Maryland coach Randy Edsall couldn't have sounded much happier about the predictability of his first signing day in College Park.
He still uncorked a bit of a surprise, adding a 20th player to his recruiting class with the signing of Nathan Renfro from Tennessee.
"We're thrilled with Nate Renfro coming in here being a guy who's a punter but also is a guy who has the ability to kickoff and do extra points and field goals," Edsall said. "You kind of get two-for-one, but the punting is the key issue with him."
Of all the players in the class, Renfro might have the clearest path to making an immediate impact. Travis Baltz, a four-year starter at punter and the placekicker in 2010, graduated. And junior Nick Ferrara battled injuries and ineffectiveness last fall. He didn't attempt a kick all season.
So when Edsall met with the holdovers from Ralph Friedgen's old staff, they made it a point to emphasize the need to add a punter.
"They really felt that we needed to get a kicking specialist, a punter/kicker combination or a punter in here," Edsall said. "They thought that was critical. we were looking at couple different people, and Nate had come up here on a visit and at that point in time, we weren't in a position to be able to offer him a scholarship. We continued to pursue things and he was going somewhere else and then we had a meeting the other day and Lee [Hull] brought it up and said 'Hey, why don't we take a shot with Nate,' and we did and it turned out in our favor."
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