After an unprecedented turnaround year for Colorado football, who reached as high as a No. 8 national ranking in late November, the Buffaloes believe the best is yet to come with an ESPN 25th-ranked recruiting class for 2017 coming in.

On National Signing Day on Wednesday in Boulder, Head Coach Mike MacIntyre said he couldn’t be happier with the group of young men he is adding to the roster next year.

“This is an excellent day. Our coaching staff, everybody that touches our program did a phenomenal job in the whole recruiting process,” MacIntyre said.

The Buffaloes, who finished last season with the Pac-12 South Champions title, boast a class of 27 recruits next season, four of which cracked the ESPN 300 for top recruits in the nation and an ESPN JC 50. Of the 27 incoming players, 22 will come directly from high school whereas five hail from junior colleges.

In the Pac-12, which can be a tough conference to play in on a good year, the Buffs notched the No. 5 recruiting class, behind USC, Stanford, UCLA and Washington.

Colorado’s Jake Moretti and Jon Van Diest, Texas’ Grant Polley and Javier Edwards, and California’s Tyler Lytle highlight the top recruits in MacIntyre’s class.

Moretti, who drew a four-star rating from ESPN and is ranked 163rd in the ESPN 300, hails from Pomona High School in Arvada and brings great strength at the offensive tackle position.

“Jacob is a young man here in the state of Colorado that everybody knows about,” MacIntyre said. “Jacob is a young man who was committed to Ohio State for a really long time. He called us after the season was over and was saying, ‘Hey, I’d rather stay home,’ so I said, ‘Yes, I would like you to stay home.’ We did an excellent job recruiting him.”

Moretti said that the biggest decision-changer for him surrounded his ability to play for a national title-contending team close to home.

“In terms of my decision to stay home, you get to play in front of family and friends. I grew up here, and it’s been cool watching Colorado turn around,” Moretti said. “In terms of the expectations for next year, obviously, we want to win. So, we’re just going to go out there and take it day-by-day and see what we can put out there.”

Lytle, on the other hand, brings excellent talent to the quarterback position, which could undoubtedly cause a battle with Steven Montez for the starting spot next season. A pocket passer, the Servite High School alum of Anaheim, California draws four stars and the 300th ranking on ESPN.

“We were looking for a great quarterback and we felt we found a great quarterback, but we were also looking for a quarterback that could come in in January,” MacIntyre said. “We have three quarterbacks on scholarship now in the spring practice, so we’ll be able to get all three of those guys prepared to compete for the job and be ready for next fall.

“We’re excited about Tyler. He’s big, he has an excellent arm, he can move in the pocket. And we’re really, really excited about what he’s doing.”

Through social media, Lytle said he was able to speak to other recruits and felt that he made the best decision about his path to collegiate athletics through those conversations.

“Recruiting is a really public thing nowadays, with all of the edits and shout-outs and everything else that comes along with it,” Lytle said. “It was all in good fun, but, at the end of the day, I’ll encourage guys: ‘this is what makes CU great. This is what I really bought into. At the end of the day you have to make the best decision for you, but I’m telling you why this was the best decision for me;’ and a lot of guys agreed with me.”

Edwards comes in at defensive tackle with an ESPN JC50 ranking of 30th and yet another four-star mark. After leaving Blinn College in Brenham, Texas, he was highly touted and created tough competition among Division I schools.

“The other young man is a little guy, his name’s Javier Edwards, he’s about 6’3”, about 350,” MacIntyre said. “He’s a nose tackle that we got from Blinn Junior College—phenomenal player, really helps us inside it. We want to really be able to have a two-gap nose like Josh was.

“He had a lot of people wanting him and he ended up loving Boulder, he ended up loving what we do defensively, and it was a lot of fun recruiting Javier.”

Polley, who originates from Denton High School in Denton, Texas, brings a lot of power to the offensive guard position and earned a four-star mark from ESPN as well as the 248th spot in the ESPN 300.

“Grant’s a big offensive tackle that can really move well,” MacIntyre said. “Grant was another highly-recruited guy, like almost all of our guys were. We’re real excited about Grant and what he’ll do. He’s big and powerful, and you’ll see he’s built ready to play. He’s not really a guy that you have to get the stature on or get the age on him to be ready to roll.”

Van Diest of Cherry Creek High School in Englewood creates versatility in the outside linebacker position, which earned him a four-star ranking and the 255th spot in the ESPN 300. He earned high praise from Coach Mac, who compared him to a current CU star, just on the other side of the ball.

“Watching him on high school film, being around him at camp, he’s going to kind of fall into my Phillip Lindsay syndrome. He’s going to be my Tasmanian Devil, but he’s going to be on defense. He has that motor.”

With the level of talent MacIntyre and the Buffaloes have coming in, next season is sure to be a fun one in Boulder.

“I don’t see us going backward again,” MacIntyre reassured.