UNC's football class impresses analysts

Second in a series on ACC football and basketball recruiting.

North Carolina and Duke made significant progress with the building plans for their football programs, thanks to the work of two energetic and determined coaches.

UNC put itself in better position to contend for the ACC title, in the judgment of recruiting analysts. Duke strengthened its efforts to escape the ACC cellar and post its first winning season since 1994.

Coach Butch Davis' class of 29 at UNC was ranked No. 1 in the ACC by SuperPrep magazine and No. 6 in the nation, but there were some losses after signing day that cut the class to 22. SuperPrep called the class "the nation's most surprising" and ranked it the best in school history.

"You have to have a plan, just like you do for a game," Davis said. "You have to have a plan for what you want to accomplish with a recruiting class. We said, ‘Let's identify the kids who are great fits for us.' I think that we had a really good plan for every single kid that we went after."

Here's a team-by-team look at classes in the ACC's Coastal Division.

North Carolina

UNC's class includes 11 SuperPrep All-Americas, but two will attend prep school and quarterback Donavan Tate is expected to choose professional baseball after being drafted in the first round in June.

At the top of the class is Bryn Renner, a 6-3 quarterback from West Springfield (Va.) . He passed for 3,123 yards and 35 touchdowns as a senior, and SuperPrep ranked him as the nation's No. 3 quarterback.

Davis also landed outstanding defensive linemen and SuperPrep All-Americas in Jared McAdoo (6-3, 295) of Chapel Hill and Donte Moss (6-4, 235) of Jacksonville.

UNC landed seven of the state's top 10 players in SuperPrep's state rankings and 14 of the top 34. Four players who will attend prep school first are still committed and plan to sign with UNC again in February. Two others are not expected to join the program.

Davis said that the value of the class won't be known immediately, but that he considers it an important addition to his program.

"The proof in all recruiting classes will come two years from now," Davis said. "There'll be 8, 10, 12 of these guys who will play next year; maybe more, but unlikely less. Probably half of the class will play at some point during the season.

"When they become part of the core of your program in 2010, then you'll know how good a class it is."

Duke

Coach David Cutcliffe signed 27 players in his first full recruiting year, and four enrolled for the spring semester and counted toward last year's total, keeping Duke under the NCAA maximum of 25 players.

SuperPrep ranked the class No. 11 in the ACC, but this was not a typical Duke effort. Cutcliffe's organizational skills put drive and determination into the work and led to a better quality of recruit.

Duke signed one SuperPrep All-America -- running back Desmond Scott (5-10, 185) of Durham, a one-time Rutgers commitment. It signed two of the state's top 24 players in SuperPrep's rankings and eight in-state players in all, one of its highest totals in the last 25 years.

Scott rushed for 2,249 yards and scored 24 touchdowns as a senior at Hillside High. He also caught five touchdown passes and scored on four kickoff returns.

Sean Schroeder, a 6-3 left-handed quarterback, passed for 2,826 yards and 31 touchdowns as a high-school senior in Laguna Niguel, Calif. He had only eight of 267 passes intercepted, and in one game, he completed 14 of 20 passes for 390 yards and five touchdowns.

Cutcliffe called the class "a great start" for the coming season but said that Duke will need better classes to be competitive in the ACC again.

"What I call this class is an emphasis on speed and skill, and size and skill," Cutcliffe said. "What I mean by that is it's an emphasis on movement, an emphasis on being able to move your feet.

"Football is a game of movement and collision. If they can't run and they won't hit, then they don't belong at this level."

Miami

Miami couldn't land the nation's top running back -- Bryce Brown of Wichita, Kan., signed with LSU -- but still added more talent and speed to its rebuilding efforts.

Coach Randy Shannon signed 18 players, including six SuperPrep All-Americas in a class ranked No. 3 in the ACC and No. 13 in the nation.

