It’s odd for Boston College coach Steve Addazio to be excited at 5:30 in the morning, but Wednesday he was. He had a recruiting class of 21 players set to sign national letters of intent. He scoured 13 states to find them, plucked eight of them from within a five-hour radius of campus, and almost half of them were players he knew from camps the Eagles ran over the summer.

Addazio settled into the Eagles offices with his coaching staff ready to welcome them into the program. Introducing them was the fun part.

“I had as much fun this morning as I’ve had in a long time,’’ Addazio said. “And I don’t like being in the gym at 5:30 in the morning. I know for me, I’m fired up. I’m excited as I’ve ever been. I really like the challenge of the development of our football team on every front.’’

Assessing how this class will develop and add depth to a team decimated by injuries a year ago, and then stacking it up against the rest of the recruiting classes in the Atlantic Coast Conference, meant chasing that enthusiasm with realism.

The Eagles, who were 3-9 overall and 0-8 in the ACC last season, added depth at crucial positions — none more pivotal than under center. Anthony Brown, a dual-threat quarterback from Cliffwood, N.J., and Kentucky transfer Patrick Towles give the Eagles five signal-callers on the roster, a season after starter Darius Wade went down with a broken ankle three games into 2015.

“There goes competition, right? Which is a beautiful thing,’’ Addazio said. “We’re excited about guys. Darius is getting healthy. Patrick’s come in here and he’s working hard. Jeff [Smith], it’s like unbelievable how much you can see him physically and emotionally maturing. John Fadule and Troy [Flutie]. We’ve got a bunch of guys. It’s a good thing.’’

The Eagles also brought in four offensive linemen to bolster a position ravaged by injuries. They strengthened spots that were already sturdy, adding Ohio linebacker Ethan Tucky and Georgia defensive lineman Bryce Morais.

“I think you have a broad cross section of guys here,’’ Addazio said. “You have them from our footprint and beyond the five-hour radius. You see where we attacked our needs and where we wanted to continue to build our roster.’’

But to outside eyes, BC’s recruiting class was less than impressive. The website Rivals ranked the Eagles’ class 75th in the country and last in the ACC. Another recruiting service, 247sports, had them at 76th nationally and also last in the conference. For the second straight season, the Eagles couldn’t land a recruit rated higher than three stars. But Addazio didn’t put much stock in the ratings.

“If you’re just chasing stars here, you’re going to struggle,’’ Addazio said. “It’s not going to work out real good for you, contrary to what people want to think. That’s a different deal and we don’t want that to be our deal.’’

Around the ACC, however, national signing day felt like a star search. Florida State, Clemson, Miami, and Pittsburgh were among the top 30 recruiting classes in the country, according to 247sports. All but six of Florida State’s 25 recruits were rated four stars or higher by Rivals. And Clemson hauled in three five-star athletes, the most in the conference.

The talent that teams around the conference were able to draw was undeniable, Addazio said, but he didn’t compare those recruiting classes to BC’s.

“We play in the most competitive division and the ACC is the most competitive it’s been in the history of the ACC,’’ Addazio said. “So there’s a lot of talent in the ACC right now. In terms of leagues that spit out players into the NFL, it starts with the SEC, but the SEC and ACC are neck-and-neck. So it’s a very talented league with a lot of four- and five-star athletes with grandiose facilities. So what’s our niche?

“We’ve got to do a great job of development. We’ve got high-character guys, we have to be a really tough, physical football team. We have to be kind of different from the rest of the teams.’’

A year ago, BC’s recruiting class — led by quarterback Smith — ranked 47th in the country and 10th in the ACC, according to Rivals. In 2014, Addazio’s first true recruiting year, running back Jon Hilliman and defensive lineman Harold Landry led a class that Rivals ranked 42d in the country and ninth in the conference. But both of those classes, Addazio said, panned out the way he thought they would.

“If you had to ask me in hindsight to grade [the last two classes], we were right on,’’ Addazio said. “There’s a lot of pretty talented players. Were there mistakes or misses? Yeah, there’s going to be every year, especially when you’re signing over 30 guys.

“This year, I feel great about it. I would say I think it’ll be just like the previous two years. I think we’ll be pretty on.’’

Julian Benbow can be reached at jbenbow@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @julianbenbow.