SEATTLE — After a 4-9 season and an offseason full of questions, the Washington football program was more than ready to celebrate something positive.
With a recent past full of losses, the Huskies were happy to look into what they hope will be a brighter future. One they hope will be built in part on the class of high school players the Huskies signed on Wednesday.
For Tyrone Willingham, whose job status was in question following his third straight losing season, the 26-player class is a major victory for a program in need of some good news.
Scout.com ranked Washington’s class as the 14th-best in the country, and No. 3 in the Pac-10 behind UCLA and USC. Rivals.com was slightly less impressed, but still ranked the Huskies No. 25 nationally and fifth in the conference.
“We’re pleased with the class that we’ve added, a class of 26 players,” Willingham said. “I believe it covers almost the full spectrum of our football team. It’s a good solid class and hopefully it helps us be three and four years from now a better football team.”
It’s a class with marquee names like Kavario Middleton, Jermaine Kearse, Chris Polk and Alameda Ta’amu, as well as a class that will provide depth at almost every position. The 26 players consist of two quarterbacks, four running backs, four receivers, four offensive linemen, one tight end, four defensive linemen, three cornerbacks, two safeties and two linebackers.
The Huskies have depth concerns at some positions, particularly wide receiver and defensive line, so some of these 26 players will likely contribute next season. Willingham wasn’t willing to speculate just yet on which players those would be, however.
“That’s always the million dollar question, and always I run in the million dollar other direction,” he said with a smile. “It’s hard to say. The guy that you took as the last guy in your class, he usually comes in and has a heck of a career. It’s all about the internal motivation of each guy. But there are a lot of guys in this class that we think will have a very productive career, and when that starts, we’re not sure.”
Without naming names, Willingham admitted that the receiving foursome of Cody Bruns, Kearse, Chris Polk and Jordan Polk would be in position to contribute thanks to the departure of five senior receivers from the 2007 team.
At the center of this strong class are 12 in-state players, some of whom were recruited nationally. Middleton, a tight end from Lakes High School, said he was getting phone calls from LSU long after he verbally committed to Washington.
“When you have that kind of national attention on a local recruit and you’re able to keep him at home, I think that makes a statement, not only about the direction of the program, but really about the kids in the state and their belief of what’s going on,” said Chris Tormey, Washington’s linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator.
For a struggling program, selling recruits on the direction of the program was essential. A lot of that selling was done not only by coaches, but by current players.
“Kids that were on campus got a really good vibe from the players that are already in the program,” Tormey said. “That’s something that is real key. They’re going to come on their visit and interact with your players, and they want to see what the players think. The players that are here believe in Coach Willingham and the direction of our program, and so as a result, when you get kids on campus and they feel that vibe, it helps the whole effort.”
Getting early commitments from a few key in-state players helped the class in the later stages of recruiting, as well, Tormey said.
Towards the end of the football season, there were four players, Middleton, Kearse, Ta’amu and Everrette Thompson, who were all ranked among the top recruits in the state, and who were all uncommitted. In a span of just a couple of weeks, all four committed to Washington.
“A big part of our success was the momentum we were able to get early on,” said Tormey. “You talk about the importance of [Evergreen defensive lineman] Senio Kelemete and his early commitment, and we got the ball rolling with [Eastlake offensive lineman] Drew Schaefer and some other early on, and that helped create some momentum and once you get the momentum going, some of the other kids in the state started giving us a serious look and ended up jumping on board.”
One of the biggest highlights of the out of state group is receiver Chris Polk of Highland, Calif. Polk — whose cousin Jordan Polk from Portland, Ore., is also part of the 2008 signing class — originally committed to USC before deciding on Washington. He graduated early and is enrolled at Washington and working out with the team.
“That’s really huge,” Willingham said of getting a recruit also coveted by USC.
Of course, for all the accolades and positive feelings around this recruiting class, Willingham knows that the real measure of the 2008 class will be what they do a few years from now.
“There are two benchmarks,” Willingham said. “One is the paper benchmark. “That’s the one that you talk about today. Obviously on paper the class looks good… The other benchmark is what they do when they’re done, what’s their record look like? And to the coaches, that’s the benchmark that really matters. Can we as coaches take and develop these guys, make them better than what they are right now, and can they come in and be driven and motivated and be the championship caliber teams that we want and desire.”
Contact Herald Writer John Boyle at jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on University of Washington sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com /huskiesblog
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