Article on The Athletic this morning. Be nice to reel some of these guys in!
MA Recruiting
John DiBiaso, the head football coach at Catholic Memorial in Boston, has been a head coach at the high school level for going on 40 years.
This May, he saw something he’d never seen before.
“We had a workout, an after-school workout,” DiBiaso said, “and I had 16 Power 5 coaches sitting in our workout area, our weightlifting area, watching the kids at the same time.
“There were people literally tripping over each other.”
Welcome to recruiting — in Massachusetts.
DiBiaso can’t remember the full list of schools that sent coaches that day to his campus, where he already has three players in the Class of 2023 committed to Power 5 programs. Four-star defensive lineman Boubacar Traore is committed to Notre Dame, and three-star running back Datrell Jones and three-star wide receiver Jaeden Skeete are committed to Boston College. What DiBiaso does recall, though, is that Penn State, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Clemson, Florida, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Rutgers and Maryland all showed up.
“Mass kids have really been quote-unquote ‘the bottom,’ where they’re underlooked, underseen in the recruiting game,” said five-star offensive tackle Samson Okunlola, who plays for Thayer Academy in Braintree, Mass.
“(But) we’ve got some dogs down here.”
And college football programs have taken note of the state not exactly known for high school football.
It’s been an unprecedented year for Massachusetts on the recruiting trail, with the Commonwealth quietly pumping out three top-150 recruits in the Class of 2023, according to the 247Sports Composite, after producing just one total from 2018 to 2022.
Okunlola, or “Pancake Honcho” as he is called for his affinity for pancake blocks, is the nation’s No. 20 recruit and No. 3 offensive tackle — the highest-rated Massachusetts prospect in the modern era, which dates to 2002. He is fresh off an official visit to Michigan State over the weekend and is down to nine schools: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Miami, Michigan State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon and Penn State.
“Some coaches have said he’s the best lineman in the country. … A couple of coaches have said, ‘Easily, he’s the best. He’s clearly the (best). We’ve seen them all,’” said Thayer Academy head coach Jeff Toussaint.
“There’s definitely never been anything like this.”
Joenel Aguero (St. John’s Prep/Danvers, Mass.), the nation’s No. 34 prospect and No 2 safety, has a final four of Florida, Georgia, Miami and Ohio State, with a commitment date of July 23. He took an official visit to Georgia over the weekend.
And Traore, the nation’s No. 123 prospect and No. 18 defensive lineman, committed to Notre Dame in April after decommitting from Boston College in March.
In all, Massachusetts has six prospects already committed to Power 5 programs, with four-star tight end Andrew Rappleyea (Milton Academy/Milton, Mass.) headed to Penn State, three-star linebacker Preston Zinter (Central Catholic/Lawrence, Mass.) joining Traore at Notre Dame and three-star quarterback William Watson III (Springfield Central/Springfield Mass.) headed to Nebraska. Four-star athlete Ronan Hanafin (Buckingham Browne & Nichols School/Cambridge, Mass.) has offers from Georgia, Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma, LSU and others.
“It’s a phenomenon that’s occurring now,” DiBiaso said, “and it’s great for the kids.”
How Massachusetts got to this point doesn’t have one obvious explanation, but coaches and players have a few theories that might explain a surge unlike anything they’ve ever seen.
“I never had guys from Alabama coming up (here) before. Now they do,” DiBiaso said. “Hopefully it’ll continue.”
“You couldn’t go out on a field and run. It was either covered in snow or the field was dug up — it was all holes,” DiBiaso said. “You couldn’t train. You couldn’t play games late in the year.”
But now?
“With the advent of these turf fields, I mean, kids can go out and run in January, February,” he said. “Do things out on the field year-round.”
Additionally: “There were no indoor facilities to train 20 years ago. Now they’re all over the place.”
Boston’s snow season started on Nov. 26 last fall, according to CBS Boston — right in the thick of high school playoffs. In the fall of 2020, the city set a record for snowfall in October, when four-plus inches blanketed the ground on Oct. 30, according to NBC Boston. The city’s average high was 51 degrees in November and 41 degrees in December, according to USClimateData.com. The average low was 38 degrees in November and 28 in December.
Turf fields give teams more flexibility to play through snow, which creates more opportunities for players to be noticed by college evaluators if games aren’t canceled as often. Catholic Memorial installed its turf field in 2011. Thayer Academy plays on grass but has access to turf practice fields.
Conditions were clear on Dec. 2, when Catholic Memorial capped an undefeated season and won its first state championship in 43 years. Had the weather been an issue, the turf field at Gillette Stadium would have offered a buffer.
Indoor facilities — which have become must-haves in college football — allow players to train year-round. Catholic Memorial and Thayer Academy have indoor fieldhouses.
Earlier in DiBiaso’s career, his teams would of course hit the weight room regularly, regardless of weather. But there’s something to be said for going through drills and workouts on a practice field to enhance agility or mimic game-like scenarios. DiBiaso can remember a trip to Florida earlier in his career when he realized just how large the discrepancy was between Massachusetts and its counterparts.
“I think Massachusetts historically was behind the rest of the country for a long time in that out-of-season conditioning and weightlifting was probably not up to par with other areas of the country because of the weather,” he said. “Now we have all this (advancement). … You’ve opened a lot of doors for a lot of kids that weren’t there maybe 20 years ago.”
