College Football | Washington coach Steve Sarkisian battling time in recruiting

With much of what will be the highest-paid coaching staff in Washington football history in place, now comes earning time.

Specifically, reeling in some recruits to begin the process of turning around a UW program that went 0-12 last season and 12-47 the last five years.

Not that Steve Sarkisian, Nick Holt and crew have long — national letter-of-intent signing day is Feb. 4.

With only a couple of months to put them together, classes recruited in the midst of a postseason coaching change tend to be spotty. What have generally been considered the two lowest-rated UW classes in recent history occurred after the last two end-of-year coaching changes — the 2005 class (when Tyrone Willingham took over for Keith Gilbertson) and 1999 (Rick Neuheisel for Jim Lambright).

For that reason, recruiting analysts say it won't really be fair to judge Sarkisian's ability to bring in talent as a head coach on this class.

"Next year is when you'll really see what kind of a recruiter he can become," said Greg Biggins, a West Coast recruiting analyst for ESPN.com.

Sarkisian admits the time crunch makes recruiting a challenge.

"Ultimately, we're just trying to get good football players," he said. "This class, this stage where we are at, this short amount of time, we're trying to get the best football players who show an interest and go get them."

Sarkisian, though, isn't tempering expectations for how many players UW may be able to sign — he said last week he hopes to bring in the maximum allowable 25 if possible. (Teams can only have 85 total, so the number of recruits signed has to fit into that number. Teams do sometimes sign more than the spots that appear available, assuming some fluctuation down the road).

UW reportedly has 10 commitments, though three are what are termed "soft verbals," players who have said they intend to sign with UW but may still take visits to other schools.

That's the fewest number of players to have committed to any Pac-10 school — next is Oregon with 14 — and one reason the class is rated just 77th in the nation and last in the conference by Scout.com. If it stays there, it will be by far the lowest-rated class in UW history — Willingham's 2005 class was No. 55 nationally by Scout.com, the previous low.

The 2005 class, however, was bolstered late by the commitments of the highly rated Bellevue duo of J.R. Hasty and E.J. Savannah, who weren't committed when Willingham took over.

Sarkisian doesn't have the same luxury this year as nine of the top 10 prospects in the state, according to Rivals.com, have already committed elsewhere, decisions made (or all but cemented) before Sarkisian took over.

Recruiting analysts say there are likely only two in-state players UW is heavily pursuing — defensive back Desmond Trufant of Wilson High (and the younger brother of Seahawk Marcus Trufant) and linebacker Tony Heard of Edmonds-Woodway. Sarkisian tried to make a run at some of the in-state talent committed elsewhere, notably receiver Gino Simone of Skyline. But he reaffirmed his commitment to Washington State recently.

The state will yield a lot more talent next year, analysts say, notably Skyline quarterback Jake Heaps, regarded by some as the No. 1 recruit in the nation. Getting him is a priority for Sarkisian and his staff and will be an early indicator of his recruiting acumen.

Sarkisian said UW needs to add talent everywhere. If there's a specific area of concern, he said, it's the offensive line. Other positions that need some depth include both kicking spots and tight end.

"We need to get faster, obviously," he said. "You can never get fast enough. And we want to become more athletic, especially on the offensive line, than what we've been. Mostly we are just trying to get really good football players."

Of the players who have committed to UW, six did so while Willingham was still coach, including the player Biggins says may be the best of the group, quarterback Keith Price of St. John Bosco High in Bellflower, Calif. Price initially wavered but has recommitted to UW after a recent meeting with Sarkisian.

Sarkisian decided not to bring in recruits for visits last week, but will have at least six in this weekend — and at least 15 over the next three — according to Scout.com. Among those coming in next weekend is safety Will Shamburger, a high-school teammate of Price's whom Biggins says is "a big-time sleeper."

Shamburger originally committed to Boise State.

Biggins says Sarkisian's hustle in getting Shamburger interested in UW is the kind of thing he has been impressed with so far.

"I really like a lot of the things he has been doing," Biggins said.

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com