 With a recruiting class that stretched from coast-to-coast and is ranked by many services among the best for 2010, Oklahoma announced 28 signees on Wednesday, the first day of the college football letter of intent signing period. The list includes representatives from six different states and every offensive and defensive position. OU Head Coach Bob Stoops was elated with the class, which is comprised entirely of high school products. He added that another player could be added subsequent to this announcement. "We met every, single need that we had and we did so with very talented players," Stoops said. "Like any year, the playing time will have to be earned once the recruits get here, but this is a skilled group with good character. They project well as you look into the future." The state of Texas produced the most signees with 17 followed by Oklahoma with four, Kansas with three, California with two and Missouri and Florida with one each. "Our thought process hasn't changed a lot in that respect," Stoops said of recruiting geography. "We want to recruit well in our most immediate areas, but we're also a program with a national reputation and it's important that we capitalize on that reputation as we look for players who fit with our program." The coach backed away from comparisons, but acknowledged that he and his staff are excited about this class.
Opening Comment: "Welcome everyone. It's an exciting day here visiting about our 2010 recruiting class. It was really a great morning for us. It's always fun when you have your signees and your letters in by 11:30 a.m. Actually, we still have one recruit out there that is pending and we are still working with. I can't name them by name, but we are still working through the (NCAA) clearing house in regard to his eligibility here and hoping that it gets resolved as soon as possible. "Outside of that there is absolutely no drama, the day went exactly how we expected it to with everyone having their signatures in by 11:30 a.m. "We really couldn't be more excited about the class with the number of players. I felt first that we met every one of our needs by position the way we needed to with the number of guys, the number of signees at each of those positions and addressed some with graduation and guys departing through the year. I felt like we got great talent in all those positions. "When you look at our class, again it's a national class. Over the years, I guess for a lot of different reasons, we have a lot of attention now nationally and we are able to recruit from California to Florida. We got some great and talented guys from across the country. I think that shows you the overall strength of the program being able to go into California, down to Florida and get three of the top guys out of the state of Kansas. That kind of thing is really exciting for us and again that is good about the players we got." "Finishing the class with the way we did with 28 signees today and again we are hopeful we'll have another guy here shortly once the clearing house rules on his eligibility. We have 28 already, all are expected to qualify for the record. We are able to sign four or five back depending on how the clearing house rules on a guy, we can sign four or five back to last year because we played short-handed or without some scholarships a year ago and then sign 25 ahead because we have four players on campus. That's how we are allowed to sign them backwards and possibly five on some rulings here hopefully soon. We expect every one of these guys to be on the field and competing for us and helping next year." On the process of recruiting Corey Nelson: "In the end there was some interest after the bowl games. You start talking again and you recruit like you recruit everybody. It is no different than anyone else you are recruiting. You are selling your program, why you think it's the right fit, what can possibly happen for you here and what you can expect for the next three year and what you want for your career. It's nothing different and you are just recruiting. It just depends if someone is listening or not. Fortunately Corey was listening and he felt like this is what was best for him." On the offensive linemen: "I love the guys we signed. A couple young guys are already here and the other guys are all quality young men. You look at them and they all have big strong frames and all seem to run well and move well also. You have to get here and earn it all. I'm looking at these guys and I'm really excited about them. They are really a strong, good looking group of linemen." On Blake Bell: "Blake Bell is a talented guy. When you look at his ability to throw the football, he is an excellent pocket quarterback which is a staple of what we do. I also think Blake is more athletic than maybe any quarterback we have signed as far as being able to pull the ball down and run. He is a guy I believe is going to be big enough, being 6'6", 220 pounds now, can be 250 easy, that you don't mind running six or seven times a game. "We aren't going to run him much because we don't like our quarterbacks getting beat up for a lot of reasons. In the end we run them sparingly and I think he will have the physical presence to do it and he has the feet to do it. More than that we love the arm, you love he is a winner. He brought his team to the state championship game and lost but the guy had nine touchdowns in one game. He is also playing basketball and doing well so he is a great athlete. "In the end we like the athlete that he is and we know he has a great upside but we like what we have seen already though. We like the way he throws the football and I would like to see what those experts said about Sam Bradford a year or two ago on how raw he might have been. In the end you like what you are working with and the winner he is. He comes from great blood lines when you look at his dad and this twin brother Mike, and how competitive they were for so long. He's got all the intangibles we believe as well." On scouting quarterbacks: "I think really getting to know them helps you with intangibles. Getting them in camp helps you with getting a feel for them. I think when scouting quarterbacks there is a lot to see. They have the ball in their hand virtually every snap unless they are in the wildcat, so you get to see a lot of what they are able to do." On measuring intangibles: "Again, getting to know them. Assistants have a better feel than I do being that they get to see them in the homes more often or in their schools. It's just trying to get a gauge on how competitive he is. I love to watch how competitive they are in other sports. I'm big on when we recruit an athlete, the first question that comes out of my mouth to a coach is 'What else does he play?' and I want to watch it. You get to see how a guy competes and how athletic he is especially when it is on the basketball court. "To me physical qualities still matter. There can be a guy that is tough as nails and if he's a linebacker and a certain size and here comes Phil Loadholt, I don't care how tough you are, you get overwhelmed. I think at times physically if you don't have certain measurables you get overwhelmed or the other intangibles go out the window. You do the best you can and you make