Third-year head coach Gary Andersen doesn't give off the impression he's going anywhere soon. But how about his football program? Or the entire athletic department, for that matter?

The Aggies have had to recruit in what's really a total state of flux. The national epidemic with conference realignment has left the Western Athletic Conference member in that league for now, but there's been talk about joining the refigured Mountain West. There's also been talk about how viable the WAC is anymore, now that it looks as if Boise State's departure will be joined by Fresno State and Nevada in a couple of years.

For what it's worth, USU is regarded to have the second-best incoming class among WAC schools, according to Rivals.com. The Aggies signed 28 players, the second consecutive year they've signed that many. This year included an even split between junior college and high school enrollees.

And a program that has mostly settled for leftovers from other schools (especially in state) has landed a former junior college all-America (linebacker Bojay Filimoeatu).

"He is a young man that we hope, as a defense, allows us to be able to change the line of scrimmage, and when I say that I am talking tackles for loss and sacks on the defensive side of the football," Andersen said. "If you look at our numbers at tackles for loss and sacks last year, we really do not have a chance of being a successful defense because we do not change the line of scrimmage. With Bojay, and the defensive linemen we recruited, we need to get that changed."

USU is in the most interesting recruiting position in quite some time. It should be as hard as trying to stay in the game as it was as an independent in the 1990s. But with BYU going independent and Utah joining the Pac 12, it's three divergent strategies that leave a lot of guessing as to how it will affect the Aggies.

As for the conference stuff, Andersen says it is easy to downplay what opposing programs try to play against his.

"It didn't really come up with players, but it came up with coaches through the recruiting process," he said. "Other coaches bringing up what they think the direction the WAC is headed, which is completely wrong. There were some interesting comments made on the back end of that. I know this: When you have a quality university that we have and the quality athletic program and the way we handle our kids' academics and the academic success at the university, we are always going to be in a quality conference."

TOP OF THE CLASS

LB Bojay Filimoeatu (Mount San Antonio JC) -- The signature star of this USU recruiting class. A former local boy (Granger High; West Valley City, Utah) decided it was "time to come home," he told the Salt Lake Tribune recently. He was a junior college all-America and turned down Iowa State, Kansas State and Hawaii.

QB Chuckie Keeton (Cyprus Creek, Houston, Texas) -- Athletic quarterback (6-2, 185) who de-committed from Air Force to join USU. The Aggies have an immediate need at QB with the graduation of Diondre Borel. There will be a lot of competition (three players, two new) trying to run USU's spread offense.

DL Al Lapuaho (Snow College, via Salt Lake City) -- Expected to have an immediate impact at a spot sorely lacking in depth and talent. Could play inside, or fast enough to take the edge.

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