The TCU football team signed 24 student-athletes to the team on college football’s National Signing Day Wednesday, including a record number of five four-star prospects.
Of the 24 signees, 17 are from the state of Texas and 10 from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The seven from out of state are the most for the Frogs since 2003.
Among the notable signees for the Class of 2014 were All Saints Episcopal quarterback Foster Sawyer and Dallas Skyline offensive lineman Ty Barrett.
Sawyer, a Fort Worth native, threw for nearly 6000 passing yards in his high school career. He was the 2013 Star-Telegram Player of the Year and chose TCU over a number of schools including Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma and UCLA.
Barrett did not allow a single sack in his senior year of high school, and is ranked nationally as the No. 22 offensive lineman in the 2014 recruiting class.
To go alongside Sawyer at the quarterback position, TCU signed Grayson Muehlstein, a dual-threat quarterback from Decatur, Texas. With those two pick-ups, the Frogs earned the nation’s second-best quarterback class, according to Scout.com.
“Very rarely do you have five guys of that ability that come to one place,” TCU head coach Gary Patterson said.
TCU signed four new offensive linemen to block up front for the QB’s, including Barrett and Brenham native Austin Schlottman. The offensive tackle didn’t allow a sack in his senior year and was ranked the fifth-best tackle in Texas by Scout.com.
The Frogs also had a shot at signing four-star guard Braden Smith and were in his final top three. Unfortunately for TCU, Smith instead signed with Auburn on Wednesday afternoon.
As for TCU’s new offensive weapons, some notable names include Shaun Nixon, the second ranked running back in Texas by Scout.com, and Emmanuel Porter, Texas’ No. 9-ranked wide receiver by Scout.com.
Nixon flipped his commitment from Texas A&M to TCU yesterday.
Porter, who scored seven touchdowns as a senior, picked TCU over offers from Texas and LSU.
The Frogs also made a splash with a pair of Tyler Junior College transfers in offensive lineman Frank Kee and safety Kenny Iloka. Both have already enrolled in TCU and plan to take part in spring practice.
Illoka is the younger brother of Cincinnati Bengals safety George Iloka. Rivals.com ranked him the nation’s No. 1 junior college safety after he racked up 126 tackles this season.
The six-foot-four, 345-pound Kee has been ranked third in the country among junior college offensive guards.
With a new offensive coordinator at the helm and a bevy of young talent, the Frogs hope to perform far better than their 4-8 record indicated last season.
