Late rally
FAU coach Carl Pelini's first signing class gets late boost as coaches and recruits became more comfortable in the final few weeks of the recruiting period.
Originally published on
2/1/2012
by
Marcus Nelson
BOCA RATON – Florida Atlantic coach Carl Pelini got a late start to recruiting after he was hired on Dec. 5 to be the Owls' coach.
It was a late flurry of commitments that helped Pelini land a solid recruiting class.
“I'm excited about this class,” Pelini said. “Obviously the coaches did a great job of putting it together in six weeks.”
Pelini said once recruits became more comfortable with him, it helped him get their signatures on a National Letter of Intent.
“The guys we visited early were guys in some cases we knew three or four days before they made their visit,” Pelini said. “They didn't know who we were and were trying to get a feel for who we were. Guys that were visiting late were guys that we had been talking to for three or four weeks...In the end, those guys who came in late were much more familiar with us as coaches and what this program is going to look like. Plus, I think we got better and we got better with our visits.”
FAU announced 23 players sent in their paperwork on Wednesday and with the six players who were already enrolled in school, Pelini's first class is 29 players.
“It's a well-rounded class that's very talented,” Pelini said. “We were able to hit almost every position. We filled our needs list at least in terms of what we had targeted prior to recruiting.”
Pelini was hampered by not having a full coaching staff when he took the job, but once all of his coaches were on board, recruits began committing at a furious pace.
Pelini received several commitments late and had two players decide to come to FAU on National Signing Day.
“Going to bed last night there a couple of guys that I wasn't sure about,” Pelini said. “We were able to get all of the guys we thought we going to get.”
Pelini expects many of the players to come in and compete for playing time right away.
“I wouldn't recruit them if I didn't think they could come in help us,” Pelini said. “Some of those kids will redshirt and some won't...We will thrust them into the competition."
That's especially true of the nine junior college players the Owls' signed this year.
“It just happened that way,” Pelini said. “Next year we will worry about specific needs...With the talented recruiting base like in Florida, you would expect that after the first year the junior college need wouldn't be as great.”
New recruits were happy to be coming to FAU.
“I just signed to a college knowing that I'm going to be playing at the next level and I've got everything paid for me,” said Fort Piece Central linebacker Freedom Whitfield. “It's just a wonderful day."
American Heritage offensive lineman Arthur Crouse was also excited to earn a scholarship.
“It's always been a dream of mine since I was a kid to sign on Signing Day,” Crouse said. “With the new coaching staff, all I see is upside."
Top Four Recruits
QB Melvin German
German won't be handed the starting job and will have to earn it, but signs are that he will be able to compete very early. He will be hampered by not going through spring drills, but by the end of training camp he could be pushing for the starting assignment.
CB Tony Grimes
After graduating from Hollywood Hills, Grimes played in nine games as a freshman at Ole Miss before being suspended. Grimes left Oxford, ending up at Arizona Western Community College, and showed he can play at a high level by improving his ball-hawking ability.
TE Terrell Mitchell
The 6-foot-6 tight end signed with Kentucky out of high school and spurned interest from BCS schools to sign with FAU. He's coming off a torn ACL, but says he should be ready to go come the summer.
DB Cre'von LeBlanc
LeBlanc, who played for Glades Central, has a reputation as hard-hitter could come in and compete for playing time that has some key losses from last season.