Head football coach Sonny Dykes officially announced the addition of 12 student-athletes to the seven already committed to the 2018 SMU singing class.

SMU signed five junior college transfers and 14 players out of high school. The class includes student-athletes from Texas, Louisiana, and Washington D.C. Dykes said the recruits will help fill needs of size up front. He expects six of the recruits to be over 300 pounds by the beginning of the season. Dykes said that the recruiting class will also address the need of length in the secondary.

Dykes coached Danny Amendola and Wes Welker at Texas Tech and Chris Harper, Kenny Lawler, and Bryce Treggs at Cal; all of whom made it to the NFL However, he was not able to bring on a receiver in the 2018 class. With SMU having Courtland Sutton and Trey Quinn – its top two receivers from 2017 – declare for the NFL draft, the team will have to rely on new players to catch the ball. While receivers are crucial, Dykes stressed the importance of having size and talent on the trenches.

“Those are the guys we talk about, the skill position players,” said Dykes when asked about recruiting receivers. “I’ve always believed in how important it is to run the football and stop the run. The only way to do that is gain size and mass up front.”

In addition, Dykes touched on the changes to SMU facilities. The main topic was the creation of the indoor practice facility. Dykes is excited about having the ability to practice indoors, calling the indoor facility the “icing on the cake” for future recruiting.