Happy post-signing day Coug Nation!  Don't know about you but I am pretty worn out after all the drama yesterday.  But despite some who got away (we'll get to that in a moment), one thing is pretty clear - those in "the know" are pretty happy about the way it all played out in Coug-ville.

In the end, the class came in rated 39th per Scout.com, 8th in the Pac-10, slightly ahead of Arizona.  A little lower than we thought it would finish, but still, in WSU history, one of the top-ranked classes in the modern age, only behind the 2004 class in national rating. 

Today, we thought we would weigh in on some post-signing day thoughts, where each of us would belly up with three things we are taking from yesterday.  So let's get to it....

Sean's Three Things:

1) Balance.  One thing that struck me yesterday, seeing the NLI's reported by Joe Nickell over at the official site (great job Joe), was that there really were a lot of areas covered by yesterday's event. 

I know, I know, a lot of people were/are wringing their hands over the lack of defensive tackles in this class.  Just one player, Kalafitoni Pole, is actually classified as a "true" defensive tackle.  But per Wulff's presser yesterday, there are a couple of reasons for this. 

First, WSU coaches weren't exactly thrilled as to the defensive tackles that were available to them, up and down the west coast, but especially in the areas they hit on the recruiting trail.  Yes, there were some good ones out there in the west, including Ricky Heimuli, who signed with Oregon, and Sione Potoa'e, who signed with UW, as well as some really good ones signed by UCLA.  But overall, the entire Pac-10 signed just 13 players who were classified as defensive tackles!  That doesn't take into consideration that some players will end up putting on weight and sliding inside, I mean it happens all the time.  But still, 13 tackles among 10 Pac-10 programs, that's what, about an average of a little more than one per team?  And programs like Stanford, Cal, and ASU, they didn't even sign one defensive tackle.  To me that backs up the idea that the quantity of d-tackles just wasn't there, and it's especially true for where WSU recruits. 

Second, per Wulff's presser, they are planning on signing one JC defensive tackle still for this year's class.  And just because they didn't sign said tackle yesterday doesn't mean they still can't find some value.  If you remember a few years ago, LB Kendrick Dunn and safety Alfonso Jackson both signed very late in the process, well after signing day, and both players basically started for their two years of eligibility.  So it is at least possible to get some help, still, even after signing day.

But back to the theme, balance.  Aside from signing a kicker or punter, they covered pretty much everywhere else.  QB, some running backs, five wideouts, three offensive linemen, a top-10 tight end, some good-looking linebackers, and lots of corners and safeties.  And in terms of the d-line, when you factor in that Brandon Rankin is already enrolled and will be unleashed this spring, AND some already-decent defensive line prospects like Justin Clayton and Jordan Pu-Robinson among others will be ready to go this year, you can see things coming together with the talent up front.

2) Good, but not great speed.  OK, it's not a HIGH end speed class.  But it is certainly fast, with reportedly up to 10 players running under a 4.7 40-time.  Again, it's not a class full of burners, but if you watched this program over the last two years, clearly lack of speed has been a big problem.  The overall level of speed is upped a notch with these new faces. 

But that said, I am especially excited about the defensive speed that they added yesterday! You've seen this team the last couple of years, you've seen a defense that has looked, well, "plodding" is the best way to say it.  Deone Bucannon, Brandon Golden, Tracy Clark, all these guys for the secondary are in the 4.5's or better.  We need to see the WSU defense get back some of it's swagger, and part of that is just getting kids to fly to the football on every single play.  It's a lot easier to do that when you have kids who can actually run!  When you mix these guys in with some of the redshirts from last year's class, guys like Nolan Washington and Anthony Carpenter and Jamal Atofau, all guys who are in that same 4.5 area or better, and you see the overall upgrade that they have performed in the back-end of the defense.  Hey, it's not world class, but it's definitely a start! 

3) I'm getting over the "ones who got away" - Yes, the coaches took some hits when Asante Cleveland and Maxx Forde pulled out at the last moment and decided to sign elsewhere.  Yes, it sucks, because Cleveland was a fast-rising prospect, a top-15 tight end who had an impressive highlight tape (so impressive, it got him a scholie to DA U!).  And Forde's loss sucks, well, because of the reported athleticism of the kid, as well as some good size and quickness, but also because he was a "legacy" with dad Brian Forde a Cougar tackling machine back in the 80's.  You LIKE to keep the bloodlines flowing if you can! 

But whatever.  If a kid wants to be elsewhere, so be it.  This sort of thing doesn't just happen at WSU folks.  It happens everywhere, and it happened yesterday, even at USC, UCLA, UW, you name it.  It's a rarity that any program keeps ALL their commits, from when they give their verbal pledge all the way through signing day.  And it will happen again, you can be sure of that.  Like it or not, and clearly Wulff hates it, but it's the way of the recruiting world!

