On his December official visit to UW… It went really good. As you know I’ve been there a ton of times so it was just kind of, for me, to hangout with the coaches, the guys on the team, the committed guys and all that. Also get to recruit the tight end from California, Jack Yary, a little bit.
On Yary… It was really good. For me, recruiting him just letting him know how much of a family we already are as commits and all that. How excited we are to be there and how great of a place it is. And then also to get to know the other commits a little bit better. I knew a lot of the guys already, but getting to hangout with them and more of a vibe with them was fun and exciting.
On Roger Rosengarten visit… Yeah I went there a couple weeks ago. Watched his game Friday night and then watch UW play Colorado on that next Saturday. It was really cool. He definitely plays a little higher level than I’m used to here in Ferndale. Just being the 5A school in Colorado that’s their biggest division. So it was cool to see him play against guys – they played Columbine so he got to play against Andrew Gentry kid, which is cool to see him play against a guy that high of caliber.
On Huff… When he came up for the in-home visit he came with coach Lake the Monday that coach Pete announced he was stepping down. So it was good to have them both in-home that day and to talk with them a little bit. But we served them some good southern chicken fried stake. Some southern cookin’.
On the day Petersen resigned… I found out – I was actually sitting in math class and one of my buddies is a really big Husky fan, he’s one of my good buddies. He just kind of came up to me and tapped me on my shoulder and he showed me his phone. I was shocked at first. I thought it was fake news, because you see all the different accounts being made so I thought it was one of those. I got to talk with coach Pete later that day and obviously coach Lake came to my house. So I wasn’t worried about the program or anything like that. I was really excited to know and hear what would be happening and all that.
On that conversation with Petersen… It meant a lot to me. Me and coach Pete had a really good relationship throughout the whole recruiting process. The conversation with him, for me, it was really good. He just let me know why he was doing it. He was just kind of worn out. Wanted a little break and felt that coach Lake was the right guy for the job and he would bring the energy and all that, which made me feel really good. He just wanted to let me know that everything would be alright. Lots of it would stay the same and some things would be even better than they were when he was there. It was also kind of an emotional conversation for me because the day, December 2, the day that he decided to step down was two years after he had offered me. So it was kind of emotional for me, but it was a really good conversation and I’m glad that he reached out to me and I was able to have that conversation with him.
On his senior season… The season went well for me overall. Senior season, last season, it was probably my best season overall as it should be. I felt I played really well. With the sling I tore my labrum the second game of the season. My shoulder dislocated and tore the front and back of my labrum. So I braced it up for the rest of the season and played the season out on it. My parents, my family and other players were really supportive of me with it and totally understood if I wanted to step away from playing the rest of the season. Or continue playing through the season which is really good for me. I decided, obviously, to play through the season just because it was my senior season. Along with the UW coaches. Coach Huff and coach Pete were totally fine and encouraging me to continue playing the rest of the season since it was my last season. But it was a really good season for me. I’m glad I got to finish it off with the guys that I had played with my whole life.
On any thought that he wouldn’t play after his injury… After I found out that I’d torn my labrum and that I’d need… well I guess need isn’t the word I should use. Should is the word that I should use – have the surgery. It kind of ran through my mind. Should I stop playing and get the surgery right away because I’m enrolling in the spring, so I’ll be there for spring ball. But if I would have gotten the surgery earlier I would have been able to do all of spring ball just fine. But since I decided to hold out and get the surgery until we’d lost in the playoffs spring ball wasn’t as much of a possibility. I won’t be able to do some of the contact stuff but I’ll still be able to get the footwork stuff in and get to know the playbook. It definitely kind of ran through my mind a little bit to step away. But thinking back on it I was really glad I decided to play the rest of my season. It was my last time getting to play up here in Ferndale. I grew up playing up here so I was really glad to continue to play and happy with the decision I made.
On being from Ferndale… It definitely means a lot. Like you said it’s not a huge school like Mater Dei or Valor Christian like Roger and Myles play at. But definitely lots of pride up in Ferndale. Our school motto is ‘it’s a matter of pride’ so it was really fun to grow up in a small community like this. We’re kind of well know in the state for being a football community. So it was really exciting to get to grow up watching – I have a neighbor that was a senior when I was a freshman. So I got to watch him all four years and played with him my freshman year. Growing up watching guys like that play on the field when I’m a little kid just dreaming of getting out there was really fun. So getting to play in a community like this where the stands are packed, the track is packed every Friday night. The town’s shut down just to come watch the football game. It was a great experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything.
