Remember the song by Republica titled, “Ready to Go”? On Thursday, Feb. 3, head football coach Lee Owens might have been singing, “I’m back, yeah standing on the rooftops shouting out, baby I’m ready to go, I’m back and ready to go” after he announced the addition of nearly 60 new Eagles for the upcoming 2011 season.

“It’s been a real busy couple of weeks,” Owens said. “I was able to get my name in the paper for getting a speeding ticket and also convinced about 60 young men to become Ashland Eagles. In the middle of January, we had zero commitments; we went from zero to 60 pretty quick, just about as fast as I went from zero to 41 on Claremont.”

The 2011 class is highlighted by 32 Ohio-bred players, three from Michigan, two from New York, and one from Pennsylvania, Indiana, Connecticut and Maryland. Geographically, 22 players signed from Central Ohio, nine from Southwest Ohio, eight from Northwest Ohio and seven from Northeast Ohio.

Owens talked about bringing great players with great integrity to the university.

“We were more concerned with integrity this year than ever before,” Owens said. “We wanted to make sure we signed guys with great character and didn’t want to take any risks with this group, and we did that.”

The Eagles’ focus this recruiting season was also on the offensive line and at the receiver position. The Eagles lose five senior offensive linemen in Frank Suglio, Kyle Stout, Matt Knez, Justin Magruder and Corey Angeloff while losing four senior receivers in Christian Livingston, Joe Horn, Alan Dunson and Cory Strazar.

Replacing those athletes won’t be easy, but Owens and his staff have brought in eight offensive linemen as well as five wide outs and two tight ends.

Headlining the offensive line class is Nick Stotts, who is 6’5″ and 265 pounds out of Lebanon, Ohio. Owens says he’s similar to current linemen Zach Vermillion and he possesses great skills and footwork. He earned first team All-Greater Western Ohio Conference his junior and senior year of high school and was a member of a league title team in 2009.

Joey Bogden will also help block for quarterback Taylor Housewright in the future, as he is 6’2″ and is 265 pounds from Huron, Ohio. Bogden’s uncle, Danny Bogden played at Ashland University and was an Academic All-American. Bogden was a first team all-conference and all-district selection in 2010 and was also tabbed as an honorable mention all-state lineman. He also lettered once in basketball and track and field in high school.

Every Eagle fan remembers the career of Nick Bellanco. Bellanco was the fast guy out of Wooster High School that many didn’t know much about at first, and then later became one of the Eagle greats. Owens has gone back to Wooster, this time signing Austin Carstensen. Carstensen made 75 tackles and one interception on defense as well as leading the Generals with 26 receptions for 450 yards and five touchdowns in 2010. Carstensen lettered three times in football and in track in his prep career.

The height of the new Eagle receivers is astounding, as most corners in the GLIAC, according to Owens, are around 5’10” or 5’11”. The Eagles have only one receiver under 6’2″ and their tallest is 6’5″ tight end Konnor Chuba. Chuba won a state championship in 2008 and won three conference titles during his time at Toledo Southview. In 2010, he made 15 receptions for 250 yards and four touchdowns.

Owens gives a lot of credit to his current players for their successful recruiting class.

“Our players were very important in selling this program to our recruits,” Owens said. “Watching the guys show the young athletes the buildings and the complex was something special and they did an awesome job.”

The Eagles return to the field Thursday, Sept. 1 against the Huskies of Bloomsburg. The Eagles look to pick up where they left off in 2010, as they won their last seven games of the season and finished out the 2010 campaign going 8-3. Ashland defeated the other Ohio schools in the conference last year by an average score of 59-10.

“We want to be the next best option if a player doesn’t go Division I,” Owens said. “We tell players all the time they have the chance to win here.”

This goes without saying, but Owens and the Eagles are “ready to go.”