After signing top-level talent in the Spring, Vandal football head coach Jason Eck announced that three more high-level players will be joining the team in the fall.
Linebacker Paul Moala comes to the University of Idaho from Notre Dame with two years of eligibility remaining. Moala played in 23 games in four seasons for the Fighting Irish, totaling 22 tackles.
During the 2019-2020 season in a game against Navy, Moala intercepted a pitch and returned it 27 yards for a touchdown. Before college, he played for Penn High School in South Bend, Indiana. He was selected as IndyStar Mr. Football Defensive Back, leading his team to a 13-2 record and Indiana High School Athletic Association 6A state runner-up in 2017.
“We are excited to get Paul to Moscow,” Eck said. “Watch his tape and you see him showing up and making plays against Georgia. If you see a guy making big tackles against Georgia, you can expect him to make plays in the Big Sky.”
Edge rusher Juliano Falaniko joins the Vandals from the University of Southern California with one year of eligibility remaining. Falaniko played in 37 games for the Trojans. He has 22 sacks and 1.5 tackles for loss in his career. He hails from America Samoa where he was a two-time All-American Samoa First-Team player. Eck said that Falaniko was highly recommended by USC’s football coach Johhny Nansen
“Juliano is just a very physical football player,” Eck said. “Juliano has played as a stand-up rush and outside backer for USC, and we think he can be a real stout guy who can help us out and be a physical presence for us at defensive end.”
Quarterback J’Bore Gibbs will continue his connection with Eck as he comes from South Dakota State. Gibbs comes to Idaho with two years of eligibility remaining and could possibly appeal for a third due to injury.
Gibbs played in 10 games for the Jackrabbits, six in 2019 and four in 2021. During a 2019 game against North Dakota State, Gibbs suffered a season-ending ACL tear. Gibbs will look to impress people in Idaho just as he did during his freshman season in South Dakota. Ecks said that Gibbs is excited to come to Idaho and be able to compete with Gevani McCoy and C.J Jordan for starting quarterback positions.
“Coach (Luke) Schleusner and I have a lot of familiarity with him, he was our starting quarterback to start the year in 2019 at South Dakota State,” Eck said. “He played very well in the narrow loss to Minnesota in a real tough environment for someone’s first college start. He also played very well at Youngstown State and Indiana State but unfortunately tore his ACL against North Dakota State. He tore his other ACL the next year and COVID didn’t help his rehab.”
Eck said that Gibbs coming from inner-city Chicago has faced a lot of adversity, but knows how to handle a tough situations. The Vandals will start their season in Pullman playing WSU on Sept. 3 and will return to the Kibbie Dome on Sept. 17 to play Drake.
James Taurman-Aldrich can be reached at [email protected]