The best player in the Gophers’ football recruiting class that will be announced today is Mahtomedi High School guard Tommy Olson, according to local recruiting authority Zach Johnson.
Johnson, who has been covering Gophers recruiting since 2003, told Sports Headliners that Olson is the “face” of new coach Jerry Kill’s first recruiting class, including Minnesota natives and players from other states. “I think with Tommy Olson…you’re looking at, at least a three year starter on the line,” Johnson said.
Johnson, whose reporting is read on GopherIllustrated.com, groups four other Minnesota preps together when asked who the state’s second best player is. He said Olson distances himself from anyone else and didn’t label a No. 2 player among Edina wide receiver Devin Crawford-Tufts (Gophers), Minnetonka defensive back James Farrow (Virginia Tech), St. Thomas Academy defensive lineman Anthony Hayes (Stanford) and Holy Family tight end-defensive end Peter Westerhaus (Gophers).
Rivals.com, the often quoted web authority on major college football recruiting, doesn’t give Olson or any other member of Kill’s projected recruiting class a four or five star rating. Seventeen of the 21 players listed by Rivals receive three star ratings, and four of them are two stars, and Johnson is surprised Olson isn’t labeled a four.
Johnson couldn’t remember a time when the state’s best player wasn’t a four but he’s been told interior offensive linemen sometimes don’t receive high ratings because of the position they play. “There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s going to be a great lineman in the Big Ten,” he said.
Kill’s class is ranked No. 49 in the country by Rivals.com and among Big Ten schools is listed ahead of only Indiana, Northwestern and Purdue. “I wouldn’t call this (Minnesota’s class) subpar,” Johnson said. “I would call it on-par with what you would come to expect from Minnesota. When Mason was here (1997-2006) their recruiting classes were (ranked) in the 40’s and 50’s.”
Johnson believes the Gophers are “fortunate” to have as much quality in this class as they do given that Kill is a new coach and only had several weeks to recruit. Johnson said recruiting is about “relationships” and it’s not fair to judge a head coach until his second class. Former Gophers coach Tim Brewster’s second class was the best of his four, a top 25 nationally ranked group that included quarterback MarQueis Gray from Indianapolis. That class was not only Brewster’s highest ranked class but surpassed any of his predecessor, coach Glen Mason.
Johnson said Kill’s expected class includes three players who had committed to him when he was coaching at Northern Illinois. Offensive lineman Foster Bush, defensive back Marcus Jones and tight end John Rabe were Huskies commits. Another Gopher commit, defensive end Drew Goodger, was recruited by Kill at Northern Illinois but hadn’t said he would play for the Huskies.