And, on the flip side, yes, they lost a few.....but how about the recruiting story of C.J. Mizell?  What a good-looking player they grabbed from out of the blue.  6-3, 215, runs a 4.68 40 and is all over the field?  A top-5 nationally rated linebacker from last year who turned down a ton of SEC schools to sign with FSU, and today he's a Coug?  Thank you Devard Darling, in the once-a-Coug-always-a-Coug spirit!  And thank you for those in the know for keeping that quiet!  Based on everything that has been said and written about him, not only is he going to make it academically, but he's going to bring a level of speed and athleticism to the linebacker position that we just haven't seen in some time.

So there you go.  All in all, yesterday was a big step forward for this program.  Taking into consideration last year's class and now this year, and I believe it is safe to say that these coaches can recruit, even with a 3-22 record.  Welcome to all the new Cougs!

Read on for the rest of our "takes".....

Just finished listening to the Paul Wulff press conference from 2:30 - 3:00 today.  Sort of like the radio show, a lot of ground to cover, so if you missed it, here's a recap:

• Wulff right away said "we believe this is as good a class that has come through here in the last 25 years.  Coach Levenseller would agree with me, in the 18 years he's been here it is as good as any class that has come through WSU.  The academics on each of the kids are solid, some great, some not so great, but we believe all of them have the capability to graduate and have an impact in their collegiate athletic career."
  
  
• Someone asked a question about recruiting Spokane.  Wulff said "Spokane is important to us.  All of the kids we signed, Connor Halliday, Jake Rodgers and Aaron Dunn, were all recruited by Pac-10/Northwest schools.  As a staff you want to get the best players closest to your school, and we accomplished that this year.  We think all three kids will have a major impact at WSU.  And Spokane is a good indicator of our past success.  When you look at our recent history, some of the better teams we had were with really good kids from Spokane." 
  
  
• A question about the northern California area with recruiting and how important that was this year, and will be going forward?  Wulff said "I look at our history, again, the Northern California area has produced some excellent players at WSU.  For some reason it is a really good fit, and was this year, the number of players we recruited and and how hard we recruited the area.  Overall California and Washington are our primary recruiting grounds, they have to be our primary areas.  But you look at what has been successful at WSU in the past and kids from Northern California have been "the flavor" of the talent that has made the program successful.
  
  
• The recruit of the day, C.J. Mizell was brought up.  Where did you find him, how did you get him under everyone else's noses?  "We have some connections down there, and heard about him from Devard Darling, who told us that CJ just became eligible and passed his tests recently.  He is a qualifier, and he is ready to go.  We did our background check on him, and he did have a few incidents, but got the details and they weren't very serious, although there have been some things that have happened.  We went 3 years back to when he was a sophomore and did some checking - coaches, principal, etc.  We brought him in for a visit, and he met all academic and compliance people and others on campus and everyone felt good about him after meeting him.  Great person who isn't into the "hype" of recruiting, simple kid who isn't glued to his cellphone who just wants to go where he can play.  He matches the character and personality with kids we already have now on our roster.  He will be here in first part of May, if not he'll be here in June and be in summer school.  He will PLAY right away this year!  Watching his film athletically he was as good as it gets.  He didn't play his junior year but if he did people felt he would have been the #1 or #2 linebacker in the country.  Big, rangy, runs well, nasty mean streak and good football IQ, how he reacts and moves.  Lot of work to do in front of him, and he is just 19, but he will have an impact at WSU."  
  
  
• Wulff was asked how in the world he was able to keep it so quiet on Mizell.  Wulff said that "only Memphis and South Florida came in late, but he was under the radar and a lot of programs lost track of him after last year.  His test scores came in really late, and quite honestly, nobody knew he was a qualifier.  Devard Darling told us about it, we had some relationships and we got in.  We actually had to "coerce" him to take the trip but it went really well, and he thanked us for taking the trip and was very pleased with it.  We were really quiet about it, we tried to keep it as quiet as we could as we knew others would jump in on him late if word got out, and in the end it worked out.  He was in this last weekend (Friday/Saturday)."
  
  
• Asked about the JC players.  "We brought in 3 JC players - David Gonzales, Brandon Rankin, and Wade Jacobson, all three are already enrolled.  We are also going to bring in another JC receiver, but cannot say his name as we don't have his NLI yet.  But the receiver is an outstanding player and will make an immediate impact on offense.  We might bring in one more JC d-lineman, so we will probably have a total of 5 JC players out of 25 this year.  Casey Hamlett will get a scholarship for this year, so, the remaining 19-20 spots in this class will be high-schoolers."

Read on for the rest.....