Huskies’ 18 recruits are the ‘ideal number’ for coach Chris Petersen

The Washington Huskies’ 2016 haul of football recruits landed them 29th in ESPN’s class rankings, even though their 18 signees is tied for the smallest class in the top 30.

If you ask UW head coach Chris Petersen, that number of incoming freshmen is just right.

Related: Huskies’ Petersen says ‘a lot of stress’ put on players through recruiting

“One thing that’s kinda interesting is when you said it’s not the biggest class, well that’s kinda how you want it,” Petersen said on 710 ESPN Seattle’s “Brock and Salk” on Thursday. “I think the ideal number is somewhere between 17 and maybe 20 on the high end.”

By comparison, Florida State and Alabama, the top two schools in ESPN’s rankings, signed 25 players each. Pac-12 rival UCLA, ranked 15th, brought in 29 players.

Petersen said the important thing is balance of class size, which makes sense considering how competitive his Boise State teams were year in and year out before he jumped to Washington two years ago.

“When you have five classes – freshmen, redshirt freshmen, down the line … when you have to go sign 24 guys, 25 guys, in my opinion that’s not the ideal thing. Your classes are out of balance,” he said.

You can hear the entire conversation with Petersen at this link.