At its core, National Signing Day is about hope.
For the athletes committing to schools around the nation, the day represents the hope of getting a college degree and maybe, just maybe, being among the select few to make it as a professional athlete. For the fans and schools themselves, the day represents the hope of better days ahead.
For Miami University, the hope is that the days of winless and 2-10 seasons are a thing of the past. Based on the 26-player class head coach Chuck Martin and his staff brought in, that hope seems well placed.
"I think we're going to continue to get better," Martin said. "I think when this class are juniors, we're going to be really good."
According to Scout.com, Miami's class ranks third in the Mid-American Conference and 72nd in the nation. The RedHawks signed 14 3-star recruits. It is the highest Miami has been ranked nationally and the most 3-star recruits they have signed since 2002, which is as far back as Scout.com's rankings date.
Miami put together that class despite having verbal commitments switch to Power 5 schools. But for Martin, that's a testament to the quality of player Miami is targeting.
"I think we lost seven kids to BCS schools that we had committed here," Martin said. "Everyone says 'well doesn't that suck,' and I think not really. We're recruiting great kids."
The greatest of those kids might end up being quarterback Billy Bahl, a 3-star recruit who verbally committed back in June. Martin said he woke up Wednesday morning thinking "I might actually be able to tell the world what I really think of Billy Bahl."
"I love Billy," Martin said. "All the video you've seen is his junior year, because we didn't let Billy put any of his senior video out anywhere known to man. We basically had him on lockdown … he's got all the tools … I would have recruited him at my last job [Notre Dame]. I think he's that caliber of talent. Now, how he pans out here, we'll see. He's gonna have to do it. He's gonna have some other good competition. He has a huge, huge ceiling potential."
While Bahl was described by most recruiting sites as a pocket passer, Martin said he can run as well. Bahl currently checks in at 6-foot-4, 214-pounds, but Martin expects him to eventually get up to 235-pounds.
Bahl had offers from eight other Mid-American Conference schools, but Miami held onto him. That's par for the course for Martin and his staff.
"We have not lost a kid to a team in our league that's visited our school," Martin said. "We've lost lots of kids to teams in our league that have never visited here … we are knocking it dead and a lot of it has to do with our [staff's] reputation of winning and our reputation of developing kids at a high level. We've got some things that we can say that other people can't say. We had over 35 kids at Grand Valley make an NFL camp. That's pretty powerful when you're talking to high school kids and parents."
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While Miami didn't lose any athletes to MAC schools, they did swipe a few away.
Linebacker Junior McMullen, a 3-star recruit and the 14th-ranked middle linebacker in the nation, was committed to Western Michigan University until a week before signing day. McMullen and Western parted ways, prompting a battle between Northern Illinois University and Miami.
"I hadn't talked to the kid since last May," Martin said. "We pulled a rabbit out of the hat and got him to commit. We got a really good player."
Tight end Alexx Zielinski, a 2-star recruit, changed his commitment from Central Michigan University to Miami. Central is currently operating with an interim head coach after Dan Enos left for the offensive coordinator position at the University of Arkansas Jan. 22, but Martin thinks Miami would have snagged Zielinski even without the coaching change.
"I'm sure the coaching change had something to do with it, but I think he was waiting for us to have a spot, " Martin said. "I think we would have gotten that kid regardless of what happened at Central."
Martin said the 'Hawks still have needs across the board, but Miami paid special attention to the trenches. The RedHawks signed five offensive lineman and five defensive lineman.
"Our offensive line is long and big …" Martin said. "You look at our o-line last spring, and the kids we're bringing in would have been bigger than the o-line we lined up last spring ball."
The biggest lineman Miami signed is Ian Leever, a 3-star recruit who checks in at 6-foot-6, 295-pounds. Martin doesn't have to wait for Leever to get on campus like the rest of the recruits, because Leever is already enrolled at Miami. Martin said he felt bad for Leever because he didn't have the type of signing day most recruits get to have.
"Ian was in the weight room at 7:30, grinding through a college workout, which he is still getting used to," Martin said. "I [told him] 'I feel bad for you big fella.' He made that sacrifice to get ahead academically and get ahead in football."
Defensively, Martin signed linemen who have the potential to be multiple, meaning Miami will eventually be able to use 3-4 and 4-3 looks on defense.
The RedHawks signed four running backs, including a local product from Talawanda High School. Maurice Thomas, a 3-star recruit whose twin brother is a preferred walk-on, who Martin said might not have been as highly recruited because of where he went to school.
"I think his skill set is pretty incredible," Martin said. "We'll see if we are right or wrong, but I think he could play at a really, really high level … I think we got a kid who has a chance to be really special and who, maybe, was a little bit a victim of where he was at."
Martin expects some of the recruits to play right away, but he doesn't know which ones yet.
"I'd say 25 to 30 percent of these kids will impact us in some fashion [next year]," Martin said. "I don't know which. The raw materials you know, but the adjustment time you don't."
Unlike last season, Martin and his staff weren't scrambling to get a class together.
"We had three weeks to do probably two years worth of work," Martin said. "Even this class, we tried to do one year work that really takes two years. We were still behind on the class that we just signed, because we got started late."
The extra time also helped Martin and his assistants know how to pitch Miami to high school athletes.
"The biggest difference is that we know this place better," Martin said. "Last year, it was just 'Hey we're a good school, we have good tradition, we have some good coaches here, you know who Ben Roethlisberger is?' We had the cliff's notes version of Miami. Now that we're here for a year, we can really sell Miami."
