Coach Willie Taggart and his coaching staff spoke Wednesday night at Western’s National Signing Day reception at Smith Stadium’s Topper Club after Taggart signed 16 recruits earlier in the day.

Western’s 2010 recruiting class was rated the No. 1 class in the Sun Belt Conference, according to Rivals.com.

“Here at WKU, we’ll recruit the best and recruit against the best,” Taggart said. “It took everyone’s effort to get the class we got.”

Taggart praised his staff’s recruiting efforts, as it was able to land five Rivals.com three-star players.

“There’ll be some speed in this class, and they are explosive,” said recruiting coordinator Eric Mathies. “We’ll be a physical team across the board.”

Stressed in Taggart’s two-plus months of recruiting was the secondary, as six defensive backs were signed.

There was also a noticeable emphasis on recruiting the state of Florida. Ten of Western’s signees hail from the Sunshine State, including Rivals three-star quarterback Brandon Doughty.

New quarterbacks coach Mark Sanford said he was especially excited about Doughty.

“The best quarterback in Florida is committed to WKU,” Sanford said. “He’s an incredibly intelligent kid with a tremendous football IQ and also throws a good deep ball.”

The size of the audience inside Smith Stadium Wednesday night impressed even Taggart, who thanked members of the community for making the 2010 class what it is.

And the community seemed equally thankful to have Taggart, a first-year head coach and former player, at Western.

“Coach Taggart has been great at recruiting and put together a great staff,” said former football Topper Larry Deweese. “So far Coach Taggart is doing a great job.”