Signing Day: Troy puts together solid group

TROY – Longtime Troy head coach Larry Blakeney proved he still has the energy to burn up the roads on the recruiting trail.

He bragged about making trips all around the southeast and Midwest to help better his team, coming off a 3-9 record from a year ago.

Blakeney’s travels started on an early Monday morning, going to Jones County Junior College in Mississippi. He went to Gulf Shores, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Orlando, flew to Kansas, back to Atlanta and made some stops along the way back to Troy.

All in a good offseason’s work, as the Trojans signed 23 players on National Signing Day. One, cornerback Shaq Beverly from Jacksonville, is already enrolled. This group joins 14 midyear enrollees.

“These guys (assistant coaches) put me through the acid test the last week to see if I still had it,” Blakeney said. “I think I passed their test. Not that I did any glorious recruiting, but I held up under the pressure of a week from Hades, travel-wise.

“I think they have at least recognized that I still got it and can toe the mark when called upon. They don't call upon me as much as they probably used to, but we got some good results out of the week.”

The last commitment was cornerback Juan Neloms, a three-star recruit by rivals.com who was originally committed to Illinois. Earlier in the week, junior college All-American Zach Miller and all-conference defensive tackle Xavier Melton from Butler County Community College in Kansas committed.

Two from the Wiregrass signed – wide receiver Michael Lindsey from Elba and running back Brandon Burks from Daleville. Lindsey elicited some comparisons to record-setting receiver Jerrel Jernigan, who is now with the New York Giants.

“He's not much smaller than Jerrel (Jernigan),” Blakeney said. “I anticipate this guy having that kind of ability. He's not a huge guy, but he's very physical and aggressive. Some guys run fast and then some guys run fast in a football uniform, and he runs fast in a football uniform.”

Burks was recommended to Troy by his head coach, Brad McCoy.

“He is a sharp kid with a good background,” Blakeney said. “He played for a guy we know a lot about and that recommends him highly. I think he'll be a guy that will give us some help.”

Blakeney was happy to sign Rishad Goode, a defensive back from Madison. Goode is distant cousins with the Goode brothers, who played at Alabama in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Blakeney recruited Chris Goode when he was at Auburn, but said his head coach wouldn’t let him sign Chris.

“I finally signed a Goode. I tried to sign Chris Goode when I was recruiting at Auburn,” Blakeney said. “If I'd signed him, I would have signed every Goode. We're looking for him to be a good player.”

Troy signed 10 players from Alabama. Of the signees, six are defensive backs and five are defensive linemen. Several – Neloms, running back Andre Allen, Beverly, receiver Brandon Brooks, offensive lineman Luke Lawrence, receiver Bobby Walker and quarterback Brandon Silvers – have three-star rankings by at least one service.

Silvers, who is 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds and from Gulf Shores, was the only high school quarterback that the coaches targeted.

Silvers, like several targets, showed out in Troy’s summer camp.

“He came into camp and did a really fine job,” offensive coordinator Kenny Edenfield said. “He’s a lot more athletic than we anticipated. We evaluated a ton of quarterbacks, but he was really the only one he offered. He can run, he can jump, he’s smart and he’s always wanted to play at Troy. The whole staff was fired up about him.”

Now that the recruiting process is over, Blakeney said the next step will be to find a coach to replace Mo Crain, who was let go as defensive tackles coach in early January. Blakeney anticipated no other staff changes.