Ed Orgeron’s pledge to the Ole Miss faithful when he took over the Rebels’ football program was that he would be a dogged recruiter.

On Wednesday, the results of that pledge came in the form of 24 signatures that make his first recruiting class one of the best in the nation.

&#8220This is a tremendous class,” Orgeron said. &#8220The one thing all these players had in common is that they wanted to be at Ole Miss. They wanted to come in and help build a championship program.”

Rivals.com, one of the nation’s leading authorities in college football recruiting, listed the Rebels as the 14th best recruiting class nationally.

The jewel of the class is quarterback Brent Schaeffer. The California junior college passer played one game at Tennessee before transferring to juco.

Orgeron made it clear that even though the team had signed three quarterbacks, there will be no QB controversy when the season begins.

&#8220He will be our quarterback,” Orgeron said. &#8220We need him. He gave a boost to our class when he signed.”

Twenty-nine players are included in Ole Miss’ signing class. Wednesday was the first day for prep athletes to sign national letters of intent to play college football.

Included in Orgeron’s class is Rory Johnson, a linebacker from Vicksburg High who spent the last two seasons at Hinds.

Marcus Tillman and Jerrell Powe highlight the defensive signees for the Rebels. Both are stout defensive linemen.

&#8220This is one of the best defensive line classes I have been around, and that includes the one (at Southern Cal) that I had three or four years ago,” Orgeron said.

Southern Miss signed 28 players, and Mississippi State signed 26.

&#8220It was a good day for us,” Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower said. &#8220We are all pleased with the signing class. I think there is a lot of talent in this group.”

One of those was Warren Central standout Chico Hunter, who signed with the Golden Eagles early Wednesday morning.

The Eagles went heavy on defense, with 11 of the signees playing on that side of the ball. Sean Merrill, a LSU commitment out of high school in D’Iberville, signed with Southern Miss after two years in junior college.

&#8220We did a good job on our defensive ends and on the defensive line,” Bower said.

Oak Grove standout Torris Magee highlights an offensive class that saw four wide receivers sign.

In Starkville, Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom focused on wide receivers, running backs and his defensive front seven, adding three wideouts, two tailbacks, six defensive linemen and three linebackers.

&#8220That was our primary objective … to get some wide receivers in here, and to get some depth at running back, and we did that,” Croom said.

J.C. Brignone, a star defensive lineman at St. Stanislaus along the Mississippi Gulf Coast who fled to a Georgia high school when Hurricane Katrina hit in August, signed with the Bulldogs. And, as expected, war veteran Timmy Bailey, an Army National Guardsman who drove trucks in Iraq for a year, signed with Mississippi State.