Salukis add nine players on Football's early-period Signing Day

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois signed nine players on Wednesday on the first day of college football's early signing period. Today's early signees included a pair of FBS transfers who will join the program in January, plus seven players who will be true freshmen in 2019. Head coach Nick Hill discussed the class during an afternoon press conference.

2019 SIGNING DAY HOME

LB Matt Brenneisen (6-2, 220, Fr.)
Springfield, Ill./Sacred Heart Griffin High School
Finished career with 413 tackles...First Team All-State by Champaign News-Gazette in 2017 and 2018 and IHSA in 2018...Totaled 126 tackles, 11.0 sacks and five forced fumbles as a senior in 2018...Helped lead team to 10-3 record and trip to the IHSA Class 6A state quarterfinals as senior...Team advanced to the 2016 Class 6A state championship game...First Team Central State Eight Conference from 2016-18 and honorable mention All-State by News-Gazette in 2016...Four-year letterman who also played fullback and punter...Played alongside Saluki running back Tremayne Lee from 2015- 17...One of nine children...Brother, Bobby, played quarterback at SIU (2008-09).

Coach Hill on Brenneisen, "Matt's a kid we've known for a long time, his brother (Bobby) was a teammate of mine. I remember when Matt was a little kid coming to our games when I was playing here. He's a kid who has grown up around football — his dad is the defensive coordinator at Sacred Heart Griffin. We always say, if there's a kid at Sacred Heart Griffin that we feel like can play at our level, we're not going to let him go play anywhere else. We offered Matt when he was a junior in high school and he stuck with us the entire time. Matt's just a football player — he plays a ton of positions and has started since he was a freshman. We want to sign championship players and at that program you're going to win a lot of championships. He's used to winning. He's our type of guy — he's tough, great in the classroom."

WR Branson Combs (6-3, 200, Fr.)
Evansville, Ind./Reitz Memorial High School
Ended career ranked fourth in Indiana high school career receiving yards (3,732)...Recorded 75 catches for 1,517 yards and 32 touchdowns (24 receiving, 3 rushing, 3 INT return, 1 punt return, 1 kickoff return) as a senior in 2018...Helped team to a 14-1 record and IHSAA 3A state finals appearance as a senior...Recorded eight catches, 188 yards and three TDs in the state championship game...Totaled 58 touchdowns in four years, including 45 receiving TDs...Team won state championship in 2017... 2018 Courier & Press All-Metro Co-Player of the Year...Indiana Football Coaches Association Top 50 All-State team as junior and senior...First Team All-SIAC in 2017 and 2018, Second Team All-SIAC in 2016...Also played baseball (All-Conference) and basketball.

Coach Hill on Combs, "I feel like he's one of the most underrated players that we've signed. He had some FBS offers, some MAC schools came in, but we're lucky to have him. He came here and earned his scholarship in camp. He came here and out-played everybody and then he had an unbelievable season. Last year, they won the state championship, this year they went to the dome in Indianapolis and got beat right at the end of the game. He's a winner. He can play a lot of positions as well. In the state championship game, he took over 200 reps — he didn't come out of the game on offense, defense and took every special teams rep. Some people recruited him to play outside linebacker. We'll start him off on the offensive side of the ball where he wants to be. He can play outside but can grow into that H-back type player."

ATH Tanner Corum [Core-um] (5-11, 188, Fr.)
Knoxville, Tenn./Farragut High School
A two-star recruit by 247Sports.com...Helped lead team to an 11-2 record and trip to Division I Class 6A state quarterfinals as senior in 2018, and 14-1 record and state championship in 2016...Recorded 32 catches, 664 yards and five touchdowns as a senior, and averaged more than 20 yards per catch...Also added six interceptions as a senior, including a a school-record three picks in the 2018 season opener...Named to the All-Region team as both a wide receiver and defensive back...A three-year letterman...From the same high school that produced NFL players Bill Bates (Dallas Cowboys) and Tyson Clabo (Atlanta Falcons).

