On Wednesday, the College of William and Mary football program signed 10 high school seniors to National Letters of Intent, including four Rivals.com two-star recruits.
“I have no way of predicting how well they’ll adjust, but I think we’ve got a good, solid class,” Head Coach Jimmye Laycock said. “We’ll see how things shape up this spring; ideally, we’d like to redshirt everybody.”
The class is headlined by Somers Point, N.J. quarterback Brent Caprio and a pair of lineman, Matt Crisafi of Marietta, Ga., and Bryan Stinnie of Troy, Va..
“[Caprio] is from a real good team and has played real well,” Laycock said. “You always look to bring in a quarterback and see how well he will make the transition from high school to college, and he was good in high school, so we’ll see.”
Caprio is a dual-threat quarterback like University of Florida passer Tim Tebow, and will join an already deep Tribe quarterback corps headlined by junior R.J. Archer.
Meanwhile, Crisafi and Stinnie will provide depth along the offensive and defensive lines after their likely redshirt seasons. Stinnie in particular was a highly prized recruit who committed to the College over a scholarship offer from Duke University.
“We did look at making sure we covered our bases with linemen [this winter],” Laycock said. “At our level, you go out and recruit good solid players who you can develop to be really good players.”
Perhaps the recruit with the greatest upside is St. Anne’s Belfield School senior Quincey September, a native of South Africa. Standing 6’ 4” tall and weighing 200 pounds, the versatile September has only been playing football for a few years and could end up playing any number of positions for the Tribe — from wideout to defensive back to linebacker.
“Where he’ll play, I don’t know, but he’s very interesting and a very good athlete,” Laycock said. “That’s one where we’re not looking at him immediately playing next year. He’s a very bright young man who wanted to get the best education he could.”
In addition to the 10 players who signed on Wednesday, Laycock and his staff will look to add 12 to 14 invited walk-ons who will enroll in the fall, eventually competing for scholarships. The College’s invited walk-on program has yielded standout players in past years, such as all-conference quarterback Lang Campbell ’04 and standout tight end Drew Atchison ’08, who briefly signed with the Dallas Cowboys last summer.
“We’ve got a real good group of them right now who we’re working on,” Laycock said. “They know here [that] if they come, they have an opportunity to earn a scholarship.”
Tribe’s 2009 signing class
Paul Amakihe, LB, 6’3,” 200 lbs.
Brent Caprio, QB, 6’1,” 190 lbs.
Jerome Couplin II, WR, 6’2,” 190 lbs.
Matt Crisafi, OL, 6’4,” 300 lbs. *
Jason Faipler, OL, 6’3,” 275 lbs.
Takaeo “T.K.” Hester, DB, 5’10,” 180 lbs. *
Samuel Johnson II, DE, 6’2,” 240 lbs. *
Quincey September, ATH, 6’4,” 200 lbs.
Trevor Springman, OL, 6’4,” 285 lbs.
Bryan Stinnie, DE, 6’4,” 235 lbs. *
* Rivals.com two-star recruit
