Football signing day at N.C. State culminated with a press conference at the Wendell H. Murphy Center yesterday as coach Tom O’Brien took questions and commented on his 2009 signing class.”Once again, it’s a great day for Wolfpack football,” O’Brien said in his opening statement. “We welcome what we think is an excellent class, one that this coaching staff is really looking forward to coaching.”The class, ranked No. 39 in the nation by Scout.com, features 24 athletes from 11 states, along with one from American Samoa. Five of the players attended high school in North Carolina, as O’Brien has continued to deliver on his promise to focus on in-state recruiting, though he admitted that he wouldn’t sign just anyone because they are in-state.”We made the commitment to work within the state of North Carolina to find the guys that fit our need,” O’Brien said. “But where they don’t, we have to go north or south.”Seven of the team’s signees were from the state of Georgia, a state O’Brien said he learned was important for recruiting during his time at Virginia.”Coach [George] Welsh always wanted to get into the Atlanta area and into Georgia because of the preponderance of a lot of good football players in that area,” O’Brien said. “We were able to go there to find a lot of good players.”But O’Brien and his staff also drew recruits from coaches and players from the north as he begins preparations for his third season since leaving Boston College.”We were too strong in too many areas north of us to not go back to those areas,” O’Brien said. “We’ve got to go north or south -  we can’t go east.”Beyond geography, O’Brien was pleased that his class included players from nearly every position.”We tried to sign a football team,” O’Brien said. “There’s players at every position.”O’Brien did lament that his class was heavy on lineman, but said that was due to issues in seasons past with injuries.”We had depth issues that we were concerned about,” O’Brien said. “We haven’t had enough linemen.”O’Brien was also happy that the players his staff focused on in the early stages of recruiting represented the bulk of his signing class.”If we look back on it a year ago, there’s a lot of guys in this class that we targeted from the start that we thought would be a great fit for our program,” O’Brien said. “It’ a step in the right direction for our football team.”Concerning recruits that didn’t sign, O’Brien said only two in-state visitors declined to join the Wolfpack, adding that players that go elsewhere are no longer a concern for his staff.”You can’t worry abou the guys you don’t get,” O’Brien said. “Thats the first lesson I learned in recruiting back in 1975.”After 34 years of recruiting, O’Brien said his outlook on the strength of his class could be summed up the same way he’s discussed all of his players.”We don’t care what they come in as,” O’Brien said. “but they better leave as five-star guys.”