Feb. 5 was an important day for college football programs across the country. After months of recruiting and reviewing game tapes, coaches received letters of intent from high school prospects around the nation.

Despite the lack of national coverage its major college football counterparts received, the NAU football team signed 14 recruits to complete its 2009 recruiting class on National Signing Day. Of the 14, 11 of the future Lumberjacks are in-state recruits, including three who were named to The Arizona Republic’s All-Arizona football team.

“We didn’t have a very big senior class, so we didn’t have a lot of spots to fill,” said head coach Jerome Souers. “This class, although not large in number, is very talented and will impact our program.”

Although the Jacks did not lose many seniors, the defensive secondary and offensive line were hurt the most of any of the positions. As a result, three defensive backs and four offensive linemen dominated the class.

“Our primary goal was signing the offensive linemen and safety positions,” said assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Craig Knoth. “We recruited a lot of in-state kids and moved from there.”

Taylor Malenfant of Notre Dame Prep, an All-Arizona defensive back, is the cornerstone of the defensive back recruits. Joining him to provide depth to the defensive backfield, which lost three starters, are Scott Brown of Sabino High School and Phil Pollock of Cactus High School.

According to offensive line coach Eric Reid, All-Arizona Matt Wilson of Payson High School is the most highly regarded recruit of the offensive line group. Also recruited on the offensive line were Sebastian Sica of Saguaro High School and Sabino High School’s Stuart Tawney and Kyle Walker.

The Lumberjacks’ receiving core was improved with the signing of Peoria High School’s Jeremy Dang and Chandler High School’s Caleve Deboskie.

The third member of the All-Arizona team signing with the Jacks was Shad Bride of St. John’s High. Although he also played linebacker, he was named an All-Arizona running back and won The Arizona Republic’s Small School Player of the Year twice. The Jacks recruited Bride as an “athlete,” as his position has yet to be determined. 

Aside from the skill positions, the Jacks recruited Andy Wilder of Notre Dame Prep to compete for the kicker position after losing Robbie Dehaze, NAU’s kicker and punter of four years.

“It was a tremendous year for the availability of in-state prospects,” Souers said. “To be able to find, locate and attract that kind of talent is exciting.”

Reid was pleased with NAU’s success recruiting in-state and believes it is important to recruit within Arizona.

“We took care of the in-state kids,” Reid said. “I’m a firm believer in recruiting in-state kids, and I think that’s how you build a program. You build pride in the university when recruiting from the state of Arizona.”

The Jacks also went to California to recruit A.J. Cazares, a tight end out of Grossmont College, and J.P. Ragan, a running back from Aquinas High School. Rounding out the signees was Zach Ka’ahanui, a defensive lineman from Central Catholic High in Portland.

In total, the 14 recruits joined six junior college transfers who were announced in December to make up the entire 2009 recruiting class.