caught up with some of the best high school football players in the country at the Under Armour Next All-America Game media day to tackle a variety of recruiting topics.
This year, the event included approximately 60 high school seniors and 30 juniors, which allowed us to talk to players who are done with the recruiting process and those still going through it.
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We spoke to more than 30 players and granted them anonymity so they could speak candidly on topics such as NIL, the transfer portal, campus visits and more.
Editor’s note: Quotes have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Based on conversations you’ve had with college programs (coaches, NIL directors) and other elite recruits, how much are you expecting to get paid in your first year in college? What is a baseline number for your position at a Power 4 program?
• I know athletes who get a pretty penny in the SEC. It all depends on how bad the school needs the player. With Bryce (Underwood), Michigan needed a quarterback. So, he’ll get paid as much as $12 million to go to Michigan. For an All-American offensive tackle, base $1.5 million.
• I don’t have an agent, but an All-American offensive tackle should get $100,000 at least. That’s what my peers have said and what I’ve heard early.
• I’m not really about comparing money as a quarterback. It’s kind of crazy nowadays. I think it depends on the school, size of the school and what they can give you. If we’re talking about All-Americans, that’s six figures to start.
• It depends on which college you go to. They all spend different amounts on freshmen. As a defensive end going to a Power 4 school, I’ve been told $60,000 to $80,000 a semester. Every contract is different. You can sign a two-year, three-year deal. What you get after your first deal is up to you and how you play.
• (Bryce) Underwood got $10 million to play quarterback. I’d say $200,000 is probably a good starting place for a four- or five-star safety.
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• The going rate for a high school All-American defensive back depends on how bad a school wants you or how bad they need you. No low-ball number — knowing taxes are going to take 40 percent‚ $300,000 to $700,000. Taxes are the devil.
• My agent has told me anywhere from $300,000 to $700,000 for a high school All-American linebacker.
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• A blue-chip All-American defensive lineman? $250,000. That doesn’t include the bag. The second year, if you do what you’re supposed to do, you can get as much as $750,000.
• I think you should get paid as much as you’re worth as an all-around person — not just football‚ but a representative for the university. As a high school All-American defensive lineman, I’d say $250,000 to $300,000 a year is the number I was given when I committed. That’s for one year over two semesters. They told me from there, I’ve got a chance to make as much as $500,000 to $550,000 down the road.
• I’ve heard crazy stuff from people here. But baseline: $220,000 to $225,000 for your first year as a high school All-American defensive lineman.
Did you take your biggest offer and do you remember how much you left on the table?
• I did not take my biggest offer. I left $150,000 on the table. I can go crazy in the SEC and I get a bonus, so I’ll get my contract boosted up. So it’s all about the work I put in.
• No, I did not take my biggest offer. Can I give a range? I’ll say (I left) 100 to 300 K. I just felt like I have a really good connection with the school I’m with. I just felt like it was too strong to break up.
• A lot. Probably $100,000. It didn’t mean much because that doesn’t play a big part. It’s mainly about the fit for me.
• I didn’t take the biggest offer. (I left), like, $100,000. It’s all right. I just know that my school now, I’ll be able to make more money eventually.
How much did coaches bring up NIL on visits? Did they avoid the subject?
• Only on official visits and with NIL reps. We’d spend half an hour talking about it in most places. I didn’t have an agent there. It was just me, my family, mom, grandpa. We negotiated (my deal) and had an agent look over it.
• For me, making money is a big thing. But I felt like building a relationship with the coaches was more important. Each school would tell you how much you could make if you start, do things right. One conversation I remember was with (Georgia coach) Kirby Smart. You didn’t talk to an NIL manager at Georgia. He put a paper down, showed it to me and he said your money goes up the more you start and make plays. It was really organized. Some schools try to bring up things like development to push you away from the money. A lot of people are mad (players) are making decisions based on money. At the end of the day, you can’t go somewhere and not get what you’re worth. (Note: This player did not sign with Georgia.)
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• The only time I talked about NIL was on official visits. It was usually with the collective. Kirby Smart was the only coach who handled it. (Note: This player did not sign with Georgia.)
• Each school is different when it comes to NIL, but I normally let my family handle it.
