It would have made for more drama, more sound-bites and bold headlines, more warm-and-fuzzies to end the football recruiting campaign if some of the chronologies had unfolded a little differently: What if safety Martel Thatch of Greensboro Dudley High School had not been insistent on ending his recruiting prior to his senior year of football? What if he'd waited until the national signing day to make his decision and held a press conference to pull a cap from a paper sack with entries bearing the colors and logos of Hurricanes, Cavaliers, Tigers and Gamecocks? He had offers from all of them, so why not?

Ditto for defensive end Hilee Taylor, who wanted to enjoy his final year of high school football, free from the incessant phone calls from colleges and the weight of one of life's major decisions. Imagine the buzz on the recruiting sites if he'd continued to bounce rumors of leans towards Virginia Tech or N.C. State as the Feb. 4th D-Day loomed?

What if defensive end Kentwan Balmer hadn't fallen for what he called Carolina's "family atmosphere" way back in June? What if he'd juggled the Wolfpack and Maryland, two teams already on his trail, along with the Heels down to the wire before pulling the trigger for Carolina?

Defensive back Stephen Green of Arkansas was so smitten with Chapel Hill and coach John Bunting program's that he committed in mid-January and called off a trip to Nebraska. That's good for Bunting's blood pressure but not so good for signing day juice.

Running back Antwain Carey enjoyed a mid-December visit to N.C. State and admitted afterward he'd thought of committing on the spot. What if he'd done so but hadn't been a hundred percent solid, had allowed the Tar Heels to continue to serenade him and at 10 a.m. last Wednesday told a world of recruiting junkies on cable TV he was switching to baby blue over fire-engine red?

The perception would have been much different, for sure.

But that's not how real-life unfolded over the last eight months, for these and 18 other new members of the Carolina football program. Unfortunately for Bunting and the Tar Heels, the last-minute fireworks went against them when one highly publicized defensive lineman announced Wednesday afternoon for State over Carolina.

Would Bunting liked to have landed DeMario Pressley, a teammate of Thatch at Dudley? Absolutely.

But consider this: Pressley's stated reason for choosing the Wolfpack was its stable won-loss record over the last two seasons, and if that's the overriding issue to a young man, you cannot argue with the cold mathematics of State's 19-8 record in 2002-03 versus Carolina's 5-19. But as one Tar Heel coach asked Pressley Wednesday morning: "DeMario, you knew in November we were 2-10. Why not get it over with then and save everyone the trouble?" Indeed, had Pressley committed over Thanksgiving, his decision wouldn't have gotten near the buzz it did by waiting until 2:30 p.m. on signing day.

And so it goes in the whacky world of recruiting. But make no mistake: This was a very good harvest for the Tar Heels, particularly given the weight of the won-loss record and all the negative recruiting they had to overcome.

"Let other people dwell on who we didn't get," Bunting said Wednesday. "I'm fired up about what we've got coming into this program. I'm excited to see these great players. We had goals to fill-first, the offensive line, and second, the secondary. We met those needs. We have some outstanding defensive linemen coming in on the heels of a great class a year ago. Some might look at that depth and say, 'Hey, maybe that's not the place I want to go.'"

Throughout the list of 23 new Tar Heels are reasons to believe Bunting and staff have competently built on a very good class a year ago, that they are re-loading a talent warehouse that had grown near barren on defense following the instability of the Carl Torbush regime and the learning curve that Bunting needed to master following a career coaching in Division III and the NFL. They successfully re-recruited four holdovers from 2003 who went to Hargrave Military Academy, and retaining the services in particular of Terry Hunter and Khalif Mitchell was notable. They were creative in finding potential short-term personnel boosts from East Tennessee State, which discontinued its football program following the 2003 season. They continue to identify prospects and sell the program early, getting 40 percent of their commitments from prep seniors before the end of August.

And they are doing a good job finding players with the wherewithal to see the big picture-that football is fun and important but just part of a quotient that includes getting an education at a top university.

"Forget athletics for a moment," says new linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator John Gutekunst. "Ask people around the country which are the best state universities, and you'll get these answers: On the West Coast, it's California. In the Midwest, it's Michigan. On the East Coast, it's North Carolina. We have a history, a reputation. That's important to a lot of kids and their parents."

After three years at Carolina, Bunting has had the opportunity to develop relationships with a number of high school coaches across the state. He's not yet created the staff stability he'd like or needs to have a truly well-oiled recruiting machine-with two changes this year after one in 2003 and two in 2002-but assistants like Kenny Browning, Gunter Brewer, James Webster, Hal Hunter and Andre Powell have now been in their recruiting areas long enough to build some momentum. First-year recruiting coordinator Brad Lawing has recruited much of his career in the Carolinas and has fine-tuned the overall operation after joining the Carolina staff from Michigan State one year ago.