Coach Hill on Corum, "He's an all-around great athlete. We put "Athlete" by his name. We're going to start him off playing defensive back. He could play wide receiver, too. He's on a nationally ranked baseball team, he plays center field, really does a lot of things. When we talk about what type of athletes we want to sign, Tanner exhibits a lot of those things. What you'll see with a lot of these early-signing guys are kids with great grades that are program guys that have been with us a long time. It's been fun getting to know his family. He has six brothers and sisters and they've all been up here on campus."

WR Avante Cox (5-11, 170, Jr.)
Rochester, Ill./Rochester High School/ Wyoming
At Wyoming (2017-18)
Played in 10 games in two seasons...Caught six passes for 84 yards, and rushed five times for 51 yards and one touchdown...Had a career-long 39-yard reception versus Texas State in 2017...Had a career-long 23-yard rushing TD at Washington in 2018...Also contributed on special teams with three tackles and one kickoff return.
High School
First-Team All-State Class 4A by the Illinois Football Coaches Association in 2016...Ranked as the No. 82 overall recruit in the state of Illinois in the 2017 recruiting class by 247Sports.com...Played with current Saluki quarterback Nic Baker — together they led the team to an 11-1 record and the 2016 4A State Championship...Ranked No. 3 in the state of Illinois in receiving yards his senior year with 1,167 yards...Had 79 receptions on the season and scored 21 receiving touchdowns...Had a season-high 155 yards came in the 4A state championship game, in which he also scored two receiving touchdowns and had one interception....Totaled 1,965 all-purpose yards as a senior, including 393 yards in kickoff returns and 251 yards in punt returns...Scored a total of 25 touchdowns in 2016 -- 21 receiving, two rushing, one punt return TD and one kickoff return TD. As a defensive back, Cox tallied 43 total tackles, including 33 solo tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss, 1.0 sack, three interceptions and one fumble recovery.

Coach Hill on Cox, "He's a kid we offered out of high school, he went to Wyoming and played the last two seasons at Wyoming. He's an explosive kid. In high school, he almost led the state in receiving, won a state championship, played all over the field. He started games for Wyoming and didn't redshirt. We'll look for Avante to come and really give us a spark on offense, in the return game and at slot receiver. Avante can play inside and outside, can do a lot of different things in the jet-sweep game. I'm excited about putting him in our offense because I think he fits really well. The thing I like about Avante is he's a physical kid. He started at linebacker for Rochester when they went to the state championship game. When they wanted to make plays they put him down at Mike linebacker and let him tackle everybody."

WR Jordan Cox (6-3, 195, Fr.)
Atlanta, Ga./Milton High School
Helped lead the team to 2018 GHSA 7A state championship by beating Colquitt County — the No. 5 ranked team in the nation...Recorded 23 catches for 442 yards and three touchdowns as a senior, averaging 19.2 yards per catch...Had four catches for 124 yards and two touchdowns in win against Alpharetta...Team rose to No. 73 in the country by Maxpreps...Held an offer from Bowling Green.

Coach Hill on Cox, "He's a big-time wide receiver. I just got done watching the state championship game. They won the state championship in the dome, beat Colquitt County in the biggest classification (in Georgia). The final was 14-13 and Jordan really won them the game with a 66-yard touchdown reception in the biggest game, the place was packed. He battled an injury so some of his stats aren't as big this year. He missed four games this season but he played good down the stretch in the playoff run. Our wide receivers coach Nick Williams recruits that area and formed a great relationship with him. He can run, he can jump, he's physical, he's competitive. When you lose someone like Ralph (Leonard), he's kind of a lot like Ralph was — a long wide receiver that can play on the outside and stretch the field."

RB Romeir Elliott (5-7, 185, Fr.)
Indianapolis, Ind./Warren Central High School
Rushed for 3,045 yards and 38 touchdowns as a senior in 2018, plus three receiving touchdowns for a total of 41 TDs...Led his team to a 14-0 record and IHSAA Class 6A state championship as a senior...Rushed 25 times for 227 yards in the state finals...Held offers from FBS Ball State and Western Michigan...Ranked the No. 35 prospect in the state of Indiana by 247Sports...Set Warren Central's career rushing record and single-game record (431 yards and seven touchdowns in 62-7 win over Bowling Green, Ky.)...Topped 300 yards rushing three times as senior...A two-year starter who had 1,113 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns as junior...2018 Indiana Football Coaches Association Top 50 All-State team, 2017 Class 6A Junior All-State Team, First Team All-Marion County in 2017 and 2018.

