Football team signs 22 recruits

Football Coach Cam Cameron has said IU's weak point last season was its defensive secondary.\nWednesday, he announced his plans to fix the problem.\nCameron and the Hoosiers officially signed 22 recruits Wednesday, the first day of the national signing period. Six are defensive backs. Two of them, Antonio Watson and Willie Northern, are Superprep magazine's first- and third-rated junior college defensive backs.\n"I think two safeties, two big safeties like Northern and Watson, give you a little more flexibility," Cameron said. "You can play them as a true safety or play them like a linebacker in a nickel package or a dime package.\n"You need more defensive backs outside-linebacker-type guys. The guy that can defend the run that looks more like a defensive back now is a guy that you need seven out of 11 games."\nNorthern and Watson are both defensive backs who have some college experience.\nAfter spending his freshman season as a receiver at Auburn, Northern transferred to City College of San Francisco last season. He helped lead the team to the California Community College state championship and a 12-0 record.\nWatson's path to IU was similar to Northern's.\nWatson played safety for Hinds Community College in Mississippi last season, and his team finished fourth in the National Junior College Athletic Association football poll with an 11-1 record.\nJoining Northern and Watson in the defensive backfield will be Leonard Bryant (Immokalee, Fla.), Damien Jones (Houston), Buster Larkins (Indianapolis) and Will Lumpkin (Dayton).\nWhile the Hoosiers recruited defensive backs more heavily than any other position, Cameron addressed several other needs.\nThe Hoosiers got Bryan Robertson of Seymour, Ind., as a place kicker.\nRobertson was the only kicker named to Street & Smith's preseason first-team All-American team and will replace Andy Payne, who is graduating. Robertson kicked a 61-yard field goal last season, setting an Indiana high school record, and made five field goals of 50-plus yards as a junior.\nCameron said he wanted to add depth at several other positions, especially on the offensive side of the ball.\nHe added another player with college experience in Matt Buchholz, a 6-foot-4, 235-pound tight end who attended San Bernardino Valley College last season.\nCameron got several running backs, including Kyle Koester, a 250-pound fullback out of Cincinnati. Koester chose IU over Notre Dame, Michigan State and Ohio University.\nThe Hoosiers signed several defensive linemen, linebackers and wide receivers and one offensive lineman.\nThe class was not highly rated by national recruiting analysts, but Cameron said he wasn't looking for a top-10 class.\n"We think every guy can contribute, and we were able to meet most of our needs," he said. "And as I said when I first got here, a great recruiting class doesn't make your program. It's the ability to have a solid class every year. I put this one in that category, a solid class."\nAnd Cameron doesn't take sole credit for this "solid" class. He said coaches merely play a role in getting players to come to a program.\n"First and foremost, I thought our players did a tremendous job," he said. "All of our hosts and our entire team did a tremendous job in the recruiting process and in really welcoming guys to come here"