• I wouldn’t say NIL was the main topic on visits, but I would say it was an important talking point for many of the schools I went to on official visits. As far as the plans, they said it was different for each player. They want it to be private so we don’t know how much each guy makes because it kind of hinders that ability to actually play ball. If you know what he’s making, then you’re like, “I should be making more.” So, it’s whatever they have planned out for you and going from there.
• I’ll say I spend a good amount of time talking to the coaching staff going over film and how I fit into the program. My parents handle the NIL stuff.
• No coach has brought up NIL to me yet. If anything, maybe one time, but my family hasn’t talked about it with schools yet because I’m a 2026 recruit. I feel like next year, that’s when more conversations will come up.
Did you have an agent or representative handling your negotiations?
• I work with the Rosenhaus agency and they’re the best agency for NFL and college representation. I talk to my agent a lot. We talk about what the colleges are doing, but I do marketing in high school for certain brands. I can’t do anything with my high school logo.
• I didn’t have one. My mom handled it.
• My dad handled the conversations, but we had an advisor.
• I have an agent, but my dad handles all the finances. With the financial opportunities, everyone is going to try and take advantage of it. Got to keep things tight.
• I have an agent who comes to meetings with us.
• I have an agent. When he told me I was going to get X amount of money, my head blew up. Once I talked to a financial advisor and he told me about taxes, my jaw closed after that.
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• My parents handled the negotiations for me.
• I have family members and advisors who are handling it.
• I let my parents handle all of that. I didn’t want to be involved.
When do you get your first NIL check? What do you plan to do with it?
• I’m not sure when we will get our first check. But I’m gonna start investing in property so I can sell them off whenever I need the money back.
• I get on campus January 5th and at the end of February, I get my first check. Once revenue sharing passes, it’ll be different.
• My mom and dad told me that football is going to end one day — if I make it to the league or not. I’m bright enough to do something after football. I’m gonna invest a lot of it.
Anything else people should know about NIL?
• People don’t know, those contracts are very strategic on what they want you to do and if you don’t fit that certain type of (performance) your money’s gonna get taken down. So with all these NIL valuations that everybody’s getting, it sounds great, but what is in that contract? What are those clauses that say, “If you don’t do this, this and that, you’re gonna get cut to this?” And then you get cut to that, it’s gonna be like, “You told me one thing, you lied to me.” No. Read the contract. You have to have somebody that is understanding and that knows those types of things because you sign your life away.
• If you’re going into the situation nowadays with the NIL world, have somebody in your corner. Have somebody that has your best interest at heart. And the people that you might think have your best interest at heart might be the people that you need to be away from. And that could be mom, that could be dad, that could be brother, that could be a friend that you’ve been friends with since you were (a kid). That stuff matters. My parents weren’t the type of parents where they tried to have something to gain from me. (But) if you don’t have anybody in your corner that ultimately has your best interest at heart, it’s going to get really, really hard for you to navigate that because this money is not long-term money.
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• I have a clause where I can get out of my contract any time I want to. And that’s why I loved my agency so much because they’re not money grabbing. They’re like, “Well, if you feel uncomfortable at any time, say you wanna do this, this and that, we can help you find other (options).” It wasn’t a situation where they were trying to feed off me. They’ve got (NFL) guys signed. They don’t need a couple thousand dollars from an 18-year-old.
Do you feel like coaches have been honest and transparent with you about going to get older players in the transfer portal?
• I had a long talk with (Florida State) coach (Mike) Norvell about it. I asked him how he feels about players jumping in the portal. He said if you want to come back after you jump in the portal, he’s open to it. And if you don’t fit there, he’ll help you find a new program. He’s not going to leave guys out in the cold. He’s the only coach who has ever told me that. It just shows he’s a good guy. (Note: This player is uncommitted.)
• The only place that takes more transfers than high school kids is Colorado. They’re winning a lot of games. Every place I’m looking at is pretty balanced. It doesn’t matter as much. Most of the schools I’m looking at are right in the middle.
• Some schools like Clemson let you know they don’t go in the portal and only take kids out of high school. Some schools tell you portal kids are too expensive. It really doesn’t bother me either way. It’s about competing.
• I want to go to a program that develops guys, but I know how the game is.
• I feel like coaches have been really honest about it. They have to be. If they don’t have a quarterback in their system they can develop, they’ll tell you they’ll take a transfer for a year, get a few wins and then invest in you.
