LAFAYETTE — Billy Napier and his coaching staff had a little more time to put together the recruiting class they wanted this time around.

A year after being forced to throw together a recruiting class just two months after being hired as head coach at the University of Louisiana, Napier and his Ragin’ Cajuns staff put the finishing touches on its 2019 class on National Signing Day Wednesday. 

That additional time paid off appeared to have paid off for Napier and his staff.

According to 247Sports, the Ragin’ Cajuns have the top signing class in the Sun Belt Conference and the 72nd-best class nationally. Rivals.com meanwhile ranked the Cajuns No. 2 in the SBC below Arkansas State and the 82nd-best class in the country.

“We’re gonna add close to 26 scholarship players,” Napier said. “It’s a great thing anytime you have this amount of players with this amount of ability.”

After signing the majority of the class during the early signing period back in December, the Ragin’ Cajuns added seven more players to the mix Wednesday to bring their total to 25 players for this class.

UL beefed up its offensive and defensive lines Wednesday with the signings of two offensive lineman in 6-foot-2, 310-pound A.J. Gillie (Natchitoches Central) and 6-foot-2, 303-pound Tyler Brown (St. Joseph Catholic, Miss.), as well as 6-foot-3, 280-pound defensive lineman JUCO transfer Ja-Quane Nelson (Hutchinson Community College). 

“Every year it’s gonna be about winning at the line of scrimmage and we’ve got some good guys up front.”

The Cajuns also added depth at linebacker with signing a pair of players in the backyard of rival UL Monroe in 6-foot-1, 213-pound La’Kamion Franklin (Neville) and 6-foot-2, 243-pound Andrew Gleason (West Monroe). 

It just wasn’t all lineman and defense though as the Cajuns also picked up kicker Grant Paulette (Hebron High, Texas) and a junior college quarterback Jai’ave Magalei (Mount San Antonio College) who missed all of last season due to an injury. 

“If you look at this class as a whole,” Napier said. “We took guys who came from winning programs and knows what it takes to succeed.”

With the addition of Magalei, the Cajuns signed three quarterbacks for this class including Clifton McDowell (Spring High, Texas) and Chandler Fields (Archbishop Rummel). The Cajuns also bring back backup Levi Lewis.

“I mean we are going to let them all play,” Napier said when asked about the quarterback situation. “We are going to take the same approach that we took last year. This time last year we could have flipped a coin and picked a guy and known one would have knew.

“Levi is obviously the leader in the clubhouse,” Napier added. “He’s got some good experience. So he will go out there and run with the No. 1s on the first day of spring practice but we will have lots of guys competing between now and the first game of the season.”

Napier and his staff though may not be done.

With the new rules involving NCAA recruiting and signing players, the Cajuns could still add a few scholarship players this spring or early summer — depending on current players possibly transferring.

One such opening will be from the departure of wide receiver Keenan Barnes who announced on Twitter Wednesday evening that he was entering the NCAA Transfer Portal immediately. Running back Nick Ralston, a transfer from Arizona State, and three-star offensive tackle King McGowen (Willis, Texas) could soon join the Cajuns in the next few weeks.

“You’re going to see a few things happen tonight, tomorrow,” Napier said. “It’s a constantly changing thing. It’s going to change every day depending on what happens.”