Dave Schramm was born to recruit San Diego.

A native of the city, he attended Patrick Henry High and San Diego State, and later served as a Aztecs' football assistant from 1990-2001. Now Utah's offensive coordinator, a position he was promoted to after the Utes completed their storybook 13-0 season last month, his task is to convince Southern California prep football stars to leave behind the sun and the surf for the snow-capped mountains ringing Salt Lake City.

Kent Riddle, on the other hand, stumbled into the job. First assigned San Diego County as his recruiting territory when he became a Boise State assistant in 2001, Riddle had practically no history with the region other than a short stint as an employee at, of all places, the Marriott La Jolla. Now at Colorado, he tries to persuade the area's gridiron greats to give up the beaches for Boulder.

They may have taken different roads to the same corner of college football's recruiting map, but Schramm and Riddle are both very good at what they do -- to the consternation of a San Diego State program that, for years, has fought a losing battle to keep the best local talent in its backyard.

Wednesday is national signing day, the first day that seniors can sign a letter of intent binding them to the college of their choice. Oceanside's Jordan Wynn, the finest quarterback in North County, will sign with Utah (after earlier reneging on an oral commitment to Colorado), making him the third Pirates standout to matriculate to the Mountain West Conference school in the last four years. Mission Hills' Edward Nuckols, the best defensive lineman in the area, will sign with the Buffaloes -- he'll be the eighth North County player to go to Colorado in the last six classes.

"San Diego has been pretty good to us," said Riddle, who's in his fourth year as the Buffaloes' tight ends and receivers coach. "I really think I have as good a recruiting territory as anyone could hope for -- great weather, great people and great football players."

Colorado and Utah are the best examples of out-of-area programs that have built pipelines to San Diego County high schools, but they aren't the only ones.

Arizona State missed out on Nuckols, but landed his former Mission Hills linemate, Jamaar Jarrett, last February to join a roster that also includes Vista products Travis Goethel (signed in 2006) and Thomas Altieri ('05). Valley Center receiver James Johnson is expected to sign with Washington, following Poway's Nick Wood ('07) and Orange Glen's Matt Sedillo ('06) to Seattle.

Even the remote outpost of Texas-El Paso has attracted three North County players in the last four years: Mission Hills' Vince Misa-Amituanai ('08), Oceanside's Evan Davis ('06) and Fallbrook's Anthony Morrow ('06).

"San Diego County is a big part of what we do," Schramm said. "The reason we continue to go there is that we know they're coached well. They play a high level of football. Guys from San Diego who we've gotten, they understand what commitment is."

Of course, it doesn't hurt the outsiders' cause that they traditionally have met very little resistance from the home school, making recruiting in San Diego something of a free-for-all. During his introductory press conference in December 2005, former Aztecs coach Chuck Long infamously talked about "building a fence" around the county, a declaration that blew up in his face as he recruited only 18 local kids in his four classes -- and worse, only seven from the talent-rich North County. Of those seven, only two (Poway running back Brandon Sullivan in 2006 and Cathedral Catholic punter Brian Stahovich last year) picked San Diego State over an offer from a Bowl Championship Series conference school.

"San Diego has great football, and the best kids are always leaving because San Diego State isn't up there as a program," said La Costa Canyon coach Darrin Brown, who boasts an elite junior in wide receiver Kenny Stills. "It's going to take a lot to convince guys like Kenny and (Escondido running back) Ricky Seale to stay. It's a tough gig, but I think it can be done."

The man entrusted with the tough gig is new Aztecs coach Brady Hoke, and the early returns seem to be positive. In fewer than two months on the job, Hoke estimates that he has visited 35 to 40 high schools in the county, revisiting ground that he used to cover as the San Diego recruiter for Oregon State (1989-94) and Michigan (1995-2002). As a Wolverines assistant, he landed Torrey Pines kicker Hayden Epstein and Vista cornerback Leon Hall, who both went on to play in the NFL.

Brown provided an indictment of Long's recruiting, saying Hoke's appearance in his office last month was the first for a San Diego State head coach since Tom Craft was pursuing Mavericks quarterback Kevin O'Connell in 2002.

"He's a step ahead right there," Brown said.

Tyler Gaffney, the record-setting running back from Cathedral Catholic who will sign with Stanford, told the Web site Aztec Sports Report recently that Long offered him a scholarship last spring but didn't pursue him ardently, apparently assuming that such a blue-chip recruit wouldn't consider a Mountain West doormat. Hoke vows to remedy that pattern of defeatist thinking.

"This is all competition, and you have to compete every day in every phase," Hoke said. "You have to make kids say no to you, or you're not competing."

In his effort to stem the tide of prep stars departing for greener pastures, Hoke has a significant asset in new quarterbacks coach Brian Sipe, the former San Diego State All-American and NFL most valuable player who brings a wealth of high school connections from his eight years as head coach at Sante Fe Christian.

"He's a big name," Poway coach Damian Gonzalez said. "And he's so well-respected by his peers that we're more apt to talk to him than someone we don't know."

Schramm believes that the fight to extract players from San Diego got tougher the day Hoke was hired. As a graduate assistant at San Diego State in 1988, Schramm worked with Brady's older brother, Jon, whom he called a "tremendous recruiter."

"If Brady is half the recruiter that his brother was," Schramm said, "he'll do a good job."

Not that Schramm, Riddle and others intend to cede their hard-earned recruiting territory. As he does every spring, Schramm will travel to San Diego for the May evaluation period, hitting an average of seven to nine high schools a day for almost two weeks. Riddle comes to the region about 10 times a year, beating the bushes for kids who might not mind mixing in a little snow with Big 12 Conference football.

"I know that Brady and his staff will be in on every kid in San Diego," Riddle said. "We have to get the kids who aspire to do something different. I think there will be enough to go around."

Contact staff writer Brian Hiro at b_hiro@hotmail.com.