The BYU Football team announced the 2008 recruiting class Wednesday at Lavell Edwards Stadium. Coach Bronco Mendenhall made the announcement in front of a dozen news cameras and several hundred faithful fans.

Mendenhall started his remarks at the packed Cougar Room at Edwards Stadium by giving a "state of the football team" address. Mendenhall touched on the success and tradition of the team and what he expects to see in the future.

"I have the easiest job in the country in terms of a traditional component, which means that when you have a program with 23 conference championships, 26 bowl games, and a national championship the standard has already been set," he said.

Recruiting criteria for the Cougars include Div. I-caliber athletes, ecclesiastically worthy players and academically successful students. Mendenhall cited these criteria as great predictors of what can be expected of these recruits, rather than as restraints by which his staff recruits.

The Cougars had 17 of these commitments prior to the start of last season, and 20 of the 21 recruits had verbally committed long before last season ended.

Highlighting the announcement were three players from Bingham High School including kicker Justin Sorenson and tight end Austin Holt. Both were named as Salt Lake Tribune 5A First-Team All-State selections.

Sorenson, whose accolades include 2007 Parade All-American and Utah Gatorade Player of the year, holds records for PATs, field goals and the longest field goal in high school state history. He hit a 62-yard field goal last season for Bingham High School and converted on 54-55 extra point attempts. Sorenson will play this fall for the Cougars and will leave following the season to serve a mission.

The other Bingham High School recruit, Austin Holt, is a 6-foot-6, 230-pound tight end. He was also named as a Salt Lake Tribune 5A First-Team All-State selection. Holt plans to serve a mission before enrolling in BYU. He was also recruited by Florida, Stanford, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, Oregon and UCLA.

Another highly touted recruit who signed with the Cougars is Shiloah Te'o. Te'o is a native of Hawaii and is one of the top recruit prospects out of the state.

"He's really done a great job of corresponding with some of our other recruits that had not committed to us. He's a Cougar," said BYU assistantcoach Paul Tidwell, who oversees recruiting.

Mendenhall specifically highlighted two players who signed with the Cougars Wednesday, beginning with O'Neill Chambers, a highly-recruited wide receiver from Florida. After drawing attention from some BCS schools, O'Neill decided on BYU with the help of his high school coach, who is an LDS church member.

"He came into camp and fell in love with this place, but we expected him to fade off into the sunset," Mendenhall said. "But he just kept saying: 'coach, I really like BYU' and he did all the way to the end, it just clicked with him,"

The other recruit mentioned by Mendenhall was Atem Bol, a wide receiver from Texas with a unique story. Bol comes from Africa, were his family was displaced due to a civil war in his home country of Sudan. He was responsible for his five siblings while his mom took a day-and-a-half boat ride to work for 20 straight days. His family then came to Texas were the language barrier was significant. Bol is currently eligible to play for the Cougars.

"I really hope that he's able to accomplish his goals academically," Mendenhall said. "He has the type of character we want here at BYU."

In total the Cougars signed 21 players for the 2008-2009 season, five of which will be serving mission before they set foot on the football field.

"All we ask of our players this year," Mendnehall said, "is the best they can do."