St. Thomas football coach Glenn Caruso announced 20 early signees for the FCS program Wednesday. Caruso said the Tommies expect to add seven or eight more players in the February signing period.

The Tommies have lost key linebackers to graduation and transfer, and they signed four in Wednesday's group: Charles Bern, East Ridge; Taran Blasy, Park of Cottage Grove; Roman Johnson, Minnetonka; and Walker Owens, Wheaton [Ill.] North.

Andrew McElroy, a top wide receiver, transferred to Northern Illinois last week. Caruso offered praise for signee Quentin Cobb-Butler, a small-ish, explosive receiver and returner from Woodbury High School.

The Tommies added two quarterbacks: Ryan Jackson from Lyons Township High in Illinois and Phillip Jones from Mesquite High in Chandler, Ariz.

Three other quarterbacks are on the roster: Tak Tateoka, a freshman starter by Game 3 before being injured; Amari Powell, the starter to begin and end the season; and Michael Rostberg, a large and strong-armed prospect from Fargo (N.D) Shanley who was redshirted as a freshman in 2023.

Five quarterbacks, coach? "That has been our philosophy as a program,'' Caruso said. "If you're willing to work, we're willing to develop you.''

Caruso mentioned Alex Fenske, a quarterback who took over full time in his fifth season. Those were the Division III days. Fenske led the 2016 Tommies to an unbeaten regular season, into the quarterfinals of the NCAA playoffs and was named the MIAC's player of the year.

In its first three seasons in the Division I Pioneer League, St. Thomas has gone 25-7 overall and 21-3 in conference games. The 21 victories are the most by a Pioneer League team in that span.

The 11-team Pioneer League does not offer athletic scholarships, though St. Thomas can offer merit-based academic scholarships to its players.

The class of 20 recruits includes eight Minnesotans and 12 from six other states. Among those are four players from Illinois and four from Wisconsin.

Tommies signees

NAME HIGH SCHOOL (POS., HT., WT.)

Charlie Bern, East Ridge TE/RB, 6-4, 220

Taran Blasy, Park of Cottage Grove LB, 6-1, 220

Hudson Cleary, Middleton (Wis.) OL, 6-6, 255

Quentin Cobb-Butler, Woodbury ATH, 5-9, 160

Marc Coy, Marist (Ill.) RB, 6-1, 205

Rocco Dileonardi, Geneva (Ill.) DL, 6-2, 220

Kyle Felt, Baraboo (Wis.) OL, 6-4, 260

Ben Hoiland, Mounds View K/P, 5-11, 165

Aiden Horel, Prior Lake OL, 6-5, 325

Ryan Jackson, Lyons Township (Ill.) QB, 5-10, 175

Roman Johnson, Minnetonka LB/RB, 6-0, 200

Phillip Jones, Mesquite (Ariz.) QB, 6-0, 170

Teddy Knapp, St. Thomas Academy DL, 6-4, 225

Joseph Koch, Menomonee Falls (Wis.) RB, 6-0, 185

Will Leifker, Dowling Catholic (Iowa) TE, 6-3, 210

Anthony Lonergan, Blue Valley (Kan.) DB, 6-1, 185

Ty Nielsen, Elkhorn South (Neb.) DB, 6-0, 190

Walker Owens, Wheaton North (Ill.) LB, 6-2, 220

Ethan Sims, Eden Prairie OL, 6-6, 285

Aiden Tepper-Engh, Hudson (Wis.) DL, 6-3, 245

* Star Tribune staff writer Joel Rippel contributed to this story