SALT LAKE CITY — The University of Utah added 24 new athletes to its football program as part of National Signing Day Wednesday.

Utah had a successful day keeping most of the athletes that committed prior to signing day, while flipping other recruits like David Luafatasaga from Ole Miss and Fau Pututau from BYU. As a result, Utah records one of its highest recruiting classes in school history, according to the various recruiting service websites. Utah is No. 40 nationally in Scout.com's estimation, No. 34 according to Rivals.com, No. 40 according to ESPN.com, and No. 39 according to 247sports.com.

Head coach Kyle Whittingham said the focus going into this year's recruiting class was quarterbacks and linebackers, but that the overall class was a success.

"We feel we were able to put together an outstanding recruiting class," Whittingham said. "While quarterback and linebacker were our primary focus, we addressed our needs across the board. Our assistant coaches did an outstanding job targeting the right guys and we were able to win many head-to-head battles for some highly sought after recruits.

"Winning always helps your cause in recruiting, and we attribute a lot of our success to the way we're trending. We're trending in the right direction, and obviously they want to be a part of what's coming next year," Whittingham added.

Whittingham said he was impressed the program was able to go head-to-head against traditional "heavyweight" teams for recruits, such as junior college transfer Garett Bolles, who was recruited by several big-name schools all around the country.

"I think we made more headway, in that regard, than in any other recruiting class, as far as competing with ‘heavyweights' and coming away with some really good players," he said.

Related:

Recruiting Central: Utah Signing Day 2016

Comprehensive coverage of all the 2016 Utah Football recruits.

Although most recruits that signed didn't come as a surprise to Utah, Whittingham said the program was waiting for a few guys to make their commitment decision, including Luafatasaga, who was a "positive surprise."

Whittingham said winning 10 games last season, consistency in the coaching staff and getting a contract extension helped in recruiting this season. He said he had heard about some negative recruiting as a result of not having an extension to his contract until last week, despite he and athletics director Chris Hill already in negotiations for weeks.

"We were starting to hear about coaches using that against us. (The contact's) been in the works for several weeks, but it got to the point where we needed to make an announcement because it was affecting recruitings," he said. "It definitely gave us a boost, particularly with a couple of kids that made their decision late."

Utah continued to grow its influence in the state of Florida, thanks in large part to assistant coach Dennis Erickson, who Whittingham said has "instant credibility" in the state after several successful years coaching in Florida. Utah signed five recruits from South Florida, including RB Devonta'e Henry-Cole, QB Tyler Huntley, RB Zack Moss, WR Demari Simpkins, and LB Donavan Thompson.

Utah welcomed the most recruits from the state of California, signing seven from Southern California, with six recruits coming from the state of Utah. Of the 24 signees, six are expected to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before joining the program in the 2018 season, including Keaton Bills, Cole Fotheringham, Semisi Lauaki, Johnny Maea, and Fua Pututau.

Six players have already enrolled in school and have been participating in the team's offseason conditioning, including quarterbacks Troy Williams and Tyler Huntley, offensive linemen Scott Peck and Jake Grant, wide receiver Demari Simpkins, and punter Mitch Wishnowsky.

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