Top college football coaches flocking to Springfield High
Tressel, Brian Kelly, Rich Rodriguez among coaches who want to sign Trey DePriest.
By Brian Plasters and Staff Writer
Thursday, January 28, 2010
SPRINGFIELD ? Jim Tressel swung through last week. This week, it was Brian Kelly and Rich Rodriguez.
The head football coaches at Ohio State, Notre Dame and Michigan, respectively, weren?t in Springfield to sample our city?s fine Mexican food. The business of football recruiting ? and don?t be fooled, this is a business ? is in full swing, and high-profile college coaches from across the country wanted to make sure Trey DePriest knew they were in town.
There?s more. Southern California phoned earlier this week. Sal Sunseri (an Alabama assistant coach), Butch Jones (Cincinnati), Mark Dantonio (Michigan State) and assistants from colleges such as Pittsburgh and Stanford, among others, also stopped in.
The rules say that coaches aren?t allowed to speak to players at this time. Today, Jan. 29, is the final day for coaches to leave campus and visit high schools. It was a short window of time, hence the flurry of activity.
Keeping up with NCAA recruiting rules is akin to reading the phone book. Pretty boring stuff, really. But it?s exciting when these high-profile coaches stop in to talk to teachers, pose for pictures and get a view of the new high school. Smooze. Snap a picture. Chuckle. Repeat.
Rick Robertson calls it ?good karma.?
It started when the Wildcats went to the playoffs, and those good feelings have continued through the recruiting season. Several major college programs have offered DePriest a football scholarship, bringing new attention to the program.
This newspaper has written much about DePriest, and deservedly so. The attention he?s receiving is once-in-a-generation.
DePriest is a 6-foot-2, 220-pound junior linebacker with terrific football instincts, natural speed and strength and a handshake that rivals the strongest grip. He?s 16 years old and he bench-pressed 185 pounds 28 times at a recent combine.
That?s not all these colleges see, though. His grades are good, and he?s kept a level head throughout this process. He?s visiting Alabama this weekend with assistant coach John Cupps.
?Trey is very good at it right now because he?s willing to keep an open mind and listen and he hasn?t gotten caught up in the glitz of it all,? Robertson said. ?He?s not going to make a decision without doing it due justice.?