• You’ve got to have a lot of trust with that because coaches could be telling you one thing and then meaning a different thing. So I had to really take that into (account) because of how much it messes up high school kids nowadays. They could take a dude that has way more experience than you and then you can’t play and they’re gonna take your scholarship.
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• I feel bad for some of the high school kids because now, that JUCO rule is playing a part in it. (The transfer portal), you have to just be able to adapt to the situation because you’re all about competition. It’s all competition at the end of the day and if you are confident in your ability, it won’t affect you.
How many games of the team you committed to or signed with did you actually watch?
• I was there in person for four or five home games. I was studying my position: how guys rotated, how guys played and executed calls, communicated.
• I watched every game. I’m a fan, but I was tuning in to watch techniques and talking to coaches after the game for things I need to learn so I can play early.
• I was at mostly every game. I was studying how they used (my) position, to make sure it’s what I wanted to be a part of.
• I watched all of the games. I was looking at defensive fronts, formations, how they lined up and calls they made.
• Every game. They had eight home games this year, too, so I was at every single one.
• I was at five of the games, so I was at most of the games the big ones. I didn’t go to like, when they played — I don’t even know who they played, it was a trash school. I went to all the big-time ones. And I watched them on TV. I watched us lose the other day. That was annoying. I was talking trash to (an opposing) signee. And then he just got on my case.
How many different campuses did you visit before taking official visits? Who paid the bill for the unofficial visits?
• I’ve been to Rutgers, Ohio State, Maryland, Tennessee, Auburn, Oregon, Miami, Texas A&M, a lot of schools. I went with teammates and coaches. I don’t know who paid for it all. My parents, agent handled it.
• My mom paid for a lot of trips to Colorado. It was a fun experience to go meet Coach Prime. I’m not going there, but I’m glad I’ll be able to make it all back and pay back my mom.
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• I took five official visits and unofficial visits to the same (schools). Sometimes we paid, sometimes we didn’t. It was taken care of most of the time.
• I’ve been visiting schools since I was a freshman. I’ve been on 13, 14 campuses. My eighth-grade year I went with a group of guys. The rest of the time it’s been with my parents, who paid for it all. The longer you visit, the more you’ll get the feeling whether or not you want to go there.
• I’ve been going on trips since I was in the eighth grade. I’ve been to about 50 schools. We’d get in the car and make trips. My dad paid for some of the trips. Other people with the schools helped out sometimes, you can say that.
• I took four trips (to SEC schools). My mom paid for all those trips, buying plane tickets. She spent thousands.
• I’ve been to 30-plus schools in this region. Sometimes I went with my head coach. We also had some bus tours. It took us to Louisiana, Mississippi. They drove us to Ohio State. My mom and dad paid for it.
• I took about 30 trips to different schools and some multiple times before officials. My family went each time. The schools helped out for the officials, but the unofficial trips we paid for.
• I’ve been to each of my top five schools about two to three times each. We paid for it ourselves.
• My parents go with me on the trips and they pay for it.
• I took a lot of unofficial visits. My dad kept telling me ROI (return on investment) throughout the whole process.
• I’ve taken about 17 trips so far. Most of them were with family. I would say two or three with my high school coaches because one of my teammates is also a top recruit. So we’d go out together. My parents paid for all the flights, hotels. I’m very thankful for them. God has blessed us to be able to take all these trips and visits.
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What’s been your most unique experience on a recruiting trip so far?
• Being on the sideline for the Miami-Florida game. Miami’s players came over to us after the game and said, “Don’t go to Florida.” It was kind of classless.
• At Georgia, we did slip ’n slide one day. It was fun. The places that pay attention to detail and make sure everything is well planned out are notable.
• Most trips are the same if you go to a practice, spring game or game-day visit. The one that did stand out was Notre Dame. One of their visits, they had a day where there were no talks about football. We just had fun spending time with coaches and recruits. We played whiffle ball. We had a blindfolded donut eating contest. We had a water balloon fight. That stood out to me because there was no talk about football at all. It just shows they do stuff differently.
• On a trip to Oregon, they had a house we all went to. We were riding dirt bikes, hooping.
• I loved my trips to Ohio State. I love how structured they are. Every time I go there it’s something different. You can go to a school 100 times and see the same thing over and over. Each time I’m there, I get a different taste of Columbus. I’ve been there five, six times. Recently, I went to church up there and I’ve never been to church on a visit. It was amazing.
