Miami University football coach Don Treadwell announced his second consecutive large recruiting class Wednesday with the signing of 22 student athletes.

“It’s unique in the fact it’s a large class again,” said Treadwell, who is heading into his third season at the helm of the RedHawks program. “Last year was really our first true recruiting class, and that was about 22 or 23 kids. Now we back that up with another class of 22. That’s exciting to us as coaches because you’re brining in the players you believe can really impact this program in a positive way.”

Fifteen of the 22 recruits play defense, which should help bolster a unit that ranked 11^th in the Mid-American Conference in total defense (467.7 yards per game) and 10th in scoring defense (34.9 points per game). Those numbers were a big reason for the team’s 4-8 record last year, and they will be a reason why the new recruits will get a chance to contribute this fall.

“Our philosophy is every freshman class knows they are going to get an opportunity to engage and compete and see if they are ready,” Treadwell said. “With each class we bring in, we add what depth. And when you have competition and depth it serves the purpose much greater because now you’re competing behind the scenes. You’re not just waiting to see who can compete on game day against the other team.”

The RedHawks signed five defensive linemen, three linebackers and seven defensive backs. Three of those defensive guys also played offense, including Ohio Mr. Football candidate Heath Harding, who averaged 14.1 yards per carry while rushing for 5,124 yards during his career at Dayton Christian.

Another two-way player is Airion Kosak from Vandalia Butler. The defensive back/wide receiver compiled 1,230 all-purpose yards on just 38 touches, an average of 33 yards per play.

Among the seven true offensive players Miami signed are Falon Lee, a running back from Macclenny, Fla., and quarterback Tom Tupa III, the son of former Ohio State and NFL quarterback/punter Tom Tupa.

The RedHawks also added three offensive linemen who stand 6-foot-5 or taller, including Elder’s Jake Hilvert.

“I remember when I got here looking out on the field and diagnosing some of the top teams in the MAC and then looking over at our linemen and saying ‘Whoa, we’ve got our work cut out for us,’” Treadwell said. “You can’t make them any taller, so our thought is to bring them in when they’re already tall enough, and then let the strength coach do his job.

“At least now you’re going to look like the other team coming out of the locker room,” he continued. “And hopefully you recruited the right guys who provide all the intangibles to make their presence known up front.”

Twelve of the 22 players hail from outside the state of Ohio. And the Class of 2013 includes three sets of prep teammates, including Hilvert and defensive end/athlete AJ Burdine from Elder; linebacker Jake Giordano and defensive back Xavier Swinton from American Heritage in West Palm Beach, Fla.; and defensive back Bert Birdsall and linebacker TJ Williams from Christian Brothers College High in St. Louis.

“We had the flexibility in scholarships that allowed us to be more open ended like that, where we didn’t have to go into a school and say, ‘Well, we can only take one,’” Treadwell said. “That’s the other exciting thing about the class being so large, is we didn’t have to limit ourselves in what our needs were. If you only have 12 or 13 scholarships, you can’t fill every position with another player. By having 22, that allowed us to enhance a little bit of each area, sometimes by one player, sometimes by three players.”