Sports
 

Holding the Line

After an impressive first season at UH, head coach Art Briles has focused his recruiting efforts on the offensive and defensive lines. How strong is Houston's 2004 recruiting class?

By Christian Schmidt
The Daily Cougar

In just his second recruiting class at UH, head coach Art Briles went big, signing 21 players, eight of whom will play with the big boys on the offensive and defensive line.

"We really feel good about our recruiting class," Briles said. "We feel like we got some guys that are going to help us in the future. We'd rather not use any of them right now and hopefully we won't have to, but these guys are going to be great players for us."

Briles said the coaching staff primarily targeted three positions in this class: offensive line, defensive line and linebacker. 

Not surprisingly, 12 of the 21 players are projected to play one of those positions.

Those players will fill areas of need for the Cougars. Houston played only six offensive lineman on a regular basis a year ago, and three of those have used up their eligibility..

The Cougar defensive line also lacked depth and lost its starting defensive ends. 

At linebacker, Houston lost one player to graduation in senior Damien West and may lose another if sophomore Bryant Brown moves to strong safety.

Defensive back Ivory Williams may be the biggest catch in the group. Williams, also a top-flight track athlete, was heavily recruited by Arkansas. 

Offensive tackle SirVincent Rogers and defensive tackle D.J. Johnson will also compete for starting jobs in the near future.

"We went for character, we went for good people, good students that were serious about getting an education and also could play a little ball along the way," Briles said.

They also went for home-grown talent. All of the 21 players are from Texas. Briles also said the team is waiting for confirmation on the signing of an offensive lineman from Germany.

None of the 21 were rated in most of the state's top 100 lists or other national rankings, a criteria in which Briles said he places little importance.

"I couldn't tell you what these guys are rated," Briles said. "I just know how they play on video. That's what we look at."

In his first season at the helm, Briles took the Cougars to a 7-6 record and the program's first bowl game in seven years.

"We feel like we probably signed three or four kids because of our bowl game exposure," Briles said. "Without a doubt, we got in on four or five more because of that. So it's critical that we maintain going to a bowl every year."

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