Davis, CA – Three weeks ago UC Davis athletic director Kevin Blue named alum Dan Hawkins the 17th head football coach in the history of the Aggie Football program. Hawkins, a UC Davis alum, has been out of the collegiate head coaching ranks for seven years, having last served as the head coach at Colorado in 2010. While Hawkins was not a head coach, he remained close the collegiate game as the head of USA Football and also served as a color analyst for ESPN.

Hired just a little over a week after the Aggies' season ending win over rival Sacramento State in the Causeway Classic, Hawkins hit the ground running. Almost immediately he needed to determine which coaches from former head coach Ron Gould’s staff would stay, which would go, all while also establishing a connection with recruits. There was some concern that Hawkins had lost connections with high school coaches, causing a negative impact on Aggie coaches as they traversed the West Coast looking for the next class of UC Davis football players.

Prior to being released from his position as head football coach, Ron Gould had already received 8 verbal commitments from high school athletes. Hawkins has stepped into his role and has not missed a beat selling UC Davis to student-athletes and their families. The Ags lost 22 seniors to graduation this year.

In the last several days, UC Davis football has received a slew of verbal commitments from some big time recruits, including Westlake High School linebacker Cam Trimble, Ridgeview High School defensive back Amir Knox, and Orange Coast College offensive lineman Will Martin. The Ags have currently received verbal commitments from 12 student-athletes, 10 of whom hail from California - running back Tehran Thomas and defensive end Luka Nixon are from Arizona and Oregon respectively. While verbal commitments are non-binding, many high school and junior college student-athletes announce on Twitter where they have committed to play.

National Letter of Intent (NLI) signing day for football players begins on February 1, giving Hawkins and his staff a month and a half to communicate the value of a UC Davis education to student-athletes and also demonstrate what the opportunity to learn first-hand what Aggie Pride is all about.

To see the list of prospective football players compiled by Aggie Sports Talk posters, including those who have committed to UC Davis, and those who have committed elsewhere, click here and be sure to follow Aggie Sports Talk on Twitter for the latest recruiting updates.