 "Photo: Jon Eilts")
Casual observers may have thought Wednesday was just any other old Hump Day, but for Head Coach Mike Sherman and the Texas A&M football team, it was more like a second Christmas.
On national signing day, the Aggies brought in one of the largest recruiting classes in the country with 28 recruits signing Letters of Intent. It was Sherman's first class without former Head Coach Dennis Franchione's fingerprints on it
"We've been recruiting these kids for a long time, it's nice to get to this point," Sherman said. "They come from great families. They come out of high school programs with wonderful tradition and outstanding coaching. Many of these kids have played playoff games, championship games, the state final game, and have won state."
Sherman said he sought to address some specific needs of the team with offensive linemen and linebackers.
When the football staff began to lay its recruiting plans a year ago, they drew up a list of the Top 25 linebackers in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. Sherman pursued the top seven offensive linemen on his list and said he got commitments from four of the targets.
"You build your team in many ways around the offensive line," Sherman said. "Getting the right offensive linemen in here was huge for me."
In addition to the strong lineman haul, five linebackers received scholarships and a sixth will walk on. Sherman said the linebacker position could benefit from the defensive back he signed.
"We recruited possibly seven defensive backs," Sherman said. "Of those seven, maybe one of them [could] move up into the linebacker spot. The model is much like the model that we had in the past when I was here.
"A number of those [linebackers] are track athletes, as three of those guys run the 100 meters on their track team, so I'm excited about that component that they'll bring to our defense."
Sherman put a heavy emphasis on recruiting athletes with speed throughout the roster, and competition between the new recruits and the veterans of the team will be encouraged.
"I talked to our team last night about embracing these guys when they come here, and to not be afraid to be challenged," Sherman said. "With the influx of this group of young men, there will be a lot of competition at a lot of positions. I told the players last night that you're not competing against the guys in this room. You're competing against an incoming class and also you're competing against the guys in the Big 12 who you have to beat."
Sherman said he also sought recruits with character and academic motivation like freshmen Trent Hunter and Terrence Frederick.
"If you're not smart enough to realize the value of an education, you're not smart enough to play football here, either," Sherman said. "I think these kids are coming to Texas A&M for all the right reasons. Yeah, we have a new football coach and a new program, and we didn't have great season last year, but this is a great university. These kids, I tell them that you come here because you want a great education, play on Kyle Field, and you want to run out of that tunnel and win championships."
The recruit who has received the most hype of the class is Beaumont running back Christine Michael from West Brook High School. Michael is the only 2009 Aggie recruit to earn five stars from the recruiting Web Site rivals.com and was a team captain at January's U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
"I expect no more from him than anybody else, but he is someone that has tremendous talent," Sherman said. "The versatility he has as a running back - he's very quick, he can accelerate, he can make a big play, he can catch the ball very well out of the backfield. Much like we did with Cyrus Gray last year, we'll accelerate the learning curve for him and get him on the field."
Sherman's first season was characterized by the play of freshmen like Hunter, Frederick and Jeff Fuller. The second-year coach said fans can expect a similar approach in 2009.
"We had I believe seven or eight freshmen starters last year," Sherman said. "There's a good chance we'll have an equal number this year."
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