Behold! Northwestern's Class of 2010!

If you’re looking for a bunch of frequent-flyer miles, Pat Fitzgerald might have some he can spare.

Between the time Northwestern finished the regular season (Nov. 21) and the end of the recruiting season (last weekend), Fitzgerald criss-crossed the country making 20 home visits in 10 states. Oh, and he also coached the Wildcats in the Outback Bowl.

“That would make a great story someday,” Fitzgerald said.

For today, though, the story is Northwestern’s 17-man recruiting class (which means Fitzgerald had an 85 percent success rate on those home visits).

First, here’s the class:
OFFENSE:
QB Trevor Siemian (Windermere, FL)
QB Kain Colter (Denver, CO)
RB Adonis Smith (Oakland, CA)
WR Jimmy Hall (Sylvania, OH)
WR Tony Jones (Flint, MI)
WR Rashad Lawrence (Orlando, FL)
WR/KR Venric Mark (Tomball, TX)
OT Paul Jorgensen (DeWitt, MI)
C Brandon Vitabile (Edison, N.J.)

DEFENSE:
DE Chance Carter (Loyola Academy HS)
DT Will Hampton (Houston, TX)
DT Sean McEvilly (Yorba Linda, CA)
LB Chi Chi Ariquzo (Gahanna, OH)
LB Collin Ellis (St. Gabriel, LA)
DB C.J. Bryant (Gahanna, OH)
DB Ibraheim Campbell (Philadelphia)
DB Daniel Jones (Monticello, FL)

Fitzgerald’s crack support staff supplied him with the following numbers about these guys.

--“Their average GPA is right around 3.5.”
--“Their overall winning percentage was right around 70 percent.”
--“Twelve of the commits were captains, so they’re leaders.”
--“Eight of the 17 committed before their senior year. Four more committed during their senior year. That just shows you the acceleration in recruiting. It’s really moved up.”

Here’s some Fitz Talk about the new quarterbacks:

“When I got into the schools…and, really, before me, when Marty (Long) got down to Orlando and Mick (McCall) was out in Colorado…when you talk to people, what I like to hear about a quarterback is people like to be around him. When he’s hanging out, people gravitate toward him.

“And both those kids fill that. The same way as with Mike (Kafka), C.J. (Bacher), Brett (Basanez), Zak (Kustok), Steve (Schnur). Our successful run of quarterbacks here, it’s kind of all that same mold. People gravitate toward them and they make everybody around them better. Hopefully that continues as they get into college.”

OTHER TRANSACTION NEWS
Redshirt freshman WR Martin Bayless asked for and received his release from Coach Fitzgerald. He’ll be transferring elsewhere. Redshirt freshman CB Caleb Harper is the only other underclass scholarship player who moved along since the 2009 season began.

Also, defensive line coach Marty Long has been back working in the office since mid-January. Fitzgerald says he’s doing well. Long missed the Outback Bowl with a medical issue.

THE FINAL NUMBER
If I have all of the Wildcats’ scholarship numbers correct, here’s how the squad shapes up for the fall:

Quarterback-4
Running back-7
Wide Receiver-10
Superbacks-5
Offensive Line-15
TOTAL-41

Defensive Line-14
Linebackers-14
Secondary-14
TOTAL-42

Kickers-2
GRAND TOTAL-85

THE FINAL WORD
Remember the stuff at the top about Fitz' frantic travel schedule? It's not stopping him from hitting the road again tomorrow. He and recruiting coordinator Adam Cushing get to speak at the Ohio High School Coaches meeting on Thursday...then the Fitz Family is headed for a week of R&R in Florida.

LW