Just as the BCS settled, the Horned Frog football team signed 18 new players for the promising 2010 season.
Head coach Gary Patterson held a press conference Wednesday to discuss the new athletes and the growth of the program.
“We have gained a lot more national respect when you talk to kids about what they think of TCU, its academics and football program,” Patterson said.
This class includes two out-of-state four-star recruits, Curtis Carter from Stonewall, La., and Ethan Grant from Coconut Creek, Fla.
Carter is ranked No. 8 overall in Louisiana as well as the No. 4 fastest athlete and No. 21 overall athlete in the nation according to Rivals.com. The term “athlete” in recruiting terms applies to players who could play a variety of positions on college.
Grant, averaging 40 yards per reception in his senior season at North Broward High School, is ranked as the No. 34 overall recruit in Florida and the No. 15 tailback in the country.
Another standout athlete who is already enrolled at the university this spring is Travaras Battle-Smith, a cornerback from San Antonio. According to Rivals.com he is rated the No. 79 athlete in the nation among his recruiting class.
Patterson said the Frogs are graduating three offensive starters this year and have a large number of junior players heading into their final season on offense. He added that keeping that in mind, the Frogs recruited offensive players heavily to help provide depth.
“We always plan for the future. We have five wide receivers and five safeties who are going to be seniors this year, so we had to make sure we signed guys we could grow up and have ready to go in a year,” Patterson said. “We are going to graduate four offensive linemen. We knew we would have to bring in a couple of guys to make sure that we wouldn’t have to get a large number in the next class, so that you are reloading and not regrouping.”
Wide receiver recruit Chris Hawkins, from Channelview,, turned down offers from 11 other programs, including California, Nebraska and Utah.
Hawkins was ranked the No. 14 wide receiver in Texas and No. 77 in the country. He averaged 40.1 yards per reception on 10 catches as a junior at Channelview High School.
Patterson stressed that the emphasis of the program is not to recruit better players than the university already has, but to continue gaining depth across the board.
“People say that we are going to go out and recruit better players, but we just came a few seconds away from possibly playing for a national championship,” Patterson said. “I think it will help us the most in our depth. Just because we played in a little higher bowl, it doesn’t mean that our players got any better.”
With the opportunity to play in a BCS bowl game this year, TCU gained ground in recruiting and added some players who had commitments elsewhere, Patterson said.
The key to a good recruit, Patterson said, is an player who not only has skill on the field, but also has character and fits into the program.
“The key is how do they come into your system, how do they fit, how will they mature and how do they move forward? We are excited about the kids we have now. We’re excited about this class coming in, and I’m really excited about the possibilities of the kinds of kids we can recruit in the future,” Patterson said.
The focus, Patterson said, is on growing the program and continuing to work their way up the infamous pyramid.
“It’s kind of like that old saying that we live by here, ‘You’re either getting better or you’re getting worse,'” Patterson said. “You can’t stay the same. If you are, you’re losing out. We just need to keep moving.”