Martin said he wants to recruit the whole midwest hard, not just Southwest Ohio. That's evident by Miami's approach to next year's class, which the RedHawks have already started targeting.
"The Midwest [high school] coaches recognize that Miami football is working their tail off, not working harder than anyone, but working as hard as any D-I program to recruit the Midwest …" Martin said. "We've offered 50-some juniors who are all in the Midwest."
2015 Miami Football Recruits
Scout.comJoshua Allen, defensive back 6-foot, 192-pounds, Charlotte, North Carolina - 3-star recruit with offers from Appalachian State, Ball State, Georgia State, Marshall, Ohio and Toledo. Played running back in high school, but is expected to move to defensive back.
Cedric Asseh, wide receiver, 6-foot-2, 180-pounds, Loganville, Georgia - 3-star recruit with an offer from UCF. 40 time is listed as 4.30.
Billy Bahl, quarterback, 6-foot-4, 214-pounds, Woodstock, Illinois - 3-star recruit with offers from Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Connecticut, Ohio, Rutgers, Toledo, WMU and Wyoming. Verbally committed on Father's Day.
Quinn Calcagno, defensive end, 6-foot-6, 220-pounds, Wheaton, Illinois - 3-star recruit. Has the potential to be both a 4-3 defensive end and 3-4 outside linebacker.
James Gardner, wide receiver, 6-foot-3, 197-pounds, Fort Lauderdale, Florida - 3-star recruit with offers from Appalachian State, Cincinnati, East Carolina, Florida International and Western Michigan. Originally gave a verbal to UC.
Jordan Hardwick, defensive end, 6-foot-3, 235-pounds, St. Louis, Missouri - 2-star recruit with offers from Ball State and Tulsa. Has the potential to play as a 3-4 OLB or 4-3 DE.
Isaiah Hill, running back, 5-foot-11, 207-pounds, Duncan, South Carolina - 2-star recruit with an offer from Western Michigan.
Allan Koikoi, defensive back, 6-foot, 185-pounds, Randallstown, Maryland - 2-star recruit with an offer from Army.
Ian Leever, Offensive line, 6-foot-6, 295-pounds, Loveland, Ohio - 3-star recruit with offers from Akron, Ball State, UC, Kent State, Middle Tennessee State and Toledo. Early enrollee.
Dean Lemon, defensive end, 6-foot-3, 231-pounds, Kettering, Ohio - 3-star with offers from Ball State, Bowling Green and Ohio. Could be a 4-3 DT (3-technique) or a 3-4 DE (4-technique).
Carter Masek, linebacker, 6-foot-2, 225-pounds, East Grand Rapids, Michigan - 3-star recruit with an offer from WMU.
Luke Mayock, wide receiver, 6-foot-5, 192-pounds, Sugar Land, Texas - 2-star recruit with offers from Air Force and UNLV. Nephew of Mike Maycok, a former NFL safety who is an NFL draft analyst for the NFL Network.
Sam McCollum, offensive line, 6-foot-3, 290-pounds, Dublin, Ohio - 3-star recruit with offers from Dartmouth, Kent State, Toledo and Yale. At his height, playing on the interior of the line is likely.
Junior McMullen, linebacker, 6-foot-2, 225-pounds, Oak Park, Michigan - 3-star recruit with offers from Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Ohio, Toledo and Western Michigan. Stole him from WMU. 14th ranked MLB in the nation.
Deandre Montgomery, defensive back, 6-foot-2, 197-pounds, Hampton, Georgia - 2-star recruit with an offer from Navy. At 6-foot-2, safety might be more likely than cornerback.
Ryan Mullen, offensive line, 6-foot-4, 280-pounds, Lake Villa, Illinois - 2-star recruit with offers from Ball State and Western Michigan.
Sam Murrer, offensive line, 6-foot-5, 280-pounds, Park Hills, Kentucky - 2-star recruit with offers from Ohio and Western Kentucky.
Leonard Ross, running back, 5-foot-11, 195-pounds, LaGrange Park, Illinois - 2-star recruit with fffers from Buffalo, Illinois, Northern Illinois and Nevada.
Jack Schroer, defensive line, 6-foot-5, 260-pounds, New Albany, Ohio - 3-star recruit. Could play as a 3-4 DE or 4-3 DT.
Matt Skibinski, offensive line, 6-foot-5, 275-pounds, Livonia, Michigan - 3-star recruit with offers from Akron, Cincinnati, Eastern Michigan, Toledo and Western Michigan.
Maurice Thomas, running back/defensive back, 6-foot, 170-pounds, Oxford, Ohio - 3-star recruit with offers from Bowling Green and Kent State.
Nate Trawick, defensive tackle, 6-foot-1, 295-pounds, Richmond, Indiana - 3-star recruit with offers from Ball State, Kent State, Toledo and UTEP. Could plat as a nose guard or defensive tackle.
Alexx Zielinski, Tight End, 6-foot-5, 230-pounds, Brighton, Michigan - 2-star recruit with offers from Buffalo, Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan.
Preferred Walk-ons:
Nick Dowd, kicker, 5-foot-9, 185-pounds, Westfield, Indiana
Kyle Kramer, punter/quarterback, 6-foot-3, 200-pounds, Glen Ellyn, Illinois
Mckenzie Thomas, defensive back, 6-foot, 185-pounds, Oxford, Ohio - Twin of Maurice Thomas.
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