A little less than half the 2008 class is either an offensive or defensive linemen

The 2008 Aggie Recruiting Class
GREENSBORO, FEBRUARY 6, 2008 – Each of the past two seasons, the North Carolina A&T football team has fielded one of the smallest teams in the MEAC. Head coach Lee Fobbs aims to correct that with his 2008 recruiting class. Fobbs announced the signing of five offensive linemen and seven defensive linemen on National Signing Day from the Alumni Event Center on Wednesday night.

A total of 27 players signed on to become future Aggies. “We met some of our goals upfront on both sides of the ball,’’ said Fobbs, who will be entering his third season as the head of the Aggies football program. “We wanted to attract some speed as well, but our main concentration was the offensive and defensive lines.”

Fobbs and his coaching staff addressed many of their needs along the offensive and defensive lines by signing prep standouts within the state of North Carolina. Twenty-four of Fobbs’ 27-man class was signed out of high school. Of those 24 players, there are 21 players in the class from North Carolina, giving Fobbs and his staff an impressive showing within their own borders.

“I think that is ultimately how we’re going to build a strong and steady program here,’’ said Fobbs. “We have to give our young men a chance to learn our system over a four-to-five year period. To have so many of our high school signees from within the state shows how hard our coaches have worked to build relationships within the state.”

Four Triad high school players singed with the Aggies, including Dudley wide receiver Torrian Warren. Warren is following in his father’s footsteps by attending N.C. A&T. Warren, a 6-3, 175-pound receiver led Dudley to the Class 3-AA state championship on Dec. 8 and was named the game’s MVP. Warren’s father Thomas was a first-team All-MEAC performer in 1978 and is a member of the N.C. A&T Hall of Fame.

The other Triad signees include Eden Morehead defensive lineman Micah Stanfield, Winston-Salem Parkland offensive lineman Kimeko James and Winston-Salem Carver wide receiver McKinley Morning.

Stanfield led the Eden Morehead in sacks last season and he is geared to lead Morehead to its second state wrestling title in three years. Both James and Morning were All-Piedmont Triad 3-A first-team all-conference performers.

Fobbs and his staff did head to the junior college ranks to grab what could be their offensive leader in 2008. Carlton Fears, a 6-1, 185-pound quarterback, attended Georgia Military College for two seasons. He completed a total of 107 passes for 1,692 yards, 14 touchdowns and eight interceptions during his time there. Fears will have to compete with rising sophomore Shelton Morgan and rising junior Herbert Miller for playing time at the quarterback position.

“I think he is going to bring a lot of leadership qualities,’’ said Fobbs. “He is a heady kid with good size, athleticism and his biggest strength is that he can make plays. He can step in and play right away, so there is going to be some good competition at the QB spot.”

Fears is the only quarterback the Aggies signed. Defensive linemen made up a fourth of the class with seven players signing. Wide receivers and offensive linemen were tied for second most signed at a particular positing with five signees apiece. There were four defensive backs, three running backs and two linebackers signed to the Aggies initial 2008 class.

“We signed guys who can help us right away, which is something we really wanted to do,’’ said Fobbs. “The biggest surprise for us is that in addition to getting bigger, we also got faster. We came away with some talented wide receivers who can make plays. I think the speed we attracted is going to make us so much better.”