Asked whether he had a letter grade for his 2013-14
recruiting class, coach Bob Davie of the New Mexico Lobos had a
simple answer
on Wednesday for those gathered at the Tow Diehm Football Complex.
“You can go ahead and rank ‘em,” said Davie
toward the end of
his 35-minute press conference. “And you know what, you’ll rank
‘em on that
score board, what that scoreboard says at the end of the games.”
The Lobos brought on 24 players on Wednesday,
the first day
of the college signing period that ends in April. UNM landed 25
recruits total:
five junior college players, 24 high schools players and one
transfer.
The class largely came from the football-crazy
state of
Texas – 11 all-told. Four players came from California and one
player each came
from the states of Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Missouri,
Maryland,
Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah and New Mexico.
“I think the one thing we have done is... we
honestly
evaluated,” said Davie. “There’s not another staff in the country,
I’ll make
this statement, that evaluated guys as hard as we evaluated. I
mean we were
relentless on every one. I had Josh, everybody, sit in and watch
from an
evaluation standpoint to see if they fit.”
As of 6 pm Wednesday, Scout.com had the UNM
recruit class
ranked as the 98th best in the country, good for seventh in the
12-team
Mountain West Conference. Boise St. was rated the best with 19
three-star
players. New Mexico, by contrast, landed one player evaluated at
three-stars –
cornerback Isaiah Brown from Katy High School in Katy, Texas.
Davie expressed disdain for the recruiting “star” system and even the
competition for
players that goes on in college football.
“I didn’t care, who’s recruiting or who isn’t,”
said Davie
candidly. “I’m not going to fall into that trap. Because, after
today, does it
matter? Does it matter if Rivals rates us 1, 6… 8? It doesn’t
matter!
“You get caught up in that trap and then you
have head
coaches working the guys who’re doing the survey or the ranking
because it make
them look better on signing day,” said Davie. “It’s all BS. It’s
taking the
guys that fit what you do. And that’s what I’m most proud of.”
All the other players brought in were at least
two-star
players, including the lone New Mexico recruit, Rio Rancho
resident Romell Jordan.
Jordan, who comes from Cleveland High in Rio
Rancho was a
2012 first team All-State selection who rushed for 1,649 yards and
25
touchdowns in his seniors season as well as catching four
touchdowns and
racking up 291 receiving yards.
“Romell Jordan has been over here on on campus
at camps,
watching us play, a guy we felt very strongly was a great fit for
us,” Davie
said. “But he's a great kid. Really excited to have him - never
wavered from his
commitment and a good player. Really good player. Put his tape on
and he lines
up with anyone else we signed in this class.”
Some observers thought UNM may go more into the
junior
college ranks to shore up the program, but Davie only brought in
five players –
key among them were offensive linemen Reno Henderson and Solomon Normore and
quarterback Clayton Mitchem.
“I wouldn't go beyond the five we have,” said
Davie. “I
would just rather go the high school route and build this thing
and have guys
that are going to be here for a longer period of time.
“But there are certain needs you have to go
that route -
like quarterback,” said Davie. “I think we had to get one
quarterback. ... Each
junior college player has a different path, and we research that
path, but I
wouldn't want to go more than five."
The Lobos brought in 14 defensive players and 8
offensive
players in the 2013 class. UNM brings in mostly skill players on
offense with
three quarterbacks, two wide receivers and two running backs with
two offensive
linemen.
On defense, the Lobos were very even, bringing
in five
defensive linemen, five players in the defensive backfield and
four line
backers.
Davie said the team may take a step back due to
it’s youthfulness – he emphasized the Lobos would likely be the
youngest team in
Division I on 2013. But the team is developing quickly.
“We're just young,” said Davie. “(But) there's
no question
we're light years ahead of where we were a year ago in every
phase. It's just
we're going to be a young football team. There's no way around
that.”
Fans can see the entire list of UNM recruits at the football recruiting page: http://www.golobos.com/signingday/nm-13-signing-day-central.html