South Dakota head football coach Bob Nielson is pleased to announce the addition of 15 student-athletes on the first day of the NCAA's early signing period. Those athletes hail from nine different states including South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota and the Kansas City, Missouri, area. Four of the athletes prepped in Florida. Oklahoma, Ohio, Kansas and Illinois are also represented.
 
Last year's class included a number of offensive and defensive linemen so the skill positions were more represented this year. Three of the signees are linebackers and three are wide receivers. There is also a quarterback, tight end, two running backs and two defensive backs.
 
"This is an exciting and talented class for our program," said Nielson. "Last year's class was heavy on linemen, so we wanted to address some depth in the skill positions and that's what we did. We have added numbers at every position, which is certainly a plus, and there are talented and skilled players up and down this list."
 
The Coyotes are replacing 11 seniors who graduated this past season. Coach Nielson said he expects to add more players during the regular signing day period in February. Several players remain eligible for an extra season of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic so class sizes remain smaller than what they have been during Nielson's 31 years at the helm.
 
"We have a lot of guys who really love football and we're excited about bringing them in and having them hit the ground running with our returning group."
 
An alphabetical listing of South Dakota's early signing class follows. More information on each signee can be found here.
 

Name	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Hometown	High School
Todd Drummond	QB	6-5	200	Pawhuska, Okla.	Pawhuska
Larenzo Fenner	WR	6-0	160	Independence, Mo.	Fort Osage
Gabriel Hardman	LB	5-11	215	Miami, Fla.	Palmetto
Lenard Hill	LB	6-3	196	Ocala, Fla.	Vanguard
Demetrius Johnson	WR	6-4	180	Miami, Fla.	Immaculata-La Salle
Keyondray Jones	RB	5-7	166	Orlando, Fla.	Ocoee
Caleb Lange	OL	6-6	245	Brainerd, Minn.	Brainerd
Tayeton Lohaus	DL	6-4	250	Humboldt, Iowa	Humboldt
Jesse Miller	TE	6-6	220	Scranton, Iowa	Greene County
L.J. Phillips Jr.	RB	5-8	200	Wichita, Kan.	Northwest
Reed Rus	LB	6-3	195	Mount Vernon, S.D.	Mount Vernon
Noah Smith	DB	6-3	190	Chicago, Ill.	Mt. Carmel
Curtis Thomas Jr.	WR	5-9	165	Cleveland, Ohio	Eastlake North
Roman Tillmon	DB	5-11	185	Independence, Mo.	Fort Osage