By: Michael Shipma

The Troy University football program officially signed 18 new recruits for the 2016-2017 season on Wednesday, adding to a class of recruits that includes 15 players from Alabama high schools.

With the incoming recruits, the Trojans have earned 25 total recruits, with new signees coming in from high schools and community colleges across the South.

“This is a great day for Troy University and our football program,” said second year head coach Neal Brown. “This 2016 class represents 25 guys who are not only really good football players I believe, but also 25 guys that are going to make an impact on this university and on this town.”

The recruiting class is highlighted by the signing of Kelvin Lucky, a defensive end from Edgewood Academy who is ranked as the second best defensive end in the state. Lucky also had received offers from schools such as Texas, Vanderbilt, California, and Georgia State. Lucky was ranked as a top 25 player in the state of Alabama by 247 Sports.

Another key recruit for next season’s team is linebacker Zo Bridges, an Alabama top 25 signee from Opelika High School. Along with his offer from Troy, Bridges also had offers from South Alabama and Kentucky.

“One of our goals for this year’s class was to protect our home turf, and I thought we did that,” Brown said. “We signed 15 guys within the state of Alabama. I think that says a lot not just about the talent that is in our state, and that this is one of the best classes this state has seen in awhile, but also the relationships we’ve developed with high school coaches and players.”

Brown and the Trojan were also able to lock in two quarterbacks and new offensive lineman, two points that Brown and his staff focused on as they entered recruiting season.

“We addressed several positions in need in this class,” Brown said. “We only had one quarterback on scholarship in January, so we added there. At tight end, we added a very versatile guy, something that we haven’t had in our offense here in recent memory. We also added five offensive linemen, a big position in need when you look back at last year.”

The 2016 class of recruits represents five states, with 15 athletes from Alabama, four from Georgia, three from Florida, two from Georgia, and one from Texas.

The recruits will look to help Brown and the Troy football program to bounce back from a 4-8 season last year.