On Yary… It was really good. For me, recruiting him just letting him know how much of a family we already are as commits and all that. How excited we are to be there and how great of a place it is. And then also to get to know the other commits a little bit better. I knew a lot of the guys already, but getting to hangout with them and more of a vibe with them was fun and exciting.
On Roger Rosengarten visit… Yeah I went there a couple weeks ago. Watched his game Friday night and then watch UW play Colorado on that next Saturday. It was really cool. He definitely plays a little higher level than I’m used to here in Ferndale. Just being the 5A school in Colorado that’s their biggest division. So it was cool to see him play against guys – they played Columbine so he got to play against Andrew Gentry kid, which is cool to see him play against a guy that high of caliber.
On Huff… When he came up for the in-home visit he came with coach Lake the Monday that coach Pete announced he was stepping down. So it was good to have them both in-home that day and to talk with them a little bit. But we served them some good southern chicken fried stake. Some southern cookin’.
On the day Petersen resigned… I found out – I was actually sitting in math class and one of my buddies is a really big Husky fan, he’s one of my good buddies. He just kind of came up to me and tapped me on my shoulder and he showed me his phone. I was shocked at first. I thought it was fake news, because you see all the different accounts being made so I thought it was one of those. I got to talk with coach Pete later that day and obviously coach Lake came to my house. So I wasn’t worried about the program or anything like that. I was really excited to know and hear what would be happening and all that.
On that conversation with Petersen… It meant a lot to me. Me and coach Pete had a really good relationship throughout the whole recruiting process. The conversation with him, for me, it was really good. He just let me know why he was doing it. He was just kind of worn out. Wanted a little break and felt that coach Lake was the right guy for the job and he would bring the energy and all that, which made me feel really good. He just wanted to let me know that everything would be alright. Lots of it would stay the same and some things would be even better than they were when he was there. It was also kind of an emotional conversation for me because the day, December 2, the day that he decided to step down was two years after he had offered me. So it was kind of emotional for me, but it was a really good conversation and I’m glad that he reached out to me and I was able to have that conversation with him.
On his senior season… The season went well for me overall. Senior season, last season, it was probably my best season overall as it should be. I felt I played really well. With the sling I tore my labrum the second game of the season. My shoulder dislocated and tore the front and back of my labrum. So I braced it up for the rest of the season and played the season out on it. My parents, my family and other players were really supportive of me with it and totally understood if I wanted to step away from playing the rest of the season. Or continue playing through the season which is really good for me. I decided, obviously, to play through the season just because it was my senior season. Along with the UW coaches. Coach Huff and coach Pete were totally fine and encouraging me to continue playing the rest of the season since it was my last season. But it was a really good season for me. I’m glad I got to finish it off with the guys that I had played with my whole life.
On any thought that he wouldn’t play after his injury… After I found out that I’d torn my labrum and that I’d need… well I guess need isn’t the word I should use. Should is the word that I should use – have the surgery. It kind of ran through my mind. Should I stop playing and get the surgery right away because I’m enrolling in the spring, so I’ll be there for spring ball. But if I would have gotten the surgery earlier I would have been able to do all of spring ball just fine. But since I decided to hold out and get the surgery until we’d lost in the playoffs spring ball wasn’t as much of a possibility. I won’t be able to do some of the contact stuff but I’ll still be able to get the footwork stuff in and get to know the playbook. It definitely kind of ran through my mind a little bit to step away. But thinking back on it I was really glad I decided to play the rest of my season. It was my last time getting to play up here in Ferndale. I grew up playing up here so I was really glad to continue to play and happy with the decision I made.
On being from Ferndale… It definitely means a lot. Like you said it’s not a huge school like Mater Dei or Valor Christian like Roger and Myles play at. But definitely lots of pride up in Ferndale. Our school motto is ‘it’s a matter of pride’ so it was really fun to grow up in a small community like this. We’re kind of well know in the state for being a football community. So it was really exciting to get to grow up watching – I have a neighbor that was a senior when I was a freshman. So I got to watch him all four years and played with him my freshman year. Growing up watching guys like that play on the field when I’m a little kid just dreaming of getting out there was really fun. So getting to play in a community like this where the stands are packed, the track is packed every Friday night. The town’s shut down just to come watch the football game. It was a great experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything.
