FORT WORTH, Texas -- TCU head coach likes to throw around the phrase "paper tigers" a lot when it comes to National Signing Day.
If that's the case for the high school recruits, at least the 24 signed by TCU Wednesday are made of quality paper as the Frogs have the 37th-ranked class nationally.
Of the 24 signed by the Frogs, five of them were four-star signees according to Scout.com. TCU had signed a total of 14 four-star recruits over the last previous five Februarys combined.
Not only did TCU sign big-time recruits, they signed them in positions of need. TCU will go to a faster-paced offense this fall under new co-offensive coordinators Sonny Cumbie and Doug Meacham.
The key to the offense will be the quarterback and the Frogs have the No. 2 quarterback class in the country, with Fort Worth All Saints four-star quarterback Foster Sawyer and Decatur quarterback Grayson Muehlstein heading to campus this fall.
"I think it's a testament to the kind of people they are," Patterson said of the two quarterbacks electing to sign with TCU. "They're both coming here because they love TCU. They want this kind of degree but they also want to play big-time football. One of the things that helped keep both of those guys was knowing what kind of offense we were going to go to."
TCU will likely have five quarterbacks on campus this fall and they should be well protected. TCU signed five offensive linemen, with Dallas Skyline's Ty Barrett leading the class. Barrett was the 52nd-ranked player in Texas according to Scout.com. One of the two January enrollees -- Frank Kee -- will also help on the line. Key, who is from Mansfield Timberview by way of Tyler Junior College, is a 345-pounder who is coming off an all-conference season at TJC.
TCU's emphasis on offense continued at the skill positions as the other three four-star standouts are wide receivers Corey McBride (Dutchtown High School, Louisiana) and Emanuel Porter (Dallas Lincoln) along with running back Shaun Nixon (Lake Travis).
"Changing offense I thought it was very important first that we have quarterback," Patterson said. "We felt like we needed to pinpoint our offensive line. We felt like we needed to get more size (on offensive line). Getting five in this group we felt like was very important for us. We really felt like Shaun Nixon was a guy who stood out. With the offense we're putting in we felt like we had to get some guys with length."
TCU didn't neglect its defense either despite the fact that the Frogs only figure to lose one starter from their front seven to graduation (Jon Koontz).
Junior-college transfer Kenny Iloka is already on campus. He was tabbed the No. 1 junior-college safety by one service.
TCU also signed five defensive backs and two linebackers. Patterson said the Frogs would have liked to have added at least another linebacker but the Frogs have already addressed that by focusing on that area in the 2015 class.
The Frogs got a late-afternoon boost too. When Patterson did his press conference, the Frogs had 22 signees. But Keller Fossil Ridge teammates Ryan Foster (wide receiver) and Nick Foster (cornerback) signed to make it 24 in the class.
Patterson said the biggest benefit of TCU's 4-8 season was that it allowed the Frogs to focus on recruiting this year because it wasn't bowl eligible.
"We just had more time to make changes, do the right things and also recruiting wise to evaluate what we needed and how we needed to do it," Patterson said.