"A good class like this one is a result of hard work one and two years ago," says Brewer. "We've been following these kids as freshmen and sophomores. We've had them in camp. We've had them on campus on 'Junior Days.' This class coming off of 2-10 is better than the one two years ago coming off the Peach Bowl."

Carolina signed nine players from within North Carolina and landed five of the The Charlotte Observer's Top 25 prospects in the state. Of the ones they did not get, several were major targets. Others were not.

"My goal is to get every player in-state we offer," Lawing says. "For us to have two pretty darn good classes after winning five games in two years is impressive. Now we just need to win a few games and we'll get rid of the last reason not to come. That part's coming."

It takes three years to know for certain how good a recruiting class is. If you study the one from 2000, it's not hard to understand how the Tar Heels have fallen into difficult times on the playing field. The 1999 season was a stormy one for Torbush and the Heels as they went 3-9, and the latter half of the season was burdened by rumors and a media circus surrounding a potential Torbush firing.

The signing class the following February included 19 players, and only QB Darian Durant from the whole lot has turned into a certifiable all-star. Two others have developed into quality offensive linemen-Willie McNeill and Skip Seagraves. Madison Hedgecock has helped at fullback, defensive end and special teams. Brandon Russell was a productive reserve and special-teams player. Devllen Bullard, Jonas Seawright, Jermicus Banks and Clarence Gaddy have all contributed but haven't seized consistent starting roles, and the latter two departed after the 2003 season with a year of eligibility remaining. Falling by the wayside with injuries were Larry Jessup and Andre Williams. And then there's the catch-all of players who washed out for various other reasons from homesickness to academics to discipline: Justin Barton, Jason Crawford, Blake Ferguson, Kitwana Jones, Aaron Leak, JoVon Lewis, Bryant Macklin and Isaac Montgomery.

That's not how you get to a prime-time slot in the Bowl Championship Series. Or even back to the Peach Bowl on New Year's Eve.

Compare 2000 to 2003. Already on offense it's clear that last year's true freshman class including Ronnie McGill, Mike Mason, Adarius Bowman and Jesse Holley will accomplish much in their careers. Defensive players Larry Edwards, Fred Sparkman, Isiah Thomas, Shelton Bynum and Melik Brown have shown tremendous potential, and that group doesn't include perhaps the best of the group, red-shirted freshman lineman Kyndraus Guy. By mid-season 2004, this group will have collectively already made as much of an impact on Carolina football in a season and a half than the 2000 class did in four-plus years.

"This is the second great class in a row-it's a Top 20, Top 15 caliber group," Bunting said (it was No. 18 by one service). "That should really help us start to put this thing over the top and turn it around." Asked on signing day if there was one thread running through the incoming players, Bunting was quick to respond: "Character. There's tremendous character in this group. I still believe character wins football games. These players will become great leaders. The vast majority are very fine students."

Four of the 23 are already enrolled for spring semester, are involved in off-season conditioning workouts and will go through spring practice. Defensive linemen Hunter and Mitchell arrived in January from Hargrave, and safety Gerald Sensabaugh and tight end Scott Brumett transferred from ETSU. Because their previous program disbanded, there is no one-year wait for Sensabaugh and Brumett to be eligible. Each is a rising senior.

"We could get immediate help from all of those players," says Bunting.

Hunter and Mitchell have already made quite an impression in just over a month on campus. Both were highly prized as high school seniors a year ago but became even more coveted targets as they got additional exposure at Hargrave. The school hosts a combine every December for college coaches to critique and evaluate its players, and more than a hundred coaches were there this year hoping to land some of a talent haul that produced approximately 45 Division 1 scholarship signees. Bunting, Lawing and Browning were there to protect their interests in Hunter and Mitchell along with Kenny Price and Marcus Hands.

"They came after Terry and Khalif with both barrels blazing," Lawing says. "A lot of people had seen them on tape, but when they saw them in person, it was like, 'WOW!' It was unreal. That was a heckuva day. Once we got through that, we could breathe a little easier."

"These kids were so good that other schools just weren't going to give up on them," Browning adds.

Both have enormous physical skills. Mitchell is 6-6, 308 pounds and runs the 40 in 4.9. That's incredible speed for someone so large. Hunter is 6-4, 270 and has 4.65 speed.

"I've been impressed with both of them," says strength and conditioning coach Jeff Connors. "Terry and Khalif fit in well with the class they originally signed with. There's a lot of spirit in that class. These are the same type of kids. They have great attitudes and work hard."

