Nearly every week at his football press conference, UB head coach Jim Hofher talked about the opposition's massive bodies in the trenches and how his team would have to overcome them.
At Wednesday's National Signing Day, Hofher revealed that he has taken steps to ensure that the burden of matching up with bigger players will, in a couple of years, fall upon his opponents.
Hofher's third recruiting class features six offensive linemen, making o-line the most heavily recruited position. Standing out among that group are Clarence High School's Jon Burgio and a mid-year transfer from Canisius College, Quenzell Smith.
"They are a very tall, athletic group of offensive linemen," offensive line coach Roy Istvan said. "All three of the tackles that we have signed to this point have either played high school or junior college basketball.
"The numbers will bring us up to 18 offensive lineman, which is really the number that almost every Division I-A football team will carry. The last two years, we have been around 12, so we've been six people short. By increasing the number to 18 it will allow us to practice harder, because we won't be as tired."
Burgio stands 6'8" 1/2, 320 pounds. As of right now he is larger than any offensive linemen that the Bulls faced in all of 2002. Burgio, who also plays basketball for Clarence, was an All-Western New York selection and is one of seven recruits from New York State.
"(Burgio) came to our (summer) camps, he has been to our campus several times, he is a giant of a kid," Istvan said. "He is growing into his body, and what you see on the tape isn't where he is at now in terms of his physical development."
Smith transferred to UB after Canisius dropped their football program this season. He is listed at 6'4", 360 pounds, but Hofher said that he is closer to 384 pounds at present. Smith has four years of eligibility remaining.
"There is certainly a lot of size in the class," said Hofher, whose team went 1-11 last season and 0-8 in conference. "Anybody who watched us watched other teams with size. We are in the conference in which there are big people, good big people, and for us to be able to be successful we have to at least match it. I think there are a lot of guys in this class who are going to help us take another step towards looking like a Mid-American Conference team.
"We don't want big for big's sake, it needs to be fit. But all these guys are fit. There isn't a sloppy guy in the group."
Fans should not expect to see any of this year's offensive linemen on the field next season. In Hofher's two previous recruiting classes, every offensive lineman brought in red-shirted their first season.
The size upgrade does not stop at offensive line; the Bulls have recruited big men at other positions as well.
Sagan Atuatasi is a 6'3", 338 pound defensive tackle from Long Beach Junior College. He is bigger than any defensive lineman that UB faced last season. Atuatasi was originally signed by the University of Southern California of the Pac-12, but he did not meet their academic requirements, forcing him to play at junior college. He comes in with junior standing and could make an immediate impact.
Keeping with the theme, Tommy Breaux has signed to come to Buffalo as a wide receiver. At 6'6", 185 pounds, Breaux is as tall as any wide receiver the Bulls faced all last season as well. Breaux's brother Terrance was also recruited as a free safety.
After offensive line, the next highest recruited position was tight end. The Bulls added five players that can play TE, although some players are listed at more than one position. The team added four defensive lineman, four linebackers, three wide receivers, and three defensive backs.
The least recruited positions were the ones where the coach said he has the best young talent. UB added only one running back after Aaron Leeper won MAC Freshman of the Year honors this season in that position. They also added only one quarterback, Chris Moore, who stands at 6'5" and hails from Highland Village, Texas.
Hofher said that coming off of a 1-11 season as opposed to a 3-8 season the previous year did not necessarily have much of an effect in the team's recruiting.
"I think you have to be very honest with kids: 'Here is where we've been, here's where we are, and here's where I think were headed, and we hope you'll be headed there with us. If you want that challenge, we've got it for you.' I'm sure there are some guys that say, 'Well, geez, if they were 1-11 I've probably got a chance.'"
Hofher's staff contacted or evaluated 545 players before finally coming to a decision on the 24 they revealed Wednesday. Hofher personally met with 68 players, including all of the 24 selected.
According to The Buffalo News, Hofher's recruiting class was ranked fourth in the entire MAC by Rival.com, a national college football recruiting authority.
National Signing Day is the first day that players are allowed to send in a letter of intent to the school of their choice. Additional players may be signed in the coming weeks.
