Head Football Coach Larry Coker announced the signing of the second recruiting class in the history of UTSA football.

There are 28 student-athletes in the 2011 haul who signed National Letters of Intent to play college football for UTSA. Twenty-six of those are directly from high school football players and the remaining two athletes are junior college transfers.

“All classes are unique,” Coker said. “The thing about this class is that you just know these guys are going to be special.”

The 26 high school players all hail from Texas, with San Antonio leading the way with eight recruits.

“We are starting from San Antonio and going out,” Coker said. “We covered a lot of Texas but we spent a lot of our time here in san antonio as we expect to do each year.”

A player from San Antonio that coaches are excited about is running back Chris Johnson. In his days as a running back at Stevens High School, Johnson set a school record, in running for more than 4,800 yards and 50 touchdowns in a three-year career.

The San Antonio region provided a good amount of the offensive players that signed with UTSA. Of the 10 offensive players to sign with UTSA, four hail from the greater San Antonio area.

After San Antonio, the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex had seven players sign on with UTSA.

The Metroplex contingent is highlighted by quarterback Ryan Polite. As a quarterback for DeSoto High School, Polite became just the ninth player in Texas prep history to surpass 10,000 passing yards. Polite finished his career with the fourth most completions (735), fifth most yards (10,636) and eighth most touchdowns (94) in UIL history.

Also of note from the metroplex are defensive back Jake Smith and linebacker Blake Terry of Denton Guyer High School. Smith and Terry were integral parts of a linebacking corps that led Guyer to the 5A division II State Championship game.

Coker talked about the number of recruits brought in and the ones who got away.

“I like the roster, we will be young but it is a good group,” Coker said. “You don’t get everyone you want, a few you miss out on.”

The Houston area had five players sign. The big name from the Houston area is Demetrius Jacobs, 6-1 defensive back from Brookshire Royal High School. Jacobs saw action on both sides of the ball in high school but will compete as a free safety at UTSA.

In addition to Jacobs, the Houston area provided UTSA with 6-4 305 lb. Josh Walker. Walker, an offensive lineman from League City Clear Springs High School led his team in all blocking categories as a senior.

The recruiting class is defense dominant as 15 of the commits will play on the defensive side of the ball.

The defensive haul included nine defensive backs, three defensive linemen and three linebackers.

“We needed to address our defense,” Coker said. “We did that.”

The linebackers will provide an impact on special teams as well.

“Linebackers are usually good on special teams because they are fast and they tackle well,” Coker said.

The central Texas region is home to four signees. The central texas region or Centex as it is known in prep circles will provide UTSA with two offensive players, a defensive back and an athlete. The athlete is Terrance Wilburn out of San Marcos High School. Wilburn is described as a versatile starter who saw action on both sides of the ball as a three year starter. Wilburn joins his older brother Mike Wilburn, a redshirt freshman wide receiver with the Roadrunners.

Another bright spot from the Centex region is tight end David Morgan. Morgan, a wide receiver at Marble Falls High School stands 6-4 and is expected to move to tight end with the Roadrunners. Morgan was a three time academic all-district honoree with Marble Falls.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Roadrunner’s recruiting class included three running backs, two wide receivers, two offensive linemen, two tight ends and a quarterback.

The East Texas region had two players sign letters to play at UTSA.

The player out of East Texas to watch could be athlete Kenny Harrison. Harrison was a dual-threat quarterback who was named the 2010 District 8-2A Offensive Most Valuable Player (MVP) and also garnered a first-team all-district punt returner award as a senior at Linden-Kildare High School.

Also from East Texas is defensive back Triston Wade out of John Tyler High School in Tyler. As a member of the John Tyler Lions, Wade earned 2010 Class 4A second team all-state and first team All-East Texas. His stat line of 122 tackles, six interceptions, two forced fumbles, a sack and a fumble recovery earned him the District 14-4A Defensive MVP.

The East Texas region is one of the many fertile recruiting regions that Coker and his staff hope to turn into a pipeline to UTSA.

“East Texas is just such a great place to recruit,” Coker said. “It would be nice to have an East Texan [sign] every year.”

The two junior college transfers are defensive lineman Franky Anaya and linebacker Brandon Reeves both of whom transferred from Pierce [California] Junior College.

The 2011 recruiting class boasts nine all-state players. 25 of the signees were named to all-area schools during their high school careers.

Though the recruits, with the exception of Johnson and Reeves who are enrolled at UTSA, will have to wait to take the practice field, the football team will hold it’s first official spring practices beginning March 7, and the inaugural spring game will be played at the Alamodome at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 9.