San Diego State football coach Sean Lewis greeted those assembled for Wednesday’s midday media conference with this: “Welcome to Signing Day.”

Asked how many players the Aztecs signed that day, the response was: “Zero.”

Actually, SDSU avoided a shutout shortly after the presser when it announced on social media the signing of Brady Hill, an offensive lineman from Illinois’ St. Francis High School.

It’s been nine years now since the first Wednesday in February was anticipated like Christmas morning. The December early signing period removed a portion of the anticipation and the January transfer period removed the rest.

“It’s different,” Lewis said. “We are no longer huddled around the fax machine.”

Players send in their paperwork by email now. And the high school seniors do it during the December early signing period, which is when SDSU collected 23 members of its 2026 class.

Then there’s the transfer portal, which was open from Jan. 2-16. The Aztecs signed 27 transfers after having two dozen players leave through the portal.

With the signing class locked down nearly a month ago, Lewis said the past two weeks were spent recruiting for the Class of 2027 before returning to campus this week.

Lewis said he was “excited this morning to be out there with the team for a team run and be off the road and investing back into our team and building a great team here for the 2026 season.

Surgery for OG Ellis

SDSU starting offensive guard Kalan Ellis was scheduled to have shoulder surgery on Wednesday. The procedure was delayed while Ellis healed from a broken hand suffered during the New Mexico Bowl. Ellis is expected to be ready when the season begins.

Ellis is among a handful of offensive starters sidelined during the spring. Starting wide receivers Jordan Napier and Jacob Bostick are optimistically aiming to be ready for the season following ACL surgeries that require 9-12 months of recovery.

Denegal expected back in spring

Starting quarterback Jayden Denegal, who missed the New Mexico Bowl after undergoing surgery on his left (non-throwing) shoulder, is expected to participate in spring practice when it begins March 23. Lewis said that barring a setback in his rehab, Denegal should be full-go and completely healthy for the first time since he injured his shoulder in the season opener against Stony Brook.

Denegal did not miss a start during the regular season, though the injury limited his practice time and impacted his performance to some degree during the season.

Lewis noted this is the first time in six seasons — at Kent State (2021-22), Colorado (2023) and SDSU (2024-25) — that he has had a returning starter at QB to work with in the spring.

“Now there’s some continuity with the trigger man and the operator that’s going to make it go that I’m really excited about,” Lewis said. “I’m really excited to dive deep with him and then build it out (at the other skill positions).”

Spring game

The spring game is scheduled for May 2 at the SDSU practice field.

“We will block and we will tackle,” Lewis said. “It’s not going to be FanFest. It’s not going to be dodgeball. We heard some feedback from the fans and, obviously, year-to-year things are a little bit different.”

Rather than scrimmaging last year, the Aztecs were divided into a dozen teams that competed in skills competitions. It was not well received by those in the fan base accustomed over the decades to seeing a scrimmage.

There is no spring portal period this year, which removes the reluctance to “showcase” players in a spring game and create the potential for poaching.

“We can do things a little bit differently,” Lewis said. “With the amount of new faces that we’re going to have defensively, we get good at blocking and tackling by blocking and tackling. So we’re going to maximize all the opportunities that we can to do that in a smart way this spring.”