• Facilities are all different. I’ve been to 50 schools. Me and my dad really ask questions to players and people there to see if the coaches hold their word. Ohio Statedoes a great job showing you around campus and taking care of you. Every time I’ve been there, they do a great job handling everything. LSU, too. Every time I go up there, I’ve had the most fun there.
• My advice would be don’t look at what’s on campus. Look for a school who wants you for you. Learn how to navigate through the BS. Don’t let a coach feed your ego because that’s what they’ll try to do. Go somewhere you can grow as a person and a player.
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• At Clemson, we went tubing and all that. That was pretty fun. Fishing and all that.
Who had the best and worst food on trips?
• Georgia. The food in their cafeteria was ridiculous. The worst food? It might have been Clemson. We had breakfast. Everything was pretty mediocre.
• Texas had the worst food. It’s not the worst, (but) it’s because they gave the same food every time. The best food? I did go on one visit now that I’m thinking of it, U of H had this barbecue and one of my friends is a big U of H fan so I wanted to take him to a game so I went to take a visit there to go watch a game. But they had some really good barbecue.
• The best, LSU. The worst, probably Alabama. LSU, it’s just like, nobody can compete with their food. I’d have to go to New York or something to see if their food could compete, but as of right now, it’s Louisiana. And Alabama, I don’t know. We just didn’t really eat a lot.
Who was your favorite recruiter from another school?
• I would say coach Demetrice Martin. He was at Oregon at the time. Now he’s at UCLA now. I still talk to him a lot.
• I would say Garett Tujague, the offensive line coach at NC State. He’s just a salt-of-the-earth guy. He’s all about family.
• It had to be (A’lique Terry) from Oregon. Just a lot of energy and enthusiasm when he’d go to see me. Just high energy.
• I’d say Josh Crawford (at Georgia) because he’s just a genuine guy and he always let me know he wanted me, and even though I didn’t end up attending Georgia, he just let me know that he wanted to continue to build a great relationship with me because you never know what’s gonna happen in the future.
• (Oklahoma’s) Todd Bates. I probably had the best relationship with him. I just didn’t want to go there because I didn’t like how I fit into their scheme.
(Photo: Grace Raynor / The Athletic)
This year, the event included approximately 60 high school seniors and 30 juniors, which allowed us to talk to players who are done with the recruiting process and those still going through it.
ADVERTISEMENT
We spoke to more than 30 players and granted them anonymity so they could speak candidly on topics such as NIL, the transfer portal, campus visits and more.
Editor’s note: Quotes have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Based on conversations you’ve had with college programs (coaches, NIL directors) and other elite recruits, how much are you expecting to get paid in your first year in college? What is a baseline number for your position at a Power 4 program?
• I know athletes who get a pretty penny in the SEC. It all depends on how bad the school needs the player. With Bryce (Underwood), Michigan needed a quarterback. So, he’ll get paid as much as $12 million to go to Michigan. For an All-American offensive tackle, base $1.5 million.
• I don’t have an agent, but an All-American offensive tackle should get $100,000 at least. That’s what my peers have said and what I’ve heard early.
• I’m not really about comparing money as a quarterback. It’s kind of crazy nowadays. I think it depends on the school, size of the school and what they can give you. If we’re talking about All-Americans, that’s six figures to start.
• It depends on which college you go to. They all spend different amounts on freshmen. As a defensive end going to a Power 4 school, I’ve been told $60,000 to $80,000 a semester. Every contract is different. You can sign a two-year, three-year deal. What you get after your first deal is up to you and how you play.
• (Bryce) Underwood got $10 million to play quarterback. I’d say $200,000 is probably a good starting place for a four- or five-star safety.
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• The going rate for a high school All-American defensive back depends on how bad a school wants you or how bad they need you. No low-ball number — knowing taxes are going to take 40 percent‚ $300,000 to $700,000. Taxes are the devil.
• My agent has told me anywhere from $300,000 to $700,000 for a high school All-American linebacker.
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• A blue-chip All-American defensive lineman? $250,000. That doesn’t include the bag. The second year, if you do what you’re supposed to do, you can get as much as $750,000.
• I think you should get paid as much as you’re worth as an all-around person — not just football‚ but a representative for the university. As a high school All-American defensive lineman, I’d say $250,000 to $300,000 a year is the number I was given when I committed. That’s for one year over two semesters. They told me from there, I’ve got a chance to make as much as $500,000 to $550,000 down the road.
