New SMU coach Chad Morris wasn't joking about his focus for recruiting targeting Texas and the Dallas area.
All 22 of the Mustangs signings announced Wednesday were high school players from in-state.
Morris was a high school coach for 16 years in Texas before moving on to the college ranks as an assistant.
Morris was hired Dec. 1, and said it wasn't necessarily the fast recruiting track for his first class that dictated staying close to home.
"Being a Texas high school football coach, I think right here in our own area, in our own state there are some unbelievable players," Morris said. "I don't want to drive past a player to get the same caliber of player in another state. It doesn't make any sense for us."
Topping the list for Morris was quarterback Ben Hicks of Waco Midway. Hicks enrolled in January after a brief visit to campus the weekend before the latest dead period started.
Morris coached some top Texas quarterbacks before going to Tulsa and then Clemson, where he was one of the nation's highest-paid offensive coordinators for one of the most prolific units in the country.
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That was enough to persuade Hicks, who threw for more than 3,500 yards and 28 touchdowns last season.
"He's been extremely important in the process of the other high-profile players that we got on our roster," said Morris, who also landed receiver James Proche from nearby DeSoto while hiring that team's coach, Claude Mathis, as an assistant.
Elsewhere in Texas, UTSA landed Southlake Carroll defensive tackle King Newton, the son of former Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman and three-time Super Bowl winner Nate Newton.
Newton is part of a huge class of 37 for UTSA coach Larry Coker, who won the 2001 BCS championship at Miami. The largest signing class in the program's four-year history includes former Oklahoma receiver Dannon Cavil and eight junior college transfers.
Houston officially added receiver Chance Allen, who played five games for Oregon during the Ducks' run to the first championship game in the College Football Playoff. Allen played at a Houston-area high school.
The Cougars are also adding quarterback Adam Schulz, a former Wisconsin high school star who played eight games for Utah before transferring.
Tight end M.J. McFarland is joining UTEP after transferring from Texas. He played at an El Paso high school.
