Fayetteville State Football Brings in the 2017 Class of Signees
posted by Areanna Nixon | February 24, 2017 | In News, SportsFayetteville State University’s football team welcomed a new class of signees on national signing day, February 1.
Head Coach Richard Hayes and Linebacker’s Coach David Bowser, who are both heavily involved in the scouting and recruiting process, expressed satisfaction regarding the group of high school seniors signed.
“We feel we signed a pretty good class,” said Coach Hayes.
Rather than focusing on a specific aspect of improvement. FSU’s recruiters looked to maximize the general talent level of the team.
“I think that overall, we wanted to improve the team size and speed. So they guys we went after were bigger and faster,” commented Coach Bowser.
Among the 32 recruited so far, 23 of them were at least six feet tall, with half of the offensive linemen surpassing 6’3”.
This class of recruits features 28 high school seniors, to which Coach Hayes remarked, “Our coaches did a really great job in getting to these schools, and getting these kids to commit to Fayetteville State.”
Coaches sent out 32 national letters of intent, an athletic contract, to which they received accord from the majority.
“Out of the 32 NLI’s we sent out, we got 28 of them back,” said Hayes.
Of the group of players signed on offense, eight of these are offensive linemen, along with three wide receivers, three running backs, one tight end, and one quarterback.
“We think that they can help us add some depth to our offensive line.” said Hayes, explaining the focus on recruiting offensive linemen, one of whom, Matthew Curry, participated in the North Carolina vs. South Carolina, annual Shrine Bowl.
On the defensive side, seven defensive backs were signed, three linebackers, two defensive ends, one outside linebacker, and one defensive lineman.
“We went really hard on our defensive backfield. We lost about five guys last year,” said Hayes.
FSU’s football department is still in the search for new players to add to the roster. Coach Hayes explained the process of offseason.
“We try to look at it in three phases. The signees, then you want to get some walk-on kids, then we’ll tamper with the transfer market a little bit.”
Where the “transfer market” is concerned, FSU’s football team is seeking out a prominent piece.
“We’re still in the hunt for a veteran quarterback. A transfer quarterback,” said Hayes.
Fayetteville State Football also hosted tryouts for unsigned, uncommitted high school seniors on February 4.
“We invited them to campus, and we had 92 guys show up from all over the state. So we feel like we’re going in the right direction with our recruiting process,” said Hayes
Coach Bowser pointed out the difficulty in distinguishing the talent level of one 2017 signee’s skill level over another, emphasizing the talent of the group as a whole.
“Looking at this class collectively, all these guys are really talented, so you can’t really point [to one],” he said.
The FSU football team, who finished the 2016 season with a 4-6 record overall, looks to prolong their season with these recruits, starting with training camp in August.
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