UNC football signs 22 fresh recruits

Fresh names and faces graced the big screen at Kenan Stadium for the first time on Wednesday.

A slideshow of 22 new players transitioned there, serving as the perfect backdrop for the North Carolina football team’s press room as coach Larry Fedora made his entrance.

After he reached the podium and gulped down the last of a Red Bull, Fedora made known the importance of one of the biggest days of the year in collegiate football.

National Signing Day.

“What a great day. It was awesome,” said Fedora, who officially welcomed the recruits of the 2018 class to the program. “Recruiting is the most important thing we do as a staff. Without the players, it doesn’t matter what kind of coach you are, I can assure you.”

After ironing their shirts, picking out ties and attending ceremonies at their respective high schools, many of UNC’s recruits from across the nation inked a National Letter of Intent Wednesday, officially becoming Tar Heels.

The day went a little differently for five early enrollees, who have spent the semester at UNC to get acclimated to the school and team.

UNC’s class this year features 22 players — 11 on offense, 10 on defense and one on special teams.

But the most important number for Fedora is eight.

“We wanted to keep the best players in the state at home,” Fedora said. “Those eight guys from the state are actually seeing what’s happening here in Chapel Hill.

“They see the future. They understand what we’re preaching, and they see it on the field, and I think they’re getting excited about what’s fixin’ to happen here.”

One in-state player that almost decided to pursue his football dreams out of state was Elijah Hood. But after originally committing to Notre Dame, the running back — Scout.com’s No. 1 player in the state — chose to stay home a little longer.

While Wednesday’s press conference also served as a welcoming ceremony for offensive coordinator Seth Littrell, who was brought in from Indiana Jan. 24, the new coach couldn’t help but praise his highly-touted freshman running back.

“Being a kid out this way, he made the perfect choice,” he said. “I can promise you that.”

With the scholarship reductions handed down by the NCAA in 2012 officially put to rest Tuesday, Fedora and the UNC coaching staff can now look to the future, starting with its incoming class.

And Littrell already knows his first order of business.

“I got a lot of names to memorize and remember,” he said.

But all the task requires is some solid footing on the field and a glance up at the shuffling Kenan Stadium screen.

sports@dailytarheel.com