mistakes, we've made plenty and then we've made some where you guys do, it happens every year, he is just an average recruit or he ends up an All-American like a Mark Clayton and I can go on and on. It's hard." On recruiting in California: "Brennan (Clay) is a very versatile, talented young guy. He has been a big help with us with his attitude, his voice and his ability to communicate with everybody. He has been a big recruiter for us and neat young guy and very personable. As I said you watch he and Roy (Finch), the two running backs and you could sit there and watch for three hours, it's amazing. The big runs and the big plays, and the fact they are able to catch the ball on top of running. It's exciting." On the running styles of Brennan Clay and Roy Finch: "Their body types are just a little bit different, but what you see is acceleration, their change in direction without losing speed and their ability to make people miss them. They're natural runners. I said on the website they kind of remind you of Joe Washington, but then we were thinking a lot of people don't remember Joe Washington, maybe similar to Reggie Bush. The way they catch it, change direction and accelerate." On the four early enrollees: "They are doing well. Bronson Irwin and Austin Woods as lineman are coming along good. Sheldon McClain is recovering from that knee injury, but he is really progressing well and is running, not all out and expected to be cleared after spring break. Hopefully everything continues to go well. Tony Jefferson, a defensive back, is running around, doing well. Those guys so far are really fitting in great and happy with their workouts and their class schedule." On recruiting in Florida: "Florida has a great number of talented athletes, that's something we'll look into. We've never abandoned it, we just signed Roy Finch from down there. In the end what always matters is proximity. Let's face it, it does for everybody. To think you're going to go down there and get 10 guys, I don't know if that's going to happen but with Willie Martinez's contacts, we'll still have our tentacles down there for players that have strong interest in us. We always follow up. Willie has great experience and background in the Southeast, playing down at Miami, it all makes it something we'll definitely pursue." On players missing spring practice: "Ben Habern and Jarvis Jones will miss and Adrian Taylor will be out. Jonathan Miller has a chance to be back after spring break but he's borderline. I would say he's doubtful is a better way of saying it. Tom Wort will be back, he's already running around. Eric Mensik had some minor arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder, we were anticipating a bigger problem and him not being able to be there in the spring, but that was not the case. It wasn't nearly as bad as they thought and he'll be back for sure in a couple of weeks. Brandon Caleb is running around and going through our winter stuff just fine. " On Sam Bradford's training: "I talked to him last week and he was excited about how he felt. He has not had any setbacks and said it feels great, he's throwing the football. That day he said he threw about 30 passes and said it felt good, no problems. He's just training away and rehabbing and feels great about the way it's going. I can't say for him what his situation is for the combine, I would think that he's going to wait and have a pro day here and I'm sure everybody will be there." On remaining involved with coaching the corner backs: "I'll always have a hand with the secondary, I've been working with them since I've been here. That's what I've coached forever so I'll have a hand with the cornerbacks or the safeties, whatever we feel. It's hard to cover things with four guys with four different positions so it's easier to say 'this day you take the safeties, I'll take the corners' or this day 'I take the safeties, you take the corners' in order to cover the things that need to be covered." On Kansas recruits: "They're in areas where there are always good players and we love those three guys, they're really talented physical players." On the tight end recruits: "Those tight ends are good guys, Austin Haywood is a really physical, bigger guy that can run, reminds you of a Keith Jackson type guy. Trey Millard, to us, is one of the best athletes we signed. You know how I love the Matt Clapps and the Brody Eldridges that can play fullback and h-back and you can move them around. You put Trey out there, he catches the ball well and we can put him at running back too. Trey can do a lot of things. To see how talented he is and the way he moves, we love guys like that because we can use them in so many ways, catching the balls or handing it to him. He'll give us a lot of versatility and we love guys like that." On Corey Nelson: "He has ability, he fits our guys in the way he runs, he's really good, and we see him as an outside sam-type backer. You can put him out in space where he covers, you can blitz him, he's physical and big enough to bring in and play outside the tight end. He does all of those things when you look at his size and his ability to run." On Tony Jefferson's athleticism: "When you watch him run the ball as a running back, he's talented and special but he loves to play defense and then you watch him hit people, he has a lot to him and has a great feel for it. We're hoping this will continue because he has had an exceptional high school career and he's an amazing young man when you talk to him. Visit with him personally you see how mature he is for his age and how he handles himself. We're definitely fired up about him." On Justin McCay: " I was just up there watching him play basketball and his basketball team is undefeated. He's a big guy, I hadn't seen him in a while and forgot how big he was. He's almost 6'3", about 204 pounds but he'll grow on top of that after basketball season. He is a very physical guy that can go after the football and reminds me of Malcolm Kelly when you look at his body frame and how physical he is, on top of his ability to run." On plans for Blake Bell: "We're going to get him here and get him ready to play. He'll compete from the first day he's here, getting him snaps and getting him comfortable." On signing day excitement: "It's exciting, you look at the possibility for these guys and relationships you'll build, the exciting plays they'll bring to the stadium. You just look at a wealth of talent and hope it's all fulfilled for them and for us as coaches. Everybody is glad to be off the road. I got stuck in Kansas City last weekend when we had that last storm and couldn't get back for two days. More than anything, it's good to be off the road and be back with the family and figure out what you're doing in the house at five o'clock. It takes you a good week, two weeks to get used to it." On addition of Kenny Stills on Thursday: "We're happy for Kenny that everything is in place for him to join the program. We're disappointed that he couldn't be included with the rest of the class we announced yesterday, but the matter has been resolved and that's all that really matters. He's an outstanding player and I know he's very anxious to contribute."   
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