LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Les Miles spent the final night ahead of national signing day ensconced in a conference room inside the Kansas football facility, working his cell phone to piece together the last pieces of his initial class with the Jayhawks.
Just down the Interstate 70, Chris Klieman was busy doing the same thing at Kansas State, pausing only to rile up the crowd at halftime of the Wildcats basketball game against their bitter rival.
All of which seemed somehow fitting.
Miles and Klieman were hired late last year to turn around programs fallen on hard times, the former one of the worst in major college football and the latter after it slipped the past couple of seasons under Hall of Fame coach Bill Snyder. And that meant both were forced to not only build a staff but land a recruiting class that could lay the foundation for that purpose.
We started late. I took my time hiring this staff and it cost us a little, Miles said. The things we wanted to do in the short term was those needs the team had to have and had to have quickly.
The Jayhawks finished off a 19-member class Thursday, the first day of the February signing period. Many of them signed during the early period in December, including touted junior college quarterback Thomas MacVittie, but the rest committed over the past couple of months.
They wound up being the gems of the class.
Four-star prospect Steven Parker, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound defensive end out of Texas was perhaps the most highly sought. He was the states defensive player of the year, an imposing physical presence that not only filled a crucial need but also began a foothold in the talent-rich state.
Miles wasnt done in Texas, either. He landed three-star athlete Velton Gardner out of perennial powerhouse Dallas Skyline, fulfilling the coachs desire to get faster and more athletic.
Miles then plucked a late addition in physical running back Amauri Pesek-Hickson from the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park. He had been a longtime commitment to Michigan before backing out when the Wolverines asked him to attend prep school and sign with next years class instead.
Pesek-Hickson punted that opportunity and jumped on the rebuilding process at Kansas.
I think physical football has to be played by big men at some point in time. Even the wide receivers, looking at height and size, Miles said. I think its necessary at some point in time.
Another priority? Locking down the Midwest.
That naturally led to a head-to-head showdown with his Kansas State counterpart.
Oklahoma linebacker Gavin Potter had been committed to the Wildcats for a while, but Texas Tech had started to make inroads with a new coaching staff. When signing day dawned, it was the Jayhawks who swept into Broken Arrow and swiped away a physical middle linebacker prospect.
