Coach Steve Sarkisian's Washington Huskies are taking care of recruiting business at home

When Howard Schnellenberger took over as the University of Miami's coach in 1979, the program was in shambles.

Forget losing seasons, the Hurricanes were on the verge of being taken off life support.

But, by 1983, the Hurricanes were national champions. Schnellenberger started the turnaround by cultivating local talent. When it came to recruiting, he made sure his program controlled the "State of Miami."

When Steve Sarkisian took over at Washington, the program wasn't headed toward extinction, but it did have the distinction of coming off an 0-12 season in 2008. A few months later, the state's top three recruits each picked other programs.

It didn't take long for Sarkisian to make an impression on the local landscape. When he locked up three of the four players listed as blue chips on The Seattle Times' 2010 blue, red and white chip list, CBS recruiting analyst Tom Lemming said Sarkisian was in the process fencing off the state of Washington.

With four of the five blue chips from the 2011 class (Skyline receiver Kasen Williams, Gig Harbor tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Auburn defensive lineman Danny Shelton and Archbishop Murphy defensive lineman Tani Tupou) already committed to the Huskies and the fifth (Gonzaga Prep running back Bishop Sankey) undecided about his verbal commitment to Washington State, that fence seems to be closer to completion.

"I think he's come in and put a fence around the state," Lemming said. "They'll lose an occasional guy here and there, but the centerpiece of all their good classes will be the Pacific Northwest. You've got to always take care of business at home before you take off, and that's what they've done."

The headliners of this year's recruiting class are Williams and Seferian-Jenkins. They were both heavily recruited by some of the top programs in the country, but decided to stay home. They will finalize their commitment on signing day Feb. 2.

They saw signs that Sarkisian has the program pointed in the right direction.

"He's going to make me a fantastic football player," Seferian-Jenkins said. "He's going to make me one of the best tight ends I could ever envision myself to be. But I think he's even going to make me a better person, and that's why I chose the University of Washington."

"Now you're seeing all the top recruits all committing in-state under Sarkisian and I think the main reason is we're all seeing the turn that this program has taken," Williams said. "We all know where they're going to be in a few years and we know the coaching staff and we're all happy with the coaching staff."

In the past decade, the Huskies put together several highly regarded recruiting classes that were often led by local talent. But while they landed Jake Locker, they missed top-tier recruits like Stephen Schilling (Michigan in 2006), Taylor Mays (USC in '06) and Jonathan Stewart (Oregon in '05).

"Outside of Locker, the big-name players have consistently, each year, gone out of state," said Brandon Huffman, the West regional manager for Scout.com and FoxSports.com. "Sark has done a fantastic job of (holding) off those national powers to keep those kids in state, especially with Austin (Seferian-Jenkins)."

Further proof that Sarkisian's reach is spreading across the state is his ability to establish interest in Spokane — Washington State's backyard. Gonzaga Prep standout Charlie Hopkins, a blue-chip-level talent who is committed to Stanford and recovering from a knee injury, considered the Huskies before picking the Cardinal.

Then there's Sankey, who threatened the state's season rushing record this year with 2,518 yards and could shift his verbal commitment from Washington State to UW.

"It's not just the part of the state you expect to control, it's the entire state," Huffman said. "He's going down to Gig Harbor, over to Spokane. That's a pretty wide net to cast."

Lemming said recruiting success revolves around personality, perseverance and aggressiveness and said, "They've (the Huskies coaching staff) got it all. They really go at recruiting hard and I don't think they're going to sit back and wait for the kids to fall into their lap. These guys are going to go out there and take control and go after these guys."

As signing day draws closer, there is a buzz building among the local players who have committed. Juanita's Jarett Finau, a red chip, was so excited to spend some time with future teammates Williams and Connor Cree, also a red chip, he sneaked onto the Tacoma Dome turf during the Class 4A state title game in December to hand them water.

"It's definitely exciting, because people want to be around you and people want to come out and support (each other)," Williams said. "That just means that when we get to UW, it's going to be the exact same thing. We're all going to have each other's backs, and we're going to be a family when we get there."

Mason Kelley: 206-464-8277 or mkelley@seattletimes.com