The 22 athletes expected to sign letters of intent today with Stanford make up one of the most talented groups of incoming freshmen in the recent history of the program.

The Cardinal's class - which has 14 offensive players and eight on defense - ranks No. 9 by Scout.com and second in the Pac-10 behind USC. Rivals.com ranks Stanford No. 16, and ESPN puts the Cardinal at No. 23.

"This is a deep class of deep talent," said Brandon Huffman, Scout.com recruiting analyst. "In previous years, Stanford had landed a couple of big names, but the depth of the class was relatively unremarkable. But this class has very good players at numerous positions and some star power."

Stanford's incoming class includes a five-star prospect in linebacker Shayne Skov, the Piedmont native attending prep school in New York, and as many as nine other players rated with four stars by recruiting services.

That group includes running back Tyler Gaffney, Cal Hi-Sports' "Mr. Football," Georgia wide receiver Jamal-Rashad Patterson, running back Usua Amanam of Bellarmine Prep, and Zach Ertz, a tight end from Monte Vista in Danville.

"This is their best class in a long time. This team beat USC, they are competitive, they play a physical style and that's very appealing to a lot of guys," ESPN recruiting analyst Greg Biggins said. "You can show these guys the USC film and show them the direction the program is headed. They see Stanford as a team that's turning a corner."

The rumblings that Harbaugh was putting together one of the best recruiting classes the program had seen in a long time started in the fall, not long before the rumblings began that Harbaugh might be an NFL coaching candidate.

Harbaugh, despite not having signed his contract extension, doesn't appear to be going anywhere for the immediate future and probably will get to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

"Harbaugh loves to recruit, he loves the challenge," Huffman said. "In previous years, Stanford was going up against Northwestern and Vanderbilt and Duke. But this year, he was going up against USC, Notre Dame, Penn State, Michigan. He had a couple of kids with offers from Florida. He was going up against the big boys and landing them. Two years ago, that never would have happened."

Gaffney, for example, chose Stanford over Notre Dame and USC. Like current Stanford tailback Toby Gerhart, Gaffney is a two-sport athlete and will play baseball for the Cardinal as well. Tight end Levine Toilolo, rated No. 6 at his position nationally, chose Stanford over Cal, Arizona State and Florida.

Skov committed to Stanford in September 2007, the day that Harbaugh coached his first game at Stanford. He has received interest from East Coast schools, but stuck with the Cardinal.

Huffman said the key to Harbaugh's success was getting to these top student-athletes early and convincing them it was worthwhile to go through the school's rigorous application process.

"And he was able to withstand the pressure they were getting from other schools," Huffman said. "I haven't seen many kids who have a Stanford offer changing their minds."

E-mail Michelle Smith at msmith@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page D - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle