The Sacramento State football program announced the signing of 17 new recruits and five midseason signings during the Hornets’ National Signing Day party Feb. 3 at the Broad Fieldhouse.

The signing class of recruits has a mixture of talent from all around California.

The 2010 class of recruits is highly regarded as one of the best recruiting classes of head coach Marshall Sperbeck’s tenure as Hornet head coach, he said.

Sperbeck said the coaching staff is extremely excited by the choices they have made. Sac State was able to fill much needed holes on both sides of the ball.

Due to the loss of key players to graduation, such as defensive linemen Bill Sherman and Kevin Moore, the defense was a top priority when the coaching staff was searching for players to recruit.

“Offensive and defensive line we felt, were important area’s we needed to address” Sperbeck said.

The Hornets are also losing Peter Lenz, Matt Lemley and Clint Lessard, all of whom were key members of the offensive line. They are also losing tight end Brian Heath, who scored two touchdowns in 2009.

Sac State signed six offensive linemen, one quarterback, two wide receivers, one running back and one athlete, a player who has yet to be given a position by Sac State’s coaching staff because the ability to play multiple positions and on both sides of the ball.

On defense, the Hornets picked up four defensive backs, three defensive ends, two linebackers and one defensive tackle.

“We have some players that had the opportunity to go to some bigger schools, some BCS schools and we got the players to go to Sac State” said defensive backs/special teams coach Anthony Parker. “Our coaches have really done a good job.”

Sac State generally searches for recruits within the state. The football team is granted a certain amount of scholarships to give out, depending upon how many players they lose due to transfers or graduation.

Recruiting out of the state of California costs Sac State more than one scholarship, hence its desire to recruit within state.

Football recruiting for Sac State is a year-long process. When recruiting begins, the team actively pursue players who stand out as people and football players.

Sac State seeks players with great character and academic history to go along with superior football talent.

“We do a thorough investigation of their academic history to make sure they succeed academically as well as on the field.” Parker said.

Players are evaluated on multiple scales, from football talent to academic excellence. The process is rigorous and necessary to weed out the best of the best, as Sac State recruits student-athletes who have little to no character issues.

Of the 22 total players coming in to fill the roster spots, 17 are coming straight from high school. The other five are transferring from junior colleges.

Sac State lost a total of 17 seniors to graduation and a few other underclassmen, who transferred out of Sac State to other schools.

One of the recruits, Nate Devan, a 6-foot-6-inch offensive lineman from Temecula, Calif., said he is eager to get on the field and compete.

Devan was a two-sport athlete while he attended Chaparral High School.Devan said he is excited to start the season and has some goals in mind.

“My personal goal next year is to start, to become a four-year starter.” Devan said.

He also said he has an academic goal to obtain a 3.7 grade point average for the current school semester.

The pursuit of success starts from head coach and trickles down to the coaching staff and players with in the football organization.

Sperbeck said Sac State is extremely confident with how they stacked up in its conference, as it is not as big as other schools but truly competed in the recruiting process making for an exciting year for the upcoming 2010 football season.

Sergio Saldana can be reached at [email protected]