If you take a close look at Dave Clawson's first class at Wake Forest, you'll notice a trend. Clawson told ESPN in an interview this morning that his objective was to "sign an entire football team", meaning one player at every position.
After looking at his staff's haul, you could say they did just that. All in all they signed four defensive lineman, three linebackers, and four secondary players (two corners and two safeties). On the offensive side of things they signed five offensive lineman, three receivers, a tight end, and two quarterbacks and tailbacks because of the anticipated need in the next few years.
There's a reason that Clawson planned to attack his first season recruiting at Wake in that manner, and it's because of a lesson he learned while starting off at Bowling Green.
I’ve made the mistake before, when I got to Bowling Green, the coaches on the staff said, ‘Hey, we just recruited a great offensive line class. We’re all set there, we’ve got good depth, you don’t need to sign that position.’ We didn’t sign that position, and of those five players, only one of them was even decent." Clawson explained.
"Now we really had two years without the position which killed us. Having not been through a spring practice, having not been through a season with these guys, we basically just wanted to recruit a football team so we have one-deep at every position in the freshman class."
For programs with limited scholarships, that may be a good lesson to keep in mind. Clawson made the mistake, and then adjusted his recruiting philosophy accordingly, so it will be interesting to see what he does in year two and three at Wake and how that philosophy continues to evolve.