Lamar Miller might be a worthy consolation at running back. He rushed for 1,749 yards and scored 22 touchdowns as a high-school senior in Miami and was the nation's No. 6 running back, according to SuperPrep. In his last two high-school seasons, he had 2,875 yards rushing, 34 touchdowns and 371 carries.

Ray Ray Armstrong could be one of the most versatile players coming into the ACC in this recruiting class. He played quarterback and safety in Sanford, Fla., and helped lead his team to the Class 6-A state title. He had 35 tackles on defense last season and will play in the secondary at Miami. SuperPrep ranked him the No. 2 in the nation in its "athlete" category.

"When you watch Ray Ray do some things, you look at Sean Taylor in high school, and you see that in Ray Ray," Shannon said.

Virginia Tech

Coach Frank Beamer was anticipating a class of 10 to 12 at Virginia Tech, but attrition led to more open grants-in-aid, and he signed 21 in a class he considers among his best.

"It's a terrific recruiting class, not just a good class," he said.

Beamer and his coaches did thorough work, landing 15 in-state players who were all ranked among the state's top 48 by SuperPrep.

Logan Thomas, Virginia's top senior in SuperPrep's rankings, has abundant offensive ability. He played quarterback as a high-school senior in Lynchburg and was the Group 2A state player of the year. He played receiver as a junior, and he could play tight end in college. SuperPrep ranked him as the nation's No. 1 tight end, and he's one of three SuperPrep All-Americas in the class.

Also in the class is David Wilson, a running back from Danville, Va., who rushed for 2,291 yards and scored 35 touchdowns as a senior. SuperPrep ranked him as the nation's No. 5 running back. He averaged 11.4 yards as a junior and had 15 carries of at least 50 yards.

Virginia

Virginia built its class of 25 around a total reversal of fortunes in-state.

Last year, Virginia signed only three high-school players from in-state. This year, it signed 16, including three of the state's top 10 and 15 of the top 50 in SuperPrep's rankings.

One of the coaching staff's newest members helped the effort. Bob Pruett, 64, and a former Marshall coach, was hired as the defensive coordinator after three years in retirement. He helped land seven players from the Tidewater area, including receiver Tim Smith.

Smith, one of three SuperPrep All-Americas in the class, caught 73 passes for 1,681 yards and 24 touchdowns last season at Chesapeake's Oscar Smith High and could play this season, according to Coach Al Groh.

"We haven't had any receivers come in with the credentials that he's come in with," Groh said. "That's a lot of passes that he caught and a lot of punts that he returned."

Dominique Wallace, a 6-0, 220-pound running back from Fredericksburg, Va., had 1,893 yards and 31 touchdowns last season. Morgan Moses, a 6-8, 340-pound offensive lineman, committed on signing day, turning down UNC and Tennessee, but might not qualify academically.

"It's a class that makes us a lot taller on both sides of the ball," Groh said. "And it's a class that makes us a lot faster. Speed on the edges has historically, let's say, not been the cornerstone of Virginia teams. This class brings cumulatively more speed than has been the case, and we certainly intend to take advantage."

Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech surprised many with a winning record and bowl game last season and continued its success in recruiting.

Coach Paul Johnson put together his first full class at the school, signing 21.

He signed three SuperPrep All-Americas after Tech signed none in 2008. He also landed 14 recruits from Georgia, two more than the year before.

Included in the class are two promising quarterbacks for Johnson's spread option offense.

David Sims finished high-school in St. Matthews, S.C., with an outstanding senior season. He passed for 2,200 yards and 35 touchdowns and rushed for 1,600 yards and 26 touchdowns. He wants to be an option quarterback in college.

Jordan Luallen moved into his team's starting quarterback job midway through his freshman year in Greenwood, Ind., and capped his high-school career by leading a 14-1 team to a state title.

He passed only 85 times as a senior playing in a Wing-T offense, but completed 46 attempts for 941 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also rushed for 622 yards and 19 touchdowns.

■ Bill Cole can be reached at bcole@wsjournal.com

■ Next weekend: ACC basketball.