The 2013 St. Thomas football recruiting class will bring in 60 new players hoping to leave their mark on the program.

Coach Glenn Caruso said he is optimistic about the incoming talent.

“Usually the power is within the numbers,” Caruso said. “We certainly have a lot of guys that are All-State caliber, all-star type players.”

The new recruiting class consists of 57 high school seniors. Along with these players comes three transfers from other collegiate programs.

Defensive back Zach Burrington is transferring from Minnesota State University-Mankato, tight end Nathan Howard from the University of Minnesota and guard Zach Martens from Missouri S&T. Burrington graduated high school in 2010, while Martens and Howard graduated in 2012. All three players are Minnesota natives.

Caruso said he’s glad to have these transfer students as part of the St. Thomas family.

“The guys who have been on campus (for spring practice) have done a fantastic job thus far,” Caruso said. “(They) not only fit into the team, but have also provided us with some high-end athleticism quickly.”

Some notable players to keep an eye on this fall include: Eden Prairie, Minn., recruit Derek Soderberg; a two-time state champion, Soderberg has played on all three sides of the ball at defensive back, running back and is also a punt returner. According to MaxPreps.com, Soderberg is ranked No. 2 in the state and No. 191 in the nation as a defensive back.

Senior safety Tyler Erstad said he is interested to see how his potential successor performs.

“It sounds like he can make an impact right away,” Erstad said. “As long as he puts the work in and commits himself to the F.A.M.I.L.Y., the football program should benefit from his talent.”

Along with Soderberg comes St. Thomas Academy running back/wide receiver Nick Waldvogel. The 2012 All-Pioneer Press honorable mention will look to make his own name at St. Thomas, following after his brother All-American receiver and Tommie great Fritz Waldvogel.

Caruso said he is happy to see another member of the Waldvogel family dressing in purple.

“It’s pretty awesome because what it does it give you a gage of how good that family feels about this program,” Caruso said. “Obviously Fritz was a fantastic football player for us, but he was also a phenomenal leader and that’s directly correlated to how well raised he is. His parents have done such good job with him, just as well as their other children and Nick is in the same boat.”

Overall, Caruso said strong recruiting classes are a sign of the program’s continuing growth toward the ultimate goal.

“Obviously the better the classes get, the better the team is going to be. As we continue to see our classes grow, our team gets better,” Caruso said. “We had an opportunity to be at the Mecca this year … and when we were out recruiting, we thought about that intently, trying to get the right types of guys with the right types of attitudes that are going to get us over that last game.”

2013 recruiting class

Minnesota

Jesse Addo, Wayzata

Michael Alada, Hill-Murray

Ryan Anderson, Champlin Park

Michael Backus, Eastview

Michael Blume, Big Lake

Sebastian Borges, Stillwater

Josh Botten, Shakopee

Steven Braschayko, Coon Rapids

Alex Burback, Stillwater

Bennett Celichowski, Minnetonka

Alex Chadwick, Farmington

Mike Coldagelli, New Prague

Alexander Daniel, Andover

Nick Eliason, Belle Plaine

Tyler Fish, Warroad

Micah Hausman, Eagan

Luke Hermann, Cretin-Derham Hall

Sam Hodnefield, Stillwater

Moise Igeno, Centennial

Brady Kurtz, Becker

Noah Larson, Bloomington Jefferson

Will Long, Wayzata

Makael Lunning, Albert Lea

Zach Merie, Hopkins

Jack Newell, Minnetonka

Derek Ogren, Holy Family Catholic

Chris Pierson, Wayzata

Joey Puk, Eden Prairie

Mike Redmond, Minnetonka

Joe Reed, Cretin-Derham Hall

Chris Rozek, Hopkins

Sean Scharlau, St. Michael-Albertville

Kyle Schmidt, Woodbury

Adam Schnobrich, New Ulm Cathedral

Derek Soderberg, Eden Prairie

Alexander Stevson, St. Thomas Academy

Nick Waldvogel, St. Thomas Academy

Steven Wilson, Apple Valley

Ryan Winter, Woodbury

Michael Witschen, Monticello

Zach Burrington, Maple Grove

Nathan Howard, Bloomington Jefferson

Zach Martens, Apple Valley

Wisconsin

Stuart Burns, Hudson

Will Hilbert, Marquette University High

Chandler Lamke, Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau

Jordan Millis, Black River Falls

Turner Sagat, New Berlin Eisenhower

Joe Southern, Ashwaubenon

Jarrod Thrill, Green Bay Southwest

Evan Zellner, DePere

Illinois

Dylan Andrew, Neuqua Valley

Darby Goodwin, Loyola Academy

Joel Hylton, North Shore School

Matt Lally, Marmion Academy

Brendan Murphy, Loyola Academy

Ayo Okesanya, North Shore School

Hayden Reich, Huntley

Iowa

Josh Vedane, Dowling Catholic

Oregon

Jonah Koski, Bend

Alex Goering can be reached at goer8777@stthomas.edu.