The indecision and confusion that swept through the West Virginia football program the past month and a half didn't faze Tyler Urban yesterday -- or 22 of his contemporaries.

Urban, a 6-foot-4, 235-pound senior H-back at Norwin High School, was one of 23 players who signed binding letters of intent with West Virginia.

Urban quickly shrugged off the notion of any lingering effects from a recent past in which former coach Rich Rodriguez bolted from West Virginia to Michigan and former Mountaineers assistant Bill Stewart took over on an interim basis a program enveloped in turmoil. He led the team to a Fiesta Bowl victory before becoming its full-time head coach.

"I know that people being uncertain with what was going to happen with the coaching staff might have concerned some of the recruits," Urban said. "But with me, whenever coach Stew got named the coach, that was a big thing for me.

"He is real and genuine and just a great guy. He's just like you would want a head coach to be. He is real."

Urban, who originally committed to Maryland last summer but switched to West Virginia when Stewart was hired, was the lone western Pennsylvania recruit reeled in by West Virginia, a program that traditionally has lured numerous prospects from this area to Morgantown.

Urban is a bullish runner and devastating blocker who is slated to be used much in the same way as former West Virginia fullback Owen Schmitt.

"I don't have to touch the football to be happy," Urban said. "I like being the guy delivering big hits on offense."

Of Urban, Stewart said: "He is a class young man. He can become an Owen Schmitt-type player who can play tight end and fullback, and I am absolutely thrilled [to get him]."

Stewart and the Mountaineers pulled off one of the biggest coups in the country yesterday, getting much ballyhooed offensive lineman Josh Jenkins, a Parkersburg native, to stay in-state.

In doing so, he spurned Ohio State, Florida State and Michigan.

At 6-5, 305 pounds, Jenkins originally committed to West Virginia in his junior season when Rodriguez was coach but rescinded his commitment when the coach left for Michigan. He change his mind again and sign with the Mountaineers yesterday

Jenkins was the most heavily recruited player from the state in recent memory and is the only two-time winner of the Hunt Award, presented annually to the top high school lineman in West Virginia.

Stewart credited assistant Doc Holliday, who became West Virginia's associate head coach three weeks ago after leaving Florida's staff, with being the point man in Jenkins' recruitment.

"Doc Holliday, I know, is the greatest recruiter in college football," Stewart said. "And Josh Jenkins is as fine of an offensive lineman that we will ever recruit. We couldn't have gotten Josh Jenkins without Doc Holliday."

While Jenkins, Urban and quarterback Corley White -- brother of current West Virginia quarterback Pat White -- were three prized recruits on the offensive side of the ball, there is no question the Mountaineers' recruiting class tilted heavily to defense with eight linemen, two linebackers and five defensive backs.

"We need immediate defensive help here," Stewart said. "The plan was to try to attract the greatest defensive football players we could get, and I really believe we went above and beyond the call of duty."