• I’ve heard crazy stuff from people here. But baseline: $220,000 to $225,000 for your first year as a high school All-American defensive lineman.
Did you take your biggest offer and do you remember how much you left on the table?
• I did not take my biggest offer. I left $150,000 on the table. I can go crazy in the SEC and I get a bonus, so I’ll get my contract boosted up. So it’s all about the work I put in.
• No, I did not take my biggest offer. Can I give a range? I’ll say (I left) 100 to 300 K. I just felt like I have a really good connection with the school I’m with. I just felt like it was too strong to break up.
• A lot. Probably $100,000. It didn’t mean much because that doesn’t play a big part. It’s mainly about the fit for me.
• I didn’t take the biggest offer. (I left), like, $100,000. It’s all right. I just know that my school now, I’ll be able to make more money eventually.
How much did coaches bring up NIL on visits? Did they avoid the subject?
• Only on official visits and with NIL reps. We’d spend half an hour talking about it in most places. I didn’t have an agent there. It was just me, my family, mom, grandpa. We negotiated (my deal) and had an agent look over it.
• For me, making money is a big thing. But I felt like building a relationship with the coaches was more important. Each school would tell you how much you could make if you start, do things right. One conversation I remember was with (Georgia coach) Kirby Smart. You didn’t talk to an NIL manager at Georgia. He put a paper down, showed it to me and he said your money goes up the more you start and make plays. It was really organized. Some schools try to bring up things like development to push you away from the money. A lot of people are mad (players) are making decisions based on money. At the end of the day, you can’t go somewhere and not get what you’re worth. (Note: This player did not sign with Georgia.)
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• The only time I talked about NIL was on official visits. It was usually with the collective. Kirby Smart was the only coach who handled it. (Note: This player did not sign with Georgia.)
• Each school is different when it comes to NIL, but I normally let my family handle it.
• I wouldn’t say NIL was the main topic on visits, but I would say it was an important talking point for many of the schools I went to on official visits. As far as the plans, they said it was different for each player. They want it to be private so we don’t know how much each guy makes because it kind of hinders that ability to actually play ball. If you know what he’s making, then you’re like, “I should be making more.” So, it’s whatever they have planned out for you and going from there.
• I’ll say I spend a good amount of time talking to the coaching staff going over film and how I fit into the program. My parents handle the NIL stuff.
• No coach has brought up NIL to me yet. If anything, maybe one time, but my family hasn’t talked about it with schools yet because I’m a 2026 recruit. I feel like next year, that’s when more conversations will come up.
Did you have an agent or representative handling your negotiations?
• I work with the Rosenhaus agency and they’re the best agency for NFL and college representation. I talk to my agent a lot. We talk about what the colleges are doing, but I do marketing in high school for certain brands. I can’t do anything with my high school logo.
• I didn’t have one. My mom handled it.
• My dad handled the conversations, but we had an advisor.
• I have an agent, but my dad handles all the finances. With the financial opportunities, everyone is going to try and take advantage of it. Got to keep things tight.
• I have an agent who comes to meetings with us.
• I have an agent. When he told me I was going to get X amount of money, my head blew up. Once I talked to a financial advisor and he told me about taxes, my jaw closed after that.
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• My parents handled the negotiations for me.
• I have family members and advisors who are handling it.
• I let my parents handle all of that. I didn’t want to be involved.
When do you get your first NIL check? What do you plan to do with it?
• I’m not sure when we will get our first check. But I’m gonna start investing in property so I can sell them off whenever I need the money back.
• I get on campus January 5th and at the end of February, I get my first check. Once revenue sharing passes, it’ll be different.
• My mom and dad told me that football is going to end one day — if I make it to the league or not. I’m bright enough to do something after football. I’m gonna invest a lot of it.
Anything else people should know about NIL?
• People don’t know, those contracts are very strategic on what they want you to do and if you don’t fit that certain type of (performance) your money’s gonna get taken down. So with all these NIL valuations that everybody’s getting, it sounds great, but what is in that contract? What are those clauses that say, “If you don’t do this, this and that, you’re gonna get cut to this?” And then you get cut to that, it’s gonna be like, “You told me one thing, you lied to me.” No. Read the contract. You have to have somebody that is understanding and that knows those types of things because you sign your life away.
