Ada —  

Recruiting has become an art form since Tim McCarty returned to take over the East Central University football program in January of 2009.  And McCarty and his staff appear to have painted another masterpiece with Wednesday’s signing of a third straight blue-chip class to complement a solid returning nucleus from the first ECU team to win eight games since the school moved up to NCAA Division II in 1994.

“We went after a certain group of kids and feel like we got every one that we wanted,” McCarty said Wednesday morning, after 17 top high school prospects from Oklahoma and Texas and one highly regarded junior college transfer from Mississippi had been added to the Tigers’ roster for 2012. “We’re very happy with this class.  We went out looking specifically for certain guys.  Our pool started big, but by the time we got to staff meetings, we drilled 141 players down to these 18. We felt these guys were the best ones, and you can see that by some of the numbers they put up in high school.

“I’m pleased with these kids, not only as players, but they’re good students with tremendous character,” he said.  “They’re great fits for our program and will enable us to move it forward at the level we want to move it.  It was nice to be able to go out and sign specific players instead of just signing everybody like we had in the past.”

While his last three recruiting classes were sprinkled with juco players who filled glaring holes or specific needs, McCarty’s most recent group of recruits should provide depth and stability for years to come for a program that has made dramatic strides over the past three seasons -- from an historically bad 0-11 campaign in 2009 while ECU was a member of the Lone Star Conference to last year’s 8-3 mark in the school’s first season as a member of the new Great American Conference.

“We needed to get some guys in here that we could project to be superior players down the road, and we really feel like we did that,” ECU defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator Matt Storm said in explaining the program’s change in direction where recruiting is concerned.  “The biggest thing was having a relationship with those high school coaches.  They’re comfortable with us and what we’re doing up here.  

“We got a really drilled-down class -- we didn’t have the numbers we’ve had in the past, but we definitely have superior talent within those smaller numbers,” Storm added.  “We’re really excited about this group.  Some will come in and compete right away, and some others we’ll put in the incubator and slide them into starting spots down the road.” 

For the first time since 2007, the Tigers will enter the season without a proven performer at quarterback following the graduation of two-year starter Tyler Vanderzee, a member of McCarty’s first full recruiting class in 2010.  Sophomore Cody Miller, a Lawton High product who took a few snaps as Vanderzee’s back-up last season, will open spring practice April 2 as the starter, with fellow sophomore Spencer Bond from Madill expected to be No. 2 on the depth chart.

But McCarty added depth at the position with the signing Wednesday of Gore’s Garrett Lehnick, who threw for 26 touchdowns last fall, and he said he will also have a juco quarterback in camp this spring to challenge Miller for the starting job.

“(Lehnick) is the same type of quarterback (as Miller),” McCarty said.  “He’s a pocket guy who can really spin the ball and make all the throws.  He has a quick release and all the intangibles that we like here.”

McCarty addressed a huge need last year when he signed a pair of highly touted junior college running backs -- Titus Mobley and Chad Winbush -- to bolster a ground game that had produced fewer yards than any in the LSC from 2006-2010.  The Tigers still ranked near the bottom of the GAC in rushing yards last season, but they averaged over 100 yards per game for the first time since 2005 to complement the passing of Vanderzee, who led the GAC in yards and set a school record for touchdown passes as a senior.  

This year, McCarty signed just one running back -- Ada High standout Nathan Blakley -- to provide further depth at a position that includes another former Cougar, Justin Todd, in addition to Mobley, Winbush and redshirt sophomore Domonique Massengil from Lawton.

“I think he’s extremely talented,” McCarty said of Blakley, who rushed for almost 1,000 yards as a senior and was a first-team All-District 5A-1 selection.  “He averaged 7.5 yards a carry this past season and was an all-district player.  He’s a dynamic athlete with outstanding talent and character.  

“Being able to keep another kid from Ada home is a huge plus for us,” he added.  “He’s a tremendous athlete and has a tremendous upside. We like having a variety of different styles of runners so we can do different things with different kinds of skill sets.  With Nathan’s size and running ability, we think there’s a lot of untapped potential there.”

McCarty said he also expects a lot of production out of Jeff Guckenberg, a 6-3, 205-pounder out of Sachse, Texas, and speedy Brad Davis, a 5-7, 165-pound wideout from Norman.  Guckenberg will play the “H” receiver in the ECU offense, while Davis is expected to challenge for playing time within a young receiving corps and also fill at least one of the holes left by the graduation of All-American cornerback/kick returner Dontae Smith.

