RICHMOND — Just a few hours after he was officially introduced as the new head football coach at Eastern Kentucky University, Dean Hood jumped right into the process of completing the school’s 2008 recruiting class.

“As soon as the press conference was done we came over here and I showed the wife and kids this office,” Hood said. “Then after (they left) I went into a meeting with Jake Johnson, our recruiting coordinator. That was the very first thing I did.”

The former Wake Forest defensive coordinator was hired on Jan. 22, just 15 days before national signing day.

The Colonels already had three mid-year transfers on campus and several verbal commitments, but because of the unexpected departure of former coach Danny Hope during a critical time in the recruiting process, Hood knew there was lots of work to be done in a very short amount of time.

“They did a great job treading water (after Hope left on Jan. 11),” Hood said of the EKU coaching staff. “So things were really in tip-top shape.”

And despite the coaching change, Hood and the staff were still able to land some top-notch recruits and to keep most of those who had already committed from changing their minds.

EKU released its 2008 recruiting class on Wednesday and it includes five Kentucky players, highlighted by Madison Central’s Patrick Ford (6-foot-6, 245 pound lineman). The Colonels signed seven offensive linemen, three defensive backs, three wide receivers, two linebackers, one kicker, one tight end, one defensive lineman and a running back.

“(The offensive line) was a big priority and we did a great job with all the kids we got,” Hood said. “We are really fired up. Three of those kids are from Kentucky. That was our biggest need and we are glad we filled it with Kentucky kids.”

Ford’s father played at EKU and was a member of the 1979 national championship team. He was an honorable mention all-state selection last season as an offensive and defensive lineman.

The other two in-state offensive linemen are Jordan Johnson (6-foot-5, 275 pounds) from Pikeville High School and Central Hardin’s Paul Henry Jr. (6-foot-5, 250 pounds).

Andre Barbour played on the offensive line at North Carolina before transferring earlier this year and Aaron Adams comes to EKU from Fork Union Academy. O.J. Enabosia (6-foot-3, 285 pounds from Villa Rice, Ga.) and Christina Molina (6-foot-5, 255 pounds from Clearwater, Fla.) are the other offensive linemen in this year’s recruiting class.

Shannon Davis, a 5-foot-11 wide receiver from Atlanta, played in one game last season at Tulane and Andre Evans, a 5-foot-10 defensive back, started six total games at Buffalo during the 2005 and 2006 seasons.

In addition to Ford, one other member of the signing class already had strong ties to EKU. Justin Bell, a 5-foot-9 defensive back from Tampa, Fla., is the cousin of former Colonel and current Miami Dolphin Yeremiah Bell.

The other two Kentucky players in the class are linebacker Shumari Bridgewater (5-foot-10, 200 pounds — Campbellsville) and kicker/punter Jason Nicholson (Dunbar).

In addition to Davis, the Colonels signed wide receivers Gary Myers (6-foot-3, 180 pounds from Orlando, Fla.) and Orlandus Harris (5-foot-11, 185 pounds from Chattanooga).

The rest of the group includes: Warren Brown (5-foot-10, 180-pound free safety from Miami, Fla.), Chris Cunningham (6-foot-2, 245-pound defensive end from Miami), Jonathan Sharp (6-foot-4, 240-pound tight end from Clinton, Tenn.), Carl Robinson (5-foot-11, 220-pound running back from Douglasville, Ga.) and Kenneth Trimble (5-foot-11, 190-pound linebacker from Cincinnati).

Hood does not expect any of this year’s class to step in and make an immediate impact this fall. In fact, he hopes to be able to redshirt all 16 incoming freshmen.

“Hopefully all the guys on our team right now are the guys — those 68 players who are going to start going through winter conditioning on Monday,” Hood said. “Hopefully, we don’t have to depend on any of these kids.”