DeKALB | Not even a blizzard was enough to derail National Signing Day for the NIU football team on Wednesday afternoon.

First-year head coach Dave Doeren announced his first recruiting class as a head coach at the Yordon Center in DeKalb. The class of 22 includes eight three-star recruits, according to Rivals.com. The rest of the class is made up of two-star recruits and players with no profile on Rivals.com.

Unlike past recruiting classes at NIU, the 2011 class relied heavily on out-of-state recruits. Only four of the 22 future Huskies are originally from Illinois. Missouri and Florida are the best represented states, with six and five recruits respectively coming from each state.

Six recruits were already committed to NIU prior to the departure of former head coach Jerry Kill. Cameron Clinton-Earl highlights the list of Kill’s recruits. The 6’1″ 240-pound freshman from Milwaukee, Wis. was a first-team All-State selection in his senior year at Hamilton High School.

Former North Carolina Tar Heel Jamal Womble was also committed to NIU prior to Doeren’s hiring. Womble, though, had a closer relationship with NIU linebackers coach Tom Matukewicz than he did with Kill. The 235-pound running back spent the last year at Hutchinson Community College, but will bring his talents to NIU for his junior season.

Hired in mid-December, Doeren had a little over a month-and-a-half before national signing day. In turn, the first-year head coach had to rely heavily on his relationships formed with players while at Wisconsin.

“Several of these guys I knew about from my time in Wisconsin,” Doeren said. “Florida, St. Louis and Kansas City were my areas. I knew where everybody was. I really relied on some of the other coaches for guys in areas I wasn’t as familiar with.”

Each coach had ties in different states, but the NIU coaching staff made the decision to work together in an effort to form a closer bond with recruits that were unfamiliar with NIU.

“We didn’t recruit by area, we recruited together,” Doeren said. “Our staff worked hard together, we crossed over positions, we recruited all over. [We] bounced around as many houses as we could. We went to as many schools as possible to try and make kids feel as comfortable as possible.”

Defensive coordinator Jay Niemann likes the fact that there wasn’t just one position on the defense that the staff addressed. Niemann will have the opportunity to groom freshman at several different positions in August.

“I think it is a solid class. One of the biggest pluses is the balance of it,” Niemann said. “We got d-line and linebackers. [We] got some defensive backs, Guys that we feel can contribute quickly. Their speed, size and athleticism are all really great.”

Two months removed from the untimely departure of Kill, NIU Athletic Director Jeff Compher is happy that he can finally breathe easy knowing his football team is in good hands.

“[Doeren’s] done a phenomenal job getting everyone on the road, developing relationships and evaluating talent,” Compher said. “The logistics of it all were really impressive. His organizational skills were great and he brought guys in that share his same values. It puts the mind at ease.”