“He’s a complete player,” McCarty said of Guckenberg, who earned all-district honors after catching 40 passes for 707 yards and six touchdowns as a senior.  “We ask our H to do some perimeter blocking.  He’s a big-time blocker with great hands, and he’s extremely tough.  We stole him at the last second from (former LSC rival) West Texas (A&M).

“(Davis is a very speedy wideout/athlete/return man,” McCarty explained.  “He was District 6A-3 special teams Player of the Year.  He averaged 14 yards per catch, 11 yards per carry on the ground, and he returned five punts and three kickoffs for touchdowns last year.  He’s something else with the ball in his hands -- he’s bullet-fast.”

In addition to their inexperience at quarterback, the Tigers will open their 2012 season Aug. 30 at Northwest Missouri State with four new offensive linemen.  McCarty, who serves as his own offensive line coach, said he addressed that need with the signing of Mason Sixsmith (6-6, 257) from Tulsa Washington, Demetreas Pyfer (6-5, 265) from Lawton High, Spencer Dann (6-6, 255) from Moore and Daniel Smith from Class 4A state champion Anadarko.

“There’s a lot of height there, and the body types that we’re looking for,” McCarty said.  “We want those big, long guys, and we feel like we got them.”

McCarty also bolstered his special teams with the signing of punter/kicker Mason Briggs from Bixby.  Briggs, the nation’s fifth-rated punter, averaged 43.2 yards per punt to lead Class 6A, and 88 percent of his kickoffs resulted in touchbacks.

Defensively, the Tigers added depth at end with the signing of Patrick Diaz (6-3, 240), an All-State performer from Lawton High who led Class 6A in sacks this season with 17 and is expected to bid for playing time as a freshman.

“He’s a very physical player with tremendous pad-level get-off,” McCarty said of Diaz, who will play for Oklahoma in the Oil Bowl this summer.

Graduation figures to take a heavy toll on the ECU linebacker corps after this season, and McCarty filled in some of those blanks by adding five high school standouts (his largest group of signees at any position), including one -- Davis star Cole Weber, -- with local connections.

Weber, the nephew of Ada High football coach Matt Weber, is a 5-10, 195-pounder who was a two-way dynamo for the Wolves during a spectacular career in which he scored 56 touchdowns.  As a senior, he averaged 12 yards per carry and returned five punts for scores.

“He’s a superior athlete,” McCarty said of Weber, who was an Oklahoma Coaches Association All-Star for Class 2A as well as District 2A-4 Most Valuable Player.

McCarty said he also expects big things from his other four new linebackers -- Drevon Keywaykla from Elgin, Gumaro Murphy (6-1, 220) from Southeast High School in Oklahoma City, Brett Gilstrap (6-1, 215) from Bethany and Adonis Wiley (6-5, 210) from Tulsa Washington. 

“(Keywaykla) is another great athlete -- he had 88 catches for 889 yards and 12 touchdowns on offense and 148 tackles, eight sacks and an interception on defense and was the District 4A-1 Linebacker of the Year,” McCarty noted.  “(Murphy) is an extremely physical player who had 114 tackles, 14 tackles for loss and six sacks last year.

“(Gilstrap) was a (3A) all-star, Little All-City, and all-district, and he set a school record with 42 career sacks, including 15.5 this season,” he said.  “(Wiley) is a great athlete with superior skills.  He’s just an all-over-the-place guy with an unbelievable upside.”

The blow left by the graduation of Smith and Austin Daniels -- who started every game at cornerback for the Tigers the past two seasons -- should be softened a bit by the signing of Davian Noble, a 6-1, 180-pound transfer from Copia Lincoln (MS) Community College.

“He’s a true man corner who possesses tremendous speed and athletic ability,” McCarty said of Noble, who could team with another transfer, Austin Crisler from Kansas Wesleyan, at cornerback for ECU this fall.

McCarty also signed two other defensive backs in Bethel’s Lexus Jackson -- the District 3A-4 Co-MVP after catching 64 passes for 956 yards and 14 touchdowns on offense and returning two kickoffs and two of his four interceptions for touchdowns last fall -- and Aaron Ballard from Sachse.

“He’s a true ballhawk, extremely physical, a complete player,” McCarty said of Ballard, an all-district safety who recorded 89 tackles and six interception last season.