MA Recruiting
Samson Okunlola leads surge of blue-chip football recruits from a surprising state
John DiBiaso, the head football coach at Catholic Memorial in Boston, has been a head coach at the high school level for going on 40 years.
This May, he saw something he’d never seen before.
“We had a workout, an after-school workout,” DiBiaso said, “and I had 16 Power 5 coaches sitting in our workout area, our weightlifting area, watching the kids at the same time.
“There were people literally tripping over each other.”
Welcome to recruiting — in Massachusetts.
DiBiaso can’t remember the full list of schools that sent coaches that day to his campus, where he already has three players in the Class of 2023 committed to Power 5 programs. Four-star defensive lineman Boubacar Traore is committed to Notre Dame, and three-star running back Datrell Jones and three-star wide receiver Jaeden Skeete are committed to Boston College. What DiBiaso does recall, though, is that Penn State, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Clemson, Florida, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Rutgers and Maryland all showed up.
“Mass kids have really been quote-unquote ‘the bottom,’ where they’re underlooked, underseen in the recruiting game,” said five-star offensive tackle Samson Okunlola, who plays for Thayer Academy in Braintree, Mass.
“(But) we’ve got some dogs down here.”
And college football programs have taken note of the state not exactly known for high school football.
It’s been an unprecedented year for Massachusetts on the recruiting trail, with the Commonwealth quietly pumping out three top-150 recruits in the Class of 2023, according to the 247Sports Composite, after producing just one total from 2018 to 2022.
“Some coaches have said he’s the best lineman in the country. … A couple of coaches have said, ‘Easily, he’s the best. He’s clearly the (best). We’ve seen them all,’” said Thayer Academy head coach Jeff Toussaint.
“There’s definitely never been anything like this.”
Joenel Aguero (St. John’s Prep/Danvers, Mass.), the nation’s No. 34 prospect and No 2 safety, has a final four of Florida, Georgia, Miami and Ohio State, with a commitment date of July 23. He took an official visit to Georgia over the weekend.
And Traore, the nation’s No. 123 prospect and No. 18 defensive lineman, committed to Notre Dame in April after decommitting from Boston College in March.
In all, Massachusetts has six prospects already committed to Power 5 programs, with four-star tight end Andrew Rappleyea (Milton Academy/Milton, Mass.) headed to Penn State, three-star linebacker Preston Zinter (Central Catholic/Lawrence, Mass.) joining Traore at Notre Dame and three-star quarterback William Watson III (Springfield Central/Springfield Mass.) headed to Nebraska. Four-star athlete Ronan Hanafin (Buckingham Browne & Nichols School/Cambridge, Mass.) has offers from Georgia, Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma, LSU and others.
“It’s a phenomenon that’s occurring now,” DiBiaso said, “and it’s great for the kids.”
How Massachusetts got to this point doesn’t have one obvious explanation, but coaches and players have a few theories that might explain a surge unlike anything they’ve ever seen.
“I never had guys from Alabama coming up (here) before. Now they do,” DiBiaso said. “Hopefully it’ll continue.”
Theory 1: Weather is less of an issue
DiBiaso can remember the landscape of high school football 20 years ago when, every year around Thanksgiving, high school programs in Massachusetts were at the mercy of Mother Nature.“You couldn’t go out on a field and run. It was either covered in snow or the field was dug up — it was all holes,” DiBiaso said. “You couldn’t train. You couldn’t play games late in the year.”
But now?
“With the advent of these turf fields, I mean, kids can go out and run in January, February,” he said. “Do things out on the field year-round.”
Additionally: “There were no indoor facilities to train 20 years ago. Now they’re all over the place.”
Boston’s snow season started on Nov. 26 last fall, according to CBS Boston — right in the thick of high school playoffs. In the fall of 2020, the city set a record for snowfall in October, when four-plus inches blanketed the ground on Oct. 30, according to NBC Boston. The city’s average high was 51 degrees in November and 41 degrees in December, according to USClimateData.com. The average low was 38 degrees in November and 28 in December.
Turf fields give teams more flexibility to play through snow, which creates more opportunities for players to be noticed by college evaluators if games aren’t canceled as often. Catholic Memorial installed its turf field in 2011. Thayer Academy plays on grass but has access to turf practice fields.
Conditions were clear on Dec. 2, when Catholic Memorial capped an undefeated season and won its first state championship in 43 years. Had the weather been an issue, the turf field at Gillette Stadium would have offered a buffer.
Indoor facilities — which have become must-haves in college football — allow players to train year-round. Catholic Memorial and Thayer Academy have indoor fieldhouses.
Earlier in DiBiaso’s career, his teams would of course hit the weight room regularly, regardless of weather. But there’s something to be said for going through drills and workouts on a practice field to enhance agility or mimic game-like scenarios. DiBiaso can remember a trip to Florida earlier in his career when he realized just how large the discrepancy was between Massachusetts and its counterparts.
“I think Massachusetts historically was behind the rest of the country for a long time in that out-of-season conditioning and weightlifting was probably not up to par with other areas of the country because of the weather,” he said. “Now we have all this (advancement). … You’ve opened a lot of doors for a lot of kids that weren’t there maybe 20 years ago.”
