz (6-0, 155) from Grand Forks Central (N.D).

WR: Cory Carignan (5-10, 170) from Arvada High School (Colo.).

WR: Tyler Barnes (6-2, 178) from Hamilton High School (Mont.).

TE: Carson Heinen (6-4, 250) from Powell High School (Wyo.).

OL: Cole Erickson (6-3, 240) from Lewis & Clark-Berthold (N.D.).

OL: Sir-Wallace Chanel (6-1, 260) from Campbell High School (Hawaii).

OL: Andrew Ruelas (6-6, 320) transfer from Glendale Community College. (Ariz.).

DEFENSE

DL: DJ Schneibel (6-2, 276) from Rugby High School (N.D.).

DL: Jace Reddick (5-11, 240) from Broadwater High School (Mont.).

DL: Pelenatino Vito (6-1, 303) from Moon Valley High School (Ariz.).

DL: Grady Taylor (6-4, 200) from Circle High School (Mont.).

LB: Aiden Nordloef (6-2, 235) from Powers Lake High School (N.D.).

LB: Trevor Palesch (6-0, 195) from Wayzata High School (Minn.).

LB: Brook Lennon (5-10, 185) from Carmel Catholic High School (Ill.).

LB: Lane Schall (6-0, 185) from Arlee High School (Mont.).

LB: Warren Hanson (6-1, 225) from Park High School (Mont.).

LB: Carson Cayko (6-3, 200) from Fairview High School (Mont.).

LB: Anthony Mitchell (6-1, 205) from Green River High School (Wyo.).

DB: Joemah Norman (5-6, 160) from Armstrong High School (Minn.).

DB: Kyle Van Berkom (6-3, 180) from Powers Lake High School (N.D.).

DB: Dayne Bobzien (5-10, 170) from Moon Valley High School (Ariz.).

DB: Jordan Cutter (5-11, 175) from Thunder Ridge High School (Colo.).

DB: JT Snow (5-9, 165) from Thunder Ridge High School (Colo.).

DB: Aden Scott (5-9, 155) from Thunder Ridge High School (Colo.).

DB: Kayden Staples (6-0, 160) from Westview High School (Ariz.).

DB: Isaiah Bigby (5-11, 205) from Clark High School (Nev.).

Alex Eisen covers Minot State athletics, the Minot Minotauros and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.