Gesser named WAC Recruiter of the Year

ON MONDAY IDAHO ASSISTANT COACH JASON GESSER was named the Scout / FOXSportsNext Recruiter of the Year for the Western Athletic Conference. Coach Gesser, completing his first year at Idaho, was instrumental in recruiting Arizona speedster Trae Armstrong, Idaho Gatorade Player of the Year quarterback Chad Chalich, and junior college power running back James Baker, among several others.

Despite still working out the details of a major overhaul of the Idaho offensive coaching staff, the Vandals last week signed the top-rated class in the Western Athletic Conference, as ranked by Scout.com, and first year Idaho assistant Jason Gesser was intricately involved in a number of the athletes that picked Idaho.

Among his top recruits was Idaho Gatorade Player of the Year and two-time First Team All-State quarterback selection Chad Chalich. In addition to Chalich (ranked No.94 quarterback nationally by Scout.com), Idaho also signed two other high school quarterbacks in Austin DeCoud (No.101) and Andrew Williams. With Gesser set to take over as quarterback's coach for the 2012 season (he joined the Idaho staff last year as a running backs coach), reloading the field general depth chart was clearly a priority.

The full list of coaches recognized this week includes the following:

ACC: Dameyune Craig, Florida State

Big East: Daron Roberts/Robert Gillespie, West Virginia

Big Ten: Greg Mattison, Michigan

Big Twelve: Robert Prunty, Texas Tech

Conference USA: Zac Spavital, Houston

MAC: Jason Candle, Toledo

Mountain West: Tony White, San Diego State

Pac-12: Demetrice Martin, UCLA

SEC: Jeremy Pruitt, Alabama

Sun Belt: Ray Woodie, Western Kentucky

WAC: Jason Gesser, Idaho

Independents: Mike Elston, Notre Dame