Start with local talent, add some experienced transfers, toss in a few fresh faces, and cook on high for the 2005-06 season.
That's the recipe for success come next year, UNM head football head coach Rocky Long said.
Long signed 12 transfers and 15 freshmen to national letters of intent Wednesday.
He said his formula starts with a solid base.
"Every year we go out and spend a lot of time evaluating New Mexican talent," Long said. "If we find a player in New Mexico, we recruit them as hard as we can, because we would like the foundation of our football team to be from close to home."
The Lobos will start next season with 20 New Mexico players on scholarship, including five of the recruits.
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Long said next year's freshmen are coming to the program to learn the system before they see the field.
"We don't think any of the freshmen will come in here and play right away," he said. "We would like to redshirt all of them, but you never know what will happen."
The junior college transfers are a much different story. They were recruited to see playing time right away, Long said.
"We wouldn't have recruited any of the (junior college) players if we didn't think they could play," Long said.
Long said that he's not concerned with what the ratings have to say about his 2005-06 class. But it doesn't hurt when they're positive, he said.
"This class is rated better than previous ones," Long said. "But it's hard to compare classes from year to year. You never know how they're going to turn out."
Long wouldn't comment on the potential of any players, but he did say a handful of them could be good investments.
"There's several of them that could play that role for us," he said. "But we'll find that out later on down the road."
