Levine impresses again, signs Greenberry

HOUSTON As Houston Cougars coach Tony Levine cracked joke after joke in a monotone that belied his mood, it was easy to understand the source of his elation. The Cougars, once an afterthought on the national college football landscape, made headlines once again on Wednesday. Completing the surprise move of national signing day, Fresno, Calif., wide receiver Deontay Greenberry ended an eight-month commitment to Notre Dame and signed with the Cougars. Greenberry, considered a top-50 national recruit by every national recruiting service, visited Houston last weekend and followed first-year Cougars special teams coordinatorinside receivers coach Jamie Christian, who established a relationship with Greenberry while recruiting him for Arizona State. Rated as the nation's No. 7 wide receiver by Rivals, Greenberry (6-foot-3, 185 pounds) was named "Mr. California" after setting state records for receiving yards (2,165) and touchdowns (33) for Washington Union High, which claimed the Division III state championship. In landing Greenberry, the Cougars were the talk of national signing day, continuing the dialogue established by their 13-win season in 2011. "I would argue that there's not been a better time where there's been more publicity for the University of Houston football program than right now," Levine said. "With the success we had this past season I don't want to take College Game Day coming here for granted. That was huge nationally. Winning the (TicketCity Bowl) game, moving to the Big East, getting the new football stadium, all of that combined there's more of a buzz nationally right now for the University of Houston football program, in my opinion, than ever before. "Now you couple that on the other end of it with getting a recruit to come here with his national prominence. What that does, and I've seen it before when I was at the University of Louisville, is a year from now one or two or three more say, He came here and look at the success he's had. He made the decision to attend the University of Houston. Why can't I?' It goes both ways and will really help us moving forward." Levine, who succeeded Kevin Sumlin after Sumlin filled the coaching vacancy at Texas A&M before the bowl victory over Penn State, had done an exceptional job keeping the class together before Greenberry signed. The Cougars had earned kudos by garnering commitments from defensive tackles Donald Hopkins (Lago Vista), a Texas top 100 recruit, and Tomme Mark (Lufkin), as well as running backs Terrence Taylor (Diboll), Jontrey Tillman (Baldwin, La.) and Ryan Jackson (Angleton). Greenberry represents a coup and helps fill a position of dire need. Houston also signed receivers Xavier Maxwell (Blinn), Larry McDuffey (North Shore) and Andrew Rodriguez (Allen). They graduated their four starters at receiver from last season, and in the process of losing Tyron Carrier, Patrick Edwards, Justin Johnson and E.J. Smith, lost 301 receptions, 4,249 yards and 39 touchdowns. Beyond his relationship with Christian, Greenberry saw an opportunity to play immediately. "Being able to come in and display his talents on the field, to immediately have that possibility was something that was extremely interesting to him," Levine said. "He's talented. His confidence on the field is impressive. He wants the football. We're going to have to talk to our conference about seeing if we can use more footballs because he's going to want the football every play." Levine took pride in the fact that of the 24 recruits he signed, half are defensive players. Under Sumlin and his predecessor, Art Briles, the Cougars were renowned for their offensive capabilities and derided for their defensive shortcomings. Levine is taking steps to balance that reputation, first by switching to a 4-3 defensive alignment. His insistence on recruiting superior athletes with the potential to grow into physical marvels was paramount to the goal of improving defensively. As Levine rattled off names he frequently offered projections of where players would be after a year in the weight room. From Needville offensive lineman Blake Herman to linebackers Thaddeus LaGrone (Allen) and Davonte Thomas (Eisenhower), Levine presented glimpses of the future. Thomas and Steven Aikens (Angleton Seguin) were safeties, but the added weight to their frames won't sap either of the athleticism that should make them key contributors at new positions. Greenberry wasn't the only recruit plucked from the clutches of national programs. Tillman was committed to Stanford before circumstances changed. Hopkins declined an offer from Alabama. Luring players like B.J. Singleton, Trevon Stewart and Tillman out of Louisiana is never easy. Doing so while turning over an entire staff is exceedingly difficult. Somehow Levine managed to shake the interim tag, hire five assistants, and keep this quality class together all in the span of a month. Greenberry represented one enormous cherry on top of his sundae. "The first priority was to hold on to the commitments we had prior to the change," Levine said. "And then we felt like we had some more pieces to the puzzle we had to find and establish relationships with. Naturally within the commitments there were a few changes made there as well. Just being honest, I think it's a little bit better than I anticipated." Follow me on Twitter at moisekapenda