Tulane's Willie Fritz Lands Balanced 22-Member Recruiting Class
Feb 3, 2016 | Football
Transcript of Willie Fritz's Signing Day Press Conference
New Orleans - Tulane first-year head coach Willie Fritz unveiled his inaugural recruiting class on Wednesday and the 2016 Green Wave class features 22 prospects from six states, including six players from Louisiana.
Fritz's first class proved to be very balanced with 10 players on offense -- two quarterbacks, two running backs, two offensive linemen and three wide receivers -- while he signed 11 players on defense -- three defensive linemen, two linebackers and six defensive backs -- and one specialist.
"We are very excited about our first recruiting class," Fritz said. "Every year we will try and replenish each position so we are not too senior-laden at one spot. We want to be able to develop depth and players at every position, and with this class we were able to sign players across the board at every position. We were thin at defensive back so we signed six and with our new offense we needed quarterbacks and were able to sign two and also addressed our needs at receiver with three.
"As we came down the stretch, I told our coaches not to reach for guys and make sure we sign bona fide Division I football players. We have only 10 scholarship seniors for 2016 so we want to be able to sign another large class next year."
The signing day crop features the six players from Louisiana, six from Georgia, five from Alabama, two each from Texas and Florida and one from Mississippi.
Two members of the class -- quarterback Darius Bradwell (QB/Tallahassee, Fla./Godby HS) and linebacker Will Harper (DB/Memphis, Tenn./Samdy Creek HS/Fayetteville, Ga.) -- enrolled at Tulane in January.
Fritz's first class features four players ranked among ESPN's Top 100 position players, including No. 20 (Athlete) Tre Jackson (DB/WR/KR/Baton Rouge, La./University Laboratory), No. 43 (Cornerbacks) P.J. Hall (DB/Hoover, Ala.,Hoover HS), No. 56 (Kickers) Coby Neenan (K/P/Dothan, Ala./Northview HS) and No. 54 (dual-threat quarterback) Bradwell.
The group also includes nine players ranked among their state's respective Top-100 players, according to 247Sports.com. The state of Louisiana includes No. 37 Jackson, No. 69 Deion Rainey (DL/Baton Rouge/Southern Lab School) and No. 80 Eric Lewis (DB/LaPlace, La./St Charles Catholic High School).
Four players from Alabama are among the best in that state, including No. 23 Hall, No. 66 A.J. Walker (RB/Pinson, Ala./Clay-Chalkville High School), No. 95 Miles Strickland (RB/Madison, Ala./Bob Jones HS) and No. 99 Coby Neenan (K/P/Dothan, Ala./Northview HS).
Tulane grabbed one Top-100 player from both Georgia and Mississippi in No. 78 Jacob Robertson, Jr. (WR/College Park, Ga./Woodward Academy) and No. 55 Phabion Woodard (OL/Indianola, Miss./Gentry HS).
Fritz landed one four-star prospect in Jackson (ESPN.com), along with nine three-star recruits, including Bradwell (Scout.com), Hall (ESPN.com/Rivals.com/247Sports.com/Scout.com), Will Harper (ESPN.com/247Sports.com), Lewis (247Sports.com), Neenan (ESPN.com), D.J. Owens (WR/Acworth, Ga./North Paulding High School) (247Sports.com), Rainey (ESPN.com/247Sports.com), Robertson, Jr. (ESPN.com/Rivals.com/247Sports.com/Scout.com), and Strickland (247Sports.com).
The Green Wave inked a total of 12 two-star standouts, including Johnathan Brantley (QB/Houston, Texas/C.E. King High School) (247Sports.com/Rivals.com), Larry Bryant (LB/Kennesaw, Ga./North Cobb High School) (247Sports.com), Lawrence Graham (LB/Lauderhill, Fla./American Heritage) (Rivals.com/247Sports.com/Scout.com), Sean Harper (DB/Fayetteville, Ga./Fayette County High School) (247Sports.com), Chris Johnson (WR/Scotlandville Magnet High School) (Rivals.com), Tyler Johnson (OL/Stone Mountain, Ga./Stephenson High School) (Rivals.com), Darnell Mooney (WR/Gadsden, Ala./Gadsden City High School) (Rivals.com), Chase Napoleon (DB/Grand Prairie, Texas/South Grand Prairie High School) (247Sports.com/Rivals.com/Scout.com), A.J. Walker (RB/Pinson, Ala./Clay-Chalkville High School) (Rivals.com), De'Andre Williams (DL/Baton Rouge, La./Scotlandville Magnet High School) (Rivals.com), Jonathan Wilson (DL/Port Sulphur/South Plaquemines High School) (247Sports.com/247Sports.com) and Woodard (247Sports.com)
Highlighting the group from Louisiana are four players from Baton Rouge, including Johnson, Jackson, Rainey, and Williams, along with Lewis and Wilson.
To renew season tickets, please click here, or to purchase season tickets for the 2016 campaign, please click here. For ticket information, please call 504-861-WAVE (9283), log onto www.TulaneGreenWave.com or visit the ticket office at the James W. Wilson Jr. Center.
Click each name below to view each player's bio
| Player | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Hometown | Time Signed |
| Darius Bradwell | QB | 6-0 | 220 | Tallahassee, Fla. | Early Enrollee |
| Will Harper | DB | 6-1 | 200 | Memphis, Tenn. | Early Enrollee |
| Sean Harper | DB | 6-1 | 200 | Fayetteville, Ga. | 7:00 a.m. CT |
| Tyler Johnson | OL | 6-4 | 270 | Stone Mountain, Ga. | 7:06 a.m. CT |
| Lawrence Graham | LB | 6-0 | 224 | Lauderhill, Fla. | 7:07 a.m. CT |
| Coby Neenan | K/P | 6-2 | 180 | Dothan, Ala. | 7:08 a.m. CT |
| Jacob Robertson Jr. | WR | 6-2 | 175 | College Park, Ga. | 7:10 a.m. CT |
| Johnathan Brantley | QB | 6-2 | 180 | Houston, Texas | 7:20 a.m. CT |
| Tre Jackson | DB | 5-10 | 180 | Baton Rouge, La. | 7:45 a.m. CT |
| Phabion Woodard | OL | 6-4 | 293 | Indianola, Miss. | 7:50 a.m. CT |
| Deion Rainey | DL | 6-3 | 244 | Baton Rouge, La. | 7:52 a.m. CT |
| Jonathan Wilson | DL | 6-4 | 265 | Port Sulphur, La. | 7:59 a.m. CT |
| P.J. Hall | DB | 6-0 | 180 | Hoover, Ala. | 8:02 a.m. CT |
| Chase Napoleon | DB | 5-10 | 200 | Grand Prairie, Texas | 8:05 a.m. CT |
| Miles Strickland | RB | 5-11 | 175 | Madison, Ala. | 8:10 a.m. CT |
| A.J. Walker | RB | 5-10 | 225 | Pinson, Ala. | 9:05 a.m. CT |
| Larry Bryant | LB | 6-1 | 196 | Kennesaw, Ga. | 9:10 a.m. CT |
| Eric Lewis | DB | 6-0 | 185 | LaPlace, La. | 9:12 a.m. CT |
| D.J. Owens | WR | 5-11 | 195 | Acworth, Ga. | 9:15 a.m. CT |
| De'Andre Williams | DL | 6-4 | 260 | Baton Rouge, La. | 9:52 a.m. CT |
| Chris Johnson | WR | 6-2 | 185 | Baton Rouge, La. | 9:53 a.m. CT |
| Darnell Mooney | WR | 6-1 | 170 | Gadsden, Ala. | 9:59 a.m. CT |