Coach Hill on Elliott, "I think Romeir is the best back in Indiana. He played for a state champion in one of the best programs in the Midwest. His stats were unbelievable and most of it was done in the first half or first three-quarters of games. They really didn't have a test until the playoffs. The type of kid he is — for him being loyal and staying committed to us when good Group of Five teams came in and offered him in the last week — says a lot about who he is and what he wants to do here."

LB Will Hopkins (6-2, 200, Fr.)
Park Hills, Mo./Central High School
A 2017 and 2018 Missouri Football Coaches Association Class 3 First-Team All-State selection...As a senior in 2018, named the conference defensive MVP and All-Conference tight end...Helped lead team to undefeated regular season and trip to MSHSAA Class 3 state quarterfinals in 2017...Recorded 136 tackles as a junior and had more than 900 receiving yards at tight end...Also played basketball...Held offers from Eastern Kentucky, Western Illinois and Indiana State.

Coach Hill on Hopkins, "He's a kid we found at camp at Lindenwood. It's a mega-camp where there's 400 kids and he just kept sticking out. He's super athletic. When you talk about what you want the measurables to be in a linebacker, Will is that. He's going to be a big kid where you can put some weight on him. He's physical. He never comes off the field, really dominates the game, just a tough, hard-nosed kid that we had our sights on all summer. He committed to us in the summer before the season started and is a loyal kid and has stayed with us. Will's a kid who will play in his early years because he's so athletic and can run and will really fit into Coach Petrino's stud position where he's played a lot of safety but will probably move down to that linebacker level but he can also play in space."

LB Tim Johns (6-3, 235, Fr.)
Greenwood, Ind./Greenwood High School/Purdue
Purdue
Redshirted in 2018...Originally committed to Army, but also had 11 FCS offers, including five from Ivy League schools.
High School
Named Indiana Football Coaches Association top-50 player as a senior in 2017... Totaled 100 tackles on the season and helped lead Greenwood to an 11-3 record and its first appearance in semi-state game since 1990...Associated Press First-Team All- State...Mid-State Conference Defensive Player of the Year...All-County, First-Team All-Conference, Academic All-Conference and team defensive MVP as a senior...Also competed on the wrestling and track & field teams (pole vault).

Coach Hill on Johns, "Tim Johns is a kid everybody in our league wanted coming out of high school. He ended up at Purdue and will have four years to play here. He'll be here for spring ball, starts school in January. He's a physical kid, dad's a firefighter. He was going to go to Army, wanted to be in the military. One of the things that drew him here is our aviation program. He's already started flying, he wants to be a pilot, so we were able to really narrow his choices down. He'll be a guy who will push to play this season."

TE Avery Taggart (6-5, 225, Fr.)
Eureka, Mo./Eureka High School
Ranked as the No. 53 overall recruit and No. 2 tight end in the state of Missouri in the Class of 2019 by 247Sports.com...Ranked as the No. 5 MVFC recruit in the 2019 class by herosports.com...Held offers from Bowling Green, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, Illinois State, SEMO, South Dakota State and Western Illinois...Named First-Team All-Suburban West Conference and All-District in 2018...Eureka posted a 9-2 record and advanced to the Class 6 state tournament in 2018...Caught 20 passes for 384 yards and four TDs to earn Second-Team All-Conference honors in 2017...Eureka won its first 12 games in 2017 before losing in the playoff semifinals to Christian Brothers...A talented two-sport athlete who will also play basketball at SIU.

Coach Hill on Taggart, "Avery was the No. 1 tight end on our board from the summertime. He plans to come here and play both sports. He's a superb athlete, a really good player, a kid who had FBS offers in the summer and another kid who committed to us early and stuck through it. Barry (Hinson) was at an AAU tournament and didn't know he was committed to us. Somebody in the stands said, well he's committed to Southern Illinois in football. I got a call from Barry and he said we have to get this kid to walk on with the basketball team. Coach (Pat) Poore and I went and watched him play basketball the other day, he had 29 points. I think he could be special at the tight end position. He's about 230 pounds right now but really athletic and has that toughness you want where he can put his hand in the ground and block you as well."

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