Connors compares Mitchell's workout mantra with that of former Tar Heel Anthony Perkins, a walk-on who earned a scholarship and the nickname "Full Tilt."

"I think they should call Khalif 'Full Tilt Two,'" Connors says. "His intensity's incredible. Whatever he does, he goes at it with a high level of effort."

With this signing class, the Tar Heels hopefully are not far from generating a respectable pass rush. On the edge in this class are Taylor, Balmer, Hunter and Hands. Inside are Mitchell and Price. From last year's class are Bynum and Thomas. Red-shirted were Guy and Donnell Livingston. Melik Brown is an outside linebacker who played as a freshman last year and could become an end. Alden Blizzard saw extensive playing time at end as a red-shirt freshman in 2003 and should improve this season. And then there are 2002 signees Brian Rackley and Xavier Rainey, who Bunting hopes might be ready to blossom as productive ends.

"We'll have tremendous competition this spring on the defensive line," Bunting says. "That's going to be very important to our success. We need to pressure the quarterback. We've got guys with a lot of skills.

"Terry Hunter is an aggressive player," he says. "He has speed and instincts. He has great body quickness on the snap of the ball. Khalif Mitchell is quick and has a big body. He played running back in high school. That was a sight to see-a kid as big as him carrying the football. Kentwan Balmer might be the most impressive on tape. By the time an offensive guy has taken one step, he's taken five and has blown by them. He looks like Julius Peppers. He might not have quite the speed Julius has, but he's got a big-time motor.

"And Hilee Taylor is a pass-rushing specialist. Obviously we have not gotten much production from our ends lately. I think that will come with Hilee and Terry and Kentwan on the edge and some of the other players we have already in the program ready to spread their wings."

In addition to shoring up the defensive front, the Tar Heels got the help they need at defensive back (where seniors Dexter Reid, Michael Waddell and Derrick Johnson depart), and along the offensive front (which loses Jeb Terry and Jupiter Wilson). Place-kicker was of major importance with Dan Orner's graduation, and Connor Barth of Wilmington brings an accurate and powerful leg and has already learned to kick off grass after a high-school career using a kicking tee. Combine Barth with rising sophomore punter David Wooldridge, and the kicking chores would seem to be in quite capable hands for years to come.

Two of the players best representing what Bunting is attempting to do with the program are perhaps Trimane Goddard, a defensive back out of Robersonville, and Calvin Darity, an offensive lineman out of Tallahassee.

One is home-grown, the other from 10 hours away.

One is a skilled athlete and could play any of a number of positions. The other is a man of the trenches with the proper blend of toughness, quickness, size, strength and smarts.

Both are good students and excellent young men. No need to worry about off-the-field problems with either. "You're getting a great player and a better kid," Roanoke High coach Donnie Kiefer told Browning, who recruits the northeast corner of the state into the Tidwater area.

They could have gone to any college in the country. Goddard canceled trips to Tennessee and Florida State after deciding on the Tar Heels in mid-January. And how about this tour of official visits for Darity: Nebraska in December, then on consecutive weekends in January he traveled to Carolina, LSU, Tennessee and FSU.

Both had the ability to look beyond the poor won-loss records of the last two years and envision the future. Recruits this year were hosted by members of the last two signing classes, and the Tar Heels' new signees bought into the idea that the youth movement will one day evolve into mature teams capable of challenging for the upper echelon of the ACC. Carolina was simply a good fit for each of them.

Both toured the campus, met with academic officials and felt the same vibes from Bunting that helped prompt former Nebraska secondary coach Marvin Sanders to opt for a job on the Tar Heel staff over several other opportunities.

"Coach Bunting is not just the head coach," Sanders says. "He's the head of a family. He feels this is his family. That's what got me excited about this program. He's a genuine person and a straight-shooter. I don't see any reason why this program cannot be a Top 10 program very soon. The potential is there."

Finding good fits will continue to be the mission of Bunting & Co. as they work to rebuild Carolina's football fortunes. The qualifications are many: Good athlete. Fast. Tough. Good football mindset. Loves the game. Good team player. Accountable off the field. Well-rounded. Wants to succeed academically.

You hope every player you sign fits the bill and you believe they do or you wouldn't have signed them. The evaluation process, however, is an inexact science and sometimes a decision doesn't work. That's what got the Tar Heels into the muck of the last few years. But odds are the hits are on the upswing and misses on the downswing.

"Football the last two years around here has not been very good," Bunting acknowledges. "But that means there have been plenty of opportunities for good players to come in and help us take it to where it's been before. I'm not saying we're talking national championship yet, but I'm talking about contending in this great ACC. In a year or two, we want to shoot for the ACC title year-after-year."