Having built a reputation along with a pretty good football program on knowing what recruiting experts don't, Coach Jim Grobe of Wake Forest isn't ready to overhaul his approach to procuring talent.
"The one thing we don't do is we don't go out and recruit kids that are four- or five-star kids who we know will never play for Wake Forest," Grobe said. "And we don't pay our coaches for getting five-star kids, so they're not selling the farm to get a kid that they know is not the right fit."
But a funny thing happened to the Deacons during their streak of three straight bowl trips that was snapped with the 5-7 season of 2009. Bit by bit, Wake Forest's recruiting classes started to get more respect from those who rank incoming players, to the point that for the second year in a row they had 10 three-star recruits as designated by the internet Web site that specializes in recruiting, Scout.com. Before 2009, Scout.com had never awarded three stars to more than seven Wake Forest recruits.
The explanation, Grobe said yesterday while unveiling the 21-player class of 2010, is that success begets success.
"This past senior class that we had was recruited off a 4-7 year," Grobe said. "We hadn't had a lot of success. I think the last three classes we brought in were all recruited off success.
"So I think our classes are getting better. I don't think there's any question about that."
The priorities for this class were talent in the offensive and defensive lines, speed in the secondary, a quarterback who can compete for a starting position and players who can play from Pahokee, Fla.
After having three players from Pahokee (Alphonso Smith, Demir Boldin and Antonio Wilson) for five years, last year's team had none. Next year's team will have three freshmen from Pahokee, linebacker Zachary Allen, defensive tackle Antonio Ford and cornerback Merrill Noel.
"I think they had 28 players on their football team," said assistant coach Ray McCartney of Wake Forest. "And 11 of them will sign Division I scholarships (yesterday)."
Grobe said that a glaring need had been filled.
"We kind of figured that was our problem this year," Grobe said. "We didn't have any Pahokee kids on the team. So we went back there."
The biggest surprise yesterday was the signing of Joseph Byrd, a 5-10, 170-pound running back from Cape Coral, Fla., who was expected to sign with Arkansas. Byrd missed the second half of his senior season at Ida Baker High School with a torn knee ligament, but still plans to run track this spring before having surgery.
Byrd, who finished second as a junior in the state championship for the 100 and 200 meters, may spend the fall rehabilitating his knee and not enroll until January.
Although he has been one of the college football's best-known proponents for the practice of redshirting freshmen to preserve their eligibility, Grobe said his approach has changed somewhat. With success has come both increased expectations and the ability to recruit players who previously would not have considered the Deacons.
Grobe played three first-year freshmen last year (cornerback Dominique Tate, fullback Tommy Bohanon and kicker Jimmy Newman) and three in 2008 (offensive linemen Joe Looney and Chance Raines and tight end Andrew Parker). Next year, the positions in most need of immediate help are the secondary and offensive and defensive lines. This class includes cornerbacks Noel, A.J. Marshall and Kevin Johnson, safety Desmond Cooper, defensive linemen Ford and Duke Mosby and offensive linemen Daniel Blitch, Dylan Heartsill and Colin Summers.
"We were one game out of being in a bowl game (last season)," Grobe said. "And we're going back and looking at some of the players that may have made a play here or there and given us a little bit more depth.
"What's happened to us is these last three recruiting classes have been pretty solid. We've recruited off success. So I think this is another one of those classes, and we maybe learned our lesson a little bit.
"I think if these kids are ready to play, we're not going to be as hesitant to put them out there."
dcollins@wsjournal.com
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