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SPORTS
Holliday brings them in
Marshall football coach Doc Holliday speaks about the new recruits during the signing day press conference on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012, at the Memorial Student Center in Huntington.
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HUNTINGTON -- Doc Holliday's been through his recruiting wars before. A regular on the college football scene for over three decades, the 54-year-old has won plenty of clashes. Has a lost a few, too.
So on this particular National Signing Day, the third under his watch at Marshall University, Holliday wasn't necessarily pacing all parts of the Shewey Building waiting for his prize to come through the fax machine.
A.J. Leggett's letter of intent was going to show up in Huntington or in the football offices at the University of Tennessee.
"Any time you're recruiting a kid of that caliber," Holliday said of the blue-chip cornerback, "you're going to go through some battles, especially right there at the end.
"Until that fax actually comes in, there's always concern."
At 9:47, Wednesday morning, it came.
Arguably one of the most celebrated prep prospects to ever commit to the Thundering Herd made it official.
Two weeks after he gave his verbal pledge to MU and three days after wrapping up an official visit to Tennessee, Leggett inked his document to rock kelly green.
The four-star cornerback had one of 15 letters of intent to wander into Marshall's possession on Wednesday. Add in another fifteen already enrolled and the Holliday class of 2012 is stocked with 30 players.
It's a group Rivals.com ranked as the third-best in Conference USA.
Headlined by Leggett, of course.
"I know JaJuan (Seider) talked to him multiple times last night and this morning. So did I," Holliday said during a press conference in the Don Morris Room of the Memorial Student Center. "We felt good all along. But, until that paper comes in, you're never sure. In my 30 years, I've always been burned once or twice. I was hoping that one wouldn't burn me this morning."
Instead, Leggett is signed up to burn the Herd's opposing offenses.
The 6-foot, 175-pounder made 68 tackles and four interceptions this past season for South Miami High School in Florida. He's rated as the No. 9 corner and No. 110 overall player in the nation.
"He's an excellent player," Holliday said. "He's what they say he is. He's got all the skills. He can play corner. He's a big corner. He just loves to play the game.
"The thing I like about him is he loves football. He's tough. It's important to him."
If Leggett is the gem of this class, his potential future secondary mate might not be far behind.
Andre Scott, a 5-11, 175-pound safety from Orlando, is a three-star prospect who had offers from the likes of South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee.
The pickup of the Florida duo is a sure sign of Holliday's emphasis on pass defense in an air-happy Conference USA.
"Andre Scott can play for anybody at safety," Holliday said. "Todd Hartley did such a tremendous job of recruiting that kid. And, of course, you add Leggett to that bunch. Add him to the kids that we already have on campus. We're excited about the way those guys can play.
"And that's what you have to have in this league. We have to have guys that can match-up. The one thing I'd like to get to, defensively, is be able to play some press-man coverage. Because you play the Houstons of the world and that type of thing. The screens and the quicks and all that. At some point, you have to be able to press them. I think we're getting closer to getting those kind of athletes."
Holliday and his staff went big, too.
One-third of MU's Wednesday commitments were offensive linemen.
Four -- Tyler Combs, Josh Murriel, Billy Rone, Cameron Dees -- were expected. Eric Ansley, a 6-6, 280-pounder from Riverdale, Ga., was a tad surprising.
"It was," Holliday said when asked if the O-line was a focal point. "We got a kid named Eric Ansley out of Georgia who's very long and athletic. We signed him. We signed Tyler Combs. We signed four high school kids and a couple JC (junior college) kids. Gage Niemeyer's already on campus. We got another junior college kid, Billy Rone, that signed to us. We hope to get him here in May. That gives us some older guys that can help those younger guys.
"But that's one area, we talked all along, that we continue to fix. I think this will be the first time we've had 16 scholarship offensive linemen on campus. That's where we want to be."
The Herd also added four linebackers, including Cabell Midland's Ryan Riedel, a quarterback in Gunnar Holcombe, tight end in Chris Hall, defensive end in Marcus Gilchrist and longsnapper in Matt Cincotta.
Jeremi Powell, a four-star linebacker from Largo, Fla., stuck with his University of Florida commitment instead of opting for MU's late charge.
"I don't know where we're ranked and I don't care a whole lot about that," Holliday said. "But I wouldn't trade this class for anybody else in this league. We look forward to getting them in here."