• If you’re going into the situation nowadays with the NIL world, have somebody in your corner. Have somebody that has your best interest at heart. And the people that you might think have your best interest at heart might be the people that you need to be away from. And that could be mom, that could be dad, that could be brother, that could be a friend that you’ve been friends with since you were (a kid). That stuff matters. My parents weren’t the type of parents where they tried to have something to gain from me. (But) if you don’t have anybody in your corner that ultimately has your best interest at heart, it’s going to get really, really hard for you to navigate that because this money is not long-term money.
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• I have a clause where I can get out of my contract any time I want to. And that’s why I loved my agency so much because they’re not money grabbing. They’re like, “Well, if you feel uncomfortable at any time, say you wanna do this, this and that, we can help you find other (options).” It wasn’t a situation where they were trying to feed off me. They’ve got (NFL) guys signed. They don’t need a couple thousand dollars from an 18-year-old.
Do you feel like coaches have been honest and transparent with you about going to get older players in the transfer portal?
• I had a long talk with (Florida State) coach (Mike) Norvell about it. I asked him how he feels about players jumping in the portal. He said if you want to come back after you jump in the portal, he’s open to it. And if you don’t fit there, he’ll help you find a new program. He’s not going to leave guys out in the cold. He’s the only coach who has ever told me that. It just shows he’s a good guy. (Note: This player is uncommitted.)
• The only place that takes more transfers than high school kids is Colorado. They’re winning a lot of games. Every place I’m looking at is pretty balanced. It doesn’t matter as much. Most of the schools I’m looking at are right in the middle.
• Some schools like Clemson let you know they don’t go in the portal and only take kids out of high school. Some schools tell you portal kids are too expensive. It really doesn’t bother me either way. It’s about competing.
• I want to go to a program that develops guys, but I know how the game is.
• I feel like coaches have been really honest about it. They have to be. If they don’t have a quarterback in their system they can develop, they’ll tell you they’ll take a transfer for a year, get a few wins and then invest in you.
• You’ve got to have a lot of trust with that because coaches could be telling you one thing and then meaning a different thing. So I had to really take that into (account) because of how much it messes up high school kids nowadays. They could take a dude that has way more experience than you and then you can’t play and they’re gonna take your scholarship.
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• I feel bad for some of the high school kids because now, that JUCO rule is playing a part in it. (The transfer portal), you have to just be able to adapt to the situation because you’re all about competition. It’s all competition at the end of the day and if you are confident in your ability, it won’t affect you.
How many games of the team you committed to or signed with did you actually watch?
• I was there in person for four or five home games. I was studying my position: how guys rotated, how guys played and executed calls, communicated.
• I watched every game. I’m a fan, but I was tuning in to watch techniques and talking to coaches after the game for things I need to learn so I can play early.
• I was at mostly every game. I was studying how they used (my) position, to make sure it’s what I wanted to be a part of.
• I watched all of the games. I was looking at defensive fronts, formations, how they lined up and calls they made.
• Every game. They had eight home games this year, too, so I was at every single one.
• I was at five of the games, so I was at most of the games the big ones. I didn’t go to like, when they played — I don’t even know who they played, it was a trash school. I went to all the big-time ones. And I watched them on TV. I watched us lose the other day. That was annoying. I was talking trash to (an opposing) signee. And then he just got on my case.
How many different campuses did you visit before taking official visits? Who paid the bill for the unofficial visits?
• I’ve been to Rutgers, Ohio State, Maryland, Tennessee, Auburn, Oregon, Miami, Texas A&M, a lot of schools. I went with teammates and coaches. I don’t know who paid for it all. My parents, agent handled it.
• My mom paid for a lot of trips to Colorado. It was a fun experience to go meet Coach Prime. I’m not going there, but I’m glad I’ll be able to make it all back and pay back my mom.
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• I took five official visits and unofficial visits to the same (schools). Sometimes we paid, sometimes we didn’t. It was taken care of most of the time.
• I’ve been visiting schools since I was a freshman. I’ve been on 13, 14 campuses. My eighth-grade year I went with a group of guys. The rest of the time it’s been with my parents, who paid for it all. The longer you visit, the more you’ll get the feeling whether or not you want to go there.
