With just one year as a varsity starter under his belt, McKinley High School quarterback Eric Glover-Williams has made quite an impression.
He already has more BCS college football offers than he does varsity football letters.
The Bulldogs’ sensational sophomore received word Friday that Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer wants him to be a part of his 2015 recruiting class. And Ohio State isn’t the only school offering.
Nebraska has offered Glover-Williams as well, and that is just the start of what likely is to be a flood of Top-25 programs offering Glover-Williams. McKinley’s program lists him at 5-foot-10, 155 pounds.
Both schools, according to McKinley head coach Todd Filtz, are recruiting him as an athlete, and not specifically at quarterback.
Meyer didn’t waste any time jumping on Glover-Williams. It is an indication Ohio State’s head coach thinks highly of his athletic ability.
“I think we knew it was coming,” Filtz said. “We’ve been talking to them for a couple of weeks now. We knew it was coming, we just didn’t know when.”
At Ohio State, Meyer likely sees Glover-Williams as a Percy Harvin-type player. Meyer used Harvin at various spots in his Florida offense.
“(Meyer) brought it up and asked me where I saw him playing in college,” Filtz said. “I said he would be a Percy Harvin-type guy, and both sides agreed on that.”
With so many college offenses going to the spread in the last eight years, it has made players like Glover-Williams valuable. Before that, a player who was 160 pounds didn’t turn a lot of major coaches’ heads.
Now there is a role, and a big one, in most programs.
“With the spread offenses, that’s the types of guys they’re looking for,” Filtz said. “They’re in need of the Percy Harvin types. A running back, slash slot receiver with multiple roles.”
McKinley moved Glover-Williams from running back to quarterback a few weeks before the start of the season. That didn’t give him much time to learn the position. Filtz said that will be a point of emphasis in the offseason. He completed just 75 of 154 passes for 1,114 yards with 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
At times, Glover-Williams seemed to rely on his feet too early, and at others he was erratic throwing the football. But how much of that can really be his fault given the little amount of time he had to learn?
What he has working in his favor is Glover-Williams also is a standout baseball player. So he has arm strength and mechanics to throw a ball, albeit a completely different set of mechanics to go through.
Running the ball is where he excelled because that is what he came into the season knowing most.
He ran for 1,574 yards on 243 carries and averaged 6.5 yards a carry to go along with 22 touchdowns.
Filtz is confident Glover-Williams will improve as a passer during the next two years of high school football. And he knows more schools are going to jump on him now that Ohio State and Nebraska have offered.
“I think when you start throwing around those names, there’s an attraction and interest in schools all across the country,” Filtz said. “Those are two great offers to get early on, and I’m sure those two places will be at the top when he narrows it down.
“He’s an electric player, and this is just a start for him.”
GOOD IN CLASS, TOO
Filtz said any school recruiting Glover-Williams does not have to worry about him academically.
“He’ll be fine, especially because he’s so young,” Filtz said. “He will be a qualifier.”
JUST A THOUGHT
With GlenOak running back Bri’onte Dunn, McKinley defensive lineman Steve Miller and Massillon receiver Devin Smith ... anyone want to bet against Meyer playing for and likely winning a national championship before they graduate? And throw in Glover-Williams, who would be a teammate with some of them, and Stark County will probably have a big role — as it did during the 2002 national title season — in winning a championship.
CONLEY TO OHIO STATE
Massillon receiver and defensive back Gareon Conley switched his mind and now will go to Ohio State. Conley verbally committed to the Buckeyes on Friday, a few weeks after he decommitted to Michigan.
Conley began to wonder during the season if he made a decision to go to Michigan too soon, and Ohio State stayed on him. Meyer’s recruiting practice is that no player is verbally committed, and nothing is guaranteed until signing day.
That is different than in past years in the Big Ten, when there was a gentleman’s agreement to not recruit players who had committed to other Big Ten schools. It is probably one of the reasons why Meyer was not voted Big Ten Coach of the Year by his peers, a gesture Meyer probably could care less about.
The Buckeyes did a great job recruiting Conley. They told him what he wanted to hear, which was he would have the opportunity to play wide receiver. Michigan, according to those close to the situation, changed its stance only after Conley scheduled an official visit to Ohio State.
Scout.com recruiting analyst Bill Greene hit the situation on the head a day before it unfolded in a story in The Repository. He said Meyer is great on the 48-hour recruiting visits and predicted he would close the deal and get Conley before he visited Michigan.
WHAT HAPPENS WITH KEMPT NOW?
Now that Butch Jones has left Cincinnati and taken the University of Tennessee job, Massillon quarterback Kyle Kempt will probably not end up a Bearcat.
There are a couple of things in play in this decision. First, Kempt fits Jones’ spread offense perfectly. It is designed for more of a drop-back passer and the two seem to hit it off. Kempt’s older brother, Cody, was a graduate assistant on Jones’ Cincinnati staff. If Cody Kempt ends up going to Tennessee with Jones, don’t be surprised if that’s where Kyle ends up.
However, Massillon’s quarterback said where his brother coaches will have no bearing on his decision. Also remember, Tennessee offered Kempt.
It will be interesting if Kempt ends up a Volunteer. They would have two Stark County products in the backfield in the coming years. Marlington running back Alden Hill redshirted this season. There is a good chance the two could play together.
Kempt is waiting to see what Jones wants to do about his offer and whether or not there is a spot for him in Tennessee.
CHAMPIONSHIP ATTENDANCE
Attendance for the six state championship games was down this year compared to last, but it is the second highest it has been in the last four years. Attendance for the games in Stark County was 43,911. That is down from last year’s 48,695. However, because of an aggressive marketing campaign, the OHSAA will take more money than it ever has from the games here in Stark County.
The Division I game between Moeller and Whitmer had a disappointing 8,834 and didn’t outdraw the Division III title game between St. Vincent-St. Mary and Bellevue, which brought in 9,109.
