BAY MINETTE, Ala. — Even after going 0-10 Baldwin County High School had a successful signing class as five Tigers signed scholarships to continue their football careers elsewhere. Linebacker Chris Taylor, nose guard Roy Jones Jr., defensive end Demarco Chaney all decided to follow former teammates Chris Bush and Andrew King at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Steven Stevens chose to continue his education at Arkansas State University. David “Boo” Simon committed earlier in the summer to the University of South Florida and made it official during the National Signing Day.

A press release from NWOSU, the school was able to sign 57 players Wednesday, 21 were college transfers and 36 incoming freshmen.

“We are extremely proud of this recruiting class,” stated coach Keith Barefield. “It effectively addresses both our immediate as well as long range needs. With the large number of talented graduating seniors from last year’s squad, we felt it necessary to identify young men who could compete for playing time early with our returners.”

“Our primary goal was to bring in quality players at linebacker and in the secondary on defense, and at running back and wide receiver on offense. These positions were hit especially hard by graduation. The offensive and the defensive line are top priorities every recruiting season, and we believe we were successful in attracting talented athletes from both the high school and junior college ranks to solidify our areas of concern.”

“This is a very talented class that will give us a great foundation for the future.”

Stevens is one of the 24 signees for the Sun Belt's Arkansas State Red Wolves. He was listed as a two star recruit by Rivals.com and Scout.com and was sought after by Memphis, Florida International and Western Kentucky among several other colleges before he made his decision to play with Arkansas State and maybe one day play against in state school South Alabama and Troy University.

David “Boo” Simon had his choice between some elite programs in the nation: Duke, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Wake Forest, Stanford, Maryland, Southern Mississippi, East Carolina, Western Kentucky, Memphis, and Navy; before he made his final choice to join Skip Holtz, son of legendary Lou Holtz, at the University of South Florida. Boo was the only player from Alabama to sign with Coach Holtz and was ranked number one offensive tackle in the state by both Rivals.com and Scout.com. Rivals even went as far as to rank Simon as the third best offensive lineman in the state.