First-year football coach Larry Fedora implored those at his opening press conference Dec. 9 to look at his wife. He said that was enough evidence to prove that he was a good recruiter.
He submitted a second piece of proof Wednesday, although he was only given three weeks to pull together his first class.
Twenty-three players signed to be Tar Heels on National Signing Day. The class ranks No. 42 in the nation and sixth in the ACC, according to Rivals.com.
“This is a very exciting day at the University of North Carolina,” Fedora said. “We just accepted 23 guys into the Tar Heel family.”
Normally a hectic day for schools across the country, UNC had a fairly calm Signing Day.
The only shock was a good one.
On Wednesday, the Tar Heels received a commitment from wide receiver Quinshad Davis, South Carolina’s Gatorade Player of the Year and a Rivals.com All-American. Davis visited two weekends ago even though UNC got involved in his recruitment later than any other program.
“I could tell when he came that weekend, obviously the school sold itself, and the kid fell in love and he decided,” Fedora said. “You could see it almost in him that he wanted to be a Tar Heel.”
UNC also inked two quarterbacks to throw to Davis. Fedora’s pass-heavy spread offense was a selling point that piqued the interest of both.
Kanler Coker transferred to Flowery Branch High School his senior season to run the spread offense there. James Summers, who led undefeated Page High School to a state championship, flipped his commitment from N.C. State to UNC following a meeting with Fedora.