ATHENS - The Ohio football signing day class of 2015 finished Wednesday at 24 players, and one of the first to sign in the morning was the biggest surprise.

The Bobcats got a letter of intent from safety Deontai Williams (6-1, 185 pounds) from Jacksonville, Florida. He was expected to sign with Georgia after previously being committed to Florida.

A high school teammate of fellow safety signee Javon Hagan (6-0, 207), Williams was rated four stars by ESPN and three stars by 247Sports, Scout and Rivals. Though there is no confirmation, some publications speculated academic issues could have been a factor in his change of mind.

"He was over at Javon’s home when we were there on a home visit," Ohio coach Frank Solich said. "We had a chance to visit with him directly and from that conversation and from conversations on the phone we saw there was an opportunity there to get him, which we did. We feel he’s going to be a great addition to the program. There is some work that needs to get done in terms of fulfilling the needs, but he’s on track to do that.”

Williams and Hagan both were part of a major target in the recruiting class, the defensive backfield. The Bobcats also signed cornerbacks Jeff Christian (5-10, 165, Cincinnati) and Maxwell Howell (6-1, 188, West Palm Beach, Florida) and safety Mayne Williams (5-11, 175, Cincinnati).

Signees are two quarterbacks (including Minnesota transfer Conner Krizancic who is listed as part of the class, three wide receivers, four offensive linemen, three defensive linemen, three linebackers, a kicker, a long snapper and two athletes.

Defensive backs Howell and Christian are among Ohio's highest rated by the scouting services. Christian was given three stars by all four, while Howell earned three stars from all but Rivals.

Howell was the first player to commit to Ohio's class, withdrew his commitment and then ultimately settled on the Bobcats again. He already is enrolled at Ohio and will have a chance to participate in spring camp.

Rounding out the defensive backfield, Mayne Williams was rated three stars by both Scout and ESPN, and Hagan got a three-star rating from ESPN.

"That area is always an area of concern for coaches because you’re talking about safeties, as well as corners," Solich said. "You’re talking about guys that have to have the ability to play man defense."

Wide receiver Elijah Ball (6-1, 185, Cincinnati) is rated three stars by each of the recruiting services except ESPN, which has him unrated.

Linebacker Clayton Glasco (6-0, 225, Pickerington) is rated three stars by Scout and ESPN, while linebacker London Cloud (5-11, 233, Bedford) earned three stars from Scout only. Kicker Louie Zervos merited three stars from ESPN.

Linebacker Demetrius Colbert (6-0, 230, Cincinnati) reportedly signed along with high school teammate Mayne Williams, but was not been listed as part of Ohio's class. He is rated as three stars by ESPN and Scout.

The same goes for defensive end Najee Stevens-McKenzie (6-5, 215), who was supposed to sign along with his teammate, Cloud. Stevens-McKenzie was rated three stars by 247 and Scout.

Both of the junior college players signed by the Bobcats are offensive linemen. Joe Anderson (6-6, 320, Torrance, California) will have three years of remaining eligibility, while Josh Cooper (6-2, 309, Yazoo City, Mississippi) will have two years. Both already are enrolled at Ohio.

Freshman wide receiver Kyle Belack (5-11, 190, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina) is the Bobcats' other enrollee. He originally committed to Marshall before changing his mind.

Local Athens High School products Adam Luehrman (6-4, 210) and Ryan Luehrman (6-4, 214) both are part of the class and listed as athletes. They are expected to grayshirt, meaning they will not enroll full-time nor participate with the team until after the upcoming season, allowing them to have five years to play four seasons after that and meaning they do not officially count against the team's recruiting class or scholarship count this year.

Krizancic (6-2, 200, Mentor) was a wide receiver at Minnesota, and made the move to Ohio in hopes of playing quarterback. He redshirted as a freshman and will have to sit out this year, giving him three years of eligibility after that.

Other signees include quarterback Quinton Maxwell (6-3, 214, Rayville, Missouri), wide receiver Matt Seymour (6-1, 167, New Westminister, British Columbia), offensive linemen Marques Grimes (6-5, 319, Southfield, Michigan) and Austen Pleasants (6-7, 295, Ironton), defensive linemen Brian Arp (6-3, 256, Kearney, Nebraska), Keith Key (6-3, 221, Powell) and Sam McKnight (6-3, 267, Cleveland Heights), linebacker Evan Croutch (6-0, 217, Youngstown) and long snapper Jake Hale (6-0, 220, Powell).

Solich added that Seymour also would be a grayshirt.

"I feel that it was a good year for us in terms of bringing great quality athletes in and guys that have good character, guys that are ready to help us take another step and moving forward to win a conference championship and keep raising the level of the play here up and the program up," Solich said. "I feel comfortable with it. I think a lot of hard work went into it.”

Players who first committed to Ohio but changed their minds prior to signing day included defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton, who signed with Ohio State; running back Trae Williams, who signed with Northwestern; and offensive lineman Jovahn Fair, who signed with Temple.