• I’ve been going on trips since I was in the eighth grade. I’ve been to about 50 schools. We’d get in the car and make trips. My dad paid for some of the trips. Other people with the schools helped out sometimes, you can say that.
• I took four trips (to SEC schools). My mom paid for all those trips, buying plane tickets. She spent thousands.
• I’ve been to 30-plus schools in this region. Sometimes I went with my head coach. We also had some bus tours. It took us to Louisiana, Mississippi. They drove us to Ohio State. My mom and dad paid for it.
• I took about 30 trips to different schools and some multiple times before officials. My family went each time. The schools helped out for the officials, but the unofficial trips we paid for.
• I’ve been to each of my top five schools about two to three times each. We paid for it ourselves.
• My parents go with me on the trips and they pay for it.
• I took a lot of unofficial visits. My dad kept telling me ROI (return on investment) throughout the whole process.
• I’ve taken about 17 trips so far. Most of them were with family. I would say two or three with my high school coaches because one of my teammates is also a top recruit. So we’d go out together. My parents paid for all the flights, hotels. I’m very thankful for them. God has blessed us to be able to take all these trips and visits.
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What’s been your most unique experience on a recruiting trip so far?
• Being on the sideline for the Miami-Florida game. Miami’s players came over to us after the game and said, “Don’t go to Florida.” It was kind of classless.
• At Georgia, we did slip ’n slide one day. It was fun. The places that pay attention to detail and make sure everything is well planned out are notable.
• Most trips are the same if you go to a practice, spring game or game-day visit. The one that did stand out was Notre Dame. One of their visits, they had a day where there were no talks about football. We just had fun spending time with coaches and recruits. We played whiffle ball. We had a blindfolded donut eating contest. We had a water balloon fight. That stood out to me because there was no talk about football at all. It just shows they do stuff differently.
• On a trip to Oregon, they had a house we all went to. We were riding dirt bikes, hooping.
• I loved my trips to Ohio State. I love how structured they are. Every time I go there it’s something different. You can go to a school 100 times and see the same thing over and over. Each time I’m there, I get a different taste of Columbus. I’ve been there five, six times. Recently, I went to church up there and I’ve never been to church on a visit. It was amazing.
• Facilities are all different. I’ve been to 50 schools. Me and my dad really ask questions to players and people there to see if the coaches hold their word. Ohio Statedoes a great job showing you around campus and taking care of you. Every time I’ve been there, they do a great job handling everything. LSU, too. Every time I go up there, I’ve had the most fun there.
• My advice would be don’t look at what’s on campus. Look for a school who wants you for you. Learn how to navigate through the BS. Don’t let a coach feed your ego because that’s what they’ll try to do. Go somewhere you can grow as a person and a player.
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• At Clemson, we went tubing and all that. That was pretty fun. Fishing and all that.
Who had the best and worst food on trips?
• Georgia. The food in their cafeteria was ridiculous. The worst food? It might have been Clemson. We had breakfast. Everything was pretty mediocre.
• Texas had the worst food. It’s not the worst, (but) it’s because they gave the same food every time. The best food? I did go on one visit now that I’m thinking of it, U of H had this barbecue and one of my friends is a big U of H fan so I wanted to take him to a game so I went to take a visit there to go watch a game. But they had some really good barbecue.
• The best, LSU. The worst, probably Alabama. LSU, it’s just like, nobody can compete with their food. I’d have to go to New York or something to see if their food could compete, but as of right now, it’s Louisiana. And Alabama, I don’t know. We just didn’t really eat a lot.
Who was your favorite recruiter from another school?
• I would say coach Demetrice Martin. He was at Oregon at the time. Now he’s at UCLA now. I still talk to him a lot.
• I would say Garett Tujague, the offensive line coach at NC State. He’s just a salt-of-the-earth guy. He’s all about family.
• It had to be (A’lique Terry) from Oregon. Just a lot of energy and enthusiasm when he’d go to see me. Just high energy.
• I’d say Josh Crawford (at Georgia) because he’s just a genuine guy and he always let me know he wanted me, and even though I didn’t end up attending Georgia, he just let me know that he wanted to continue to build a great relationship with me because you never know what’s gonna happen in the future.
• (Oklahoma’s) Todd Bates. I probably had the best relationship with him. I just didn’t want to go there because I didn’t like how I fit into their scheme.
(Photo: Grace Raynor / The Athletic)
