All offseason acquisitions for Fort Lewis College fall sports are important, but the newcomers on the Skyhawks football team have a different kind of importance for head coach Johnny Cox.
The Skyhawks football team has easily been the worst FLC fall sports program over the past decade, and one of the worst programs in Division II. FLC went 2-9 overall last season and 1-8 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The Skyhawks haven’t finished outside the bottom three of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference since 2019 and haven’t had a winning record in conference play or overall since 2015.
So there’s a lot on the line with everything that goes on with football, including the Skyhawks offseason acquisitions.
Cox’s philosophy surrounding recruiting has been to bring in high school players, develop them and keep them as they become juniors and seniors. For the most part, he’s done that. The problem is the wins haven’t followed.
So can this class of offseason acquisitions help propel FLC toward a .500 record? The football team has the most athletes on its roster of any Skyhawk sport; therefore the scholarship costs are more than other sports. With so many athletes, Cox and his staff are expected to find a few difference makers in each class. Football usually leads each college in sports revenue, so there’s potential for football to really help FLC Athletics, especially playing under the lights for the first time this season.
This is Cox’s fourth season. There’s definitely more pressure on his recruiting abilities and how these freshmen can push the upperclassmen than any other FLC fall sports coach and their recruits. The Skyhawks are bringing in 41 freshmen and three college transfers.
There are more new players on all collegiate athletics rosters than ever, with immediate eligibility from the transfer portal and unlimited transfers during an athlete’s five years of eligibility. Therefore, with rosters being rotating doors these days, it’s important to make note of all of the incoming players on each FLC fall sports team before the season previews and the season starts.
This is the fifth FLC offseason acquisitions article of the offseason. The first was on women’s soccer, the second on volleyball, the third on men’s soccer and the fourth on cross country.
“I’m really excited about it,” Cox said about his offseason acquisitions. “They’re off to a good start. With the five for five rule, that is going to affect these guys to push and try to take advantage of that opportunity … There’s no redshirt gymnastics that you’ve got to play. So that motivates them and that’s the exact type of kids that you want that want to try to get on the field.”
The NCAA passed a new ruling nicknamed the “5 for 5.” It was first established in Division I in late June and was adopted in Division II on Aug. 5.
The ruling establishes a five-year eligibility period for student-athletes. This begins for the student-athlete at either the full-time enrollment at any college or immediately after their 19th birthday, giving athletes potentially five years to compete for their schools, compared to the previous four seasons in five years. It also largely removes traditional redshirt years and medical hardship waivers.
The 5 for 5 rule really changes how Cox’s freshmen will operate. In the past, Cox preferred to redshirt almost all of his freshmen. An example of this is that there’s 24 redshirt freshmen on the 2026 roster and only four sophomores, meaning only four of the 28 returning freshman from last year didn’t redshirt.
Without the redshirt anymore, there won’t be a reason for these freshmen not to push hard for playing time. Cox knows in the past, there were times where if a freshman knew he wasn’t going to play because of a redshirt, some complacency could set in.
Cox couldn’t get complacent with his recruiting class after three of his top running backs left in the transfer portal. He brought in eight running backs and six wide receivers.
“So it just ended up being one of those years where we said, ‘Hey, here, some of our top guys,’ and, man, they all wanted to come,” Cox said. “This is going to be a great class, and since they’ve been here, they have been. It’s really been a good thing. We didn’t necessarily know that our three guys were going to leave, but we feel like at least as far as potential-wise, we have an opportunity to kind of replace them.”
Cox couldn’t say any newcomers stood out to him because they haven’t had enough time in the Skyhawks’ system. Thirty of the 41 freshmen are from either Colorado or Arizona. Cox joked that his whole team is from Phoenix. The Skyhawks coaches each have areas they recruit. They rank the talent in that area and from there, the position coaches take over.
The closest freshman to home is running back Colton Lucero from Pagoosa Springs. He was first-team all-state for 2A his senior year and was seventh in rushing yards in Colorado. Cox has been impressed with his strong body type as a freshman.
FLC has been practicing since the beginning of August, with its first game on Aug. 29 at William Jewell College.