New crop of signees join football team

After going 2-9, any team needs a little time to lick its wounds before beginning to prepare for the next season. That process has officially ended for the football team, who announced their crop of 2005 signees last Wednesday.

Coming off an injury-plagued 2004 campaign, the team went into recruiting with a full slate of wants and more than a few needs.

The team needed depth at every position, they needed players who wanted to play for a struggling program, and they had to fill the gaping holes left by graduating seniors, like J.J. Gibson in the defensive backfield and Erik Zeppuhar on the offensive line.

The Bulls hoped to address many of those needs effectively by signing 27 new players, including several big offensive linemen.

Hofher said he was impressed with the attitudes that the players brought with them when they visited the campus.

"When they come through here, and we show them what this place is, some of them think, 'Boy I can help out," and also, they think, 'I want to be a first at building something,'" said Hofher.

Of the 33 potential signees who came to UB's campus for the first time, 21 signed on to attend UB after that first visit.

"That's a pretty good hit ratio, in terms of if this were sales and we were trying to sell something and we had a 66 percent ratio, that's pretty good," said Hofher.

Of the five offensive linemen that UB got to sign national letters of intent, three of them are listed at or over 300 pounds, and the other two are within 15 pounds of 300. With an offensive line that averages over 300 pounds per player, the Bulls should be able to add more interior running plays to their playbook.

"We like our interior guys to be big and strong and our perimeter guys to be quick," said Hofher.

Included in the group of quick perimeter players for UB is signee Andre Evans, who is predicted to play at defensive back. Evans, a 5-foot-10-inch 160-pound former track star, comes to the Bulls from Glenville High School in Cleveland, Ohio. In the recruiting tape that was shown, Evans easily outran every player on the field, and in one play was beat by the receiver he was covering but managed to come back and use his speed to make a play on the ball.

Though there are a number of good players from other states included in this group of players, the Bulls' coaching staff focused more on picking up in-state players, athletes like James Starks, a 6-foot-3-inch 190-pound quarterback who attended nearby Niagara Falls High School.

"We always and will always make New York State a priority, starting in our locale, and James certainly has been a recognized performer not only in football but also in basketball, and we're delighted he feels UB is the right place for him to further his education and his athletic career," said Hofher.

Starks ran for over 1,000 yards and passed for over 600 yards in his senior year at Niagara Falls High School, and earned all-Western New York honors. He has served as the team's captain for three years. He also plays for Niagara's nationally ranked basketball team with UB basketball signee Greg Gamble. Hofher said he appreciates Starks's multiple talents.

"Guys like that are very versatile and can do a lot of things," said Hofher. "And James wants to just be able to give it a shot at quarterback, and we agree."

It is never easy to know exactly where or when a freshman will step up and make his impact on the team. This past season for the Bulls, for example, it was an impromptu start for freshman quarterback Chris Moore, and a rotation between Moore and another freshman, Datwan Hemingway, that brought UB its first victory of the year against Central Florida University.

"On the one hand it would be very hard to make a projection on any of them," said Hofher. "I'm never surprised when any one of them is ready. We can't be surprised. We want them to be ready but to anticipate which one or ones are either going to play or add depth wouldn't be fair."

There have been rumblings around campus recently about Hofher's job security. He did not make any comments on that, except as they related to the signing of the new players.

"There were not any issues at all that seem to be sticking points for a guy, or questions that came up," Hofher said. "They don't think about the coach, they think about them."

The Bulls will not know which players are going to step up until they are seen in game situations, but one thing is certain: every player on the field will have proven himself in Hofher's eyes.

"We don't give anything to anybody," he said. "They earn it, and they earn it through hard work and consistent performance."