Tracking the Stars of the Future
Football Recruiting Report
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
By
Sammy Batten |
|
Class of
2014 off to 'big' start
Britt
offensive lineman Erickson commits to Pirates
By
Sammy Batten
©2013 Bonesville.net
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Kyle Erickson knew
East Carolina had an interest in his football talents. But Erickson
was still surprised earlier this month when the Pirates offered him
a scholarship.
"They were in contact
throughout my junior season with flyers and letters,'' Erickson said.
"But we had never talked on the phone or emailed very much. Then, the
offer came. I was a little surprised. I wasn't really sure how serious
they were about recruiting me.''
Once he figured out how
serious ECU was, it didn't take the 6-foot-4, 285-pound offensive
lineman to get serious about the Pirates.
Erickson, who plays at
Jack Britt High School in Fayetteville, took less than two weeks to
accept ECU's offer. He gave his pledge Saturday before the annual Purple
and Gold scrimmage to head coach Ruffin McNeill, making him the first
member of the Pirates' recruiting Class of 2014.
"I went up there for a
scrimmage two weeks ago and just fell in love with it,'' Erickson said.
"I already had it planned to commit when I went back for the spring
game.
"Coach McNeill actually
called me into his office before the game, and I committed. He gave me a
big hug and was really excited. I was the first one, so he was pretty
happy.
McNeill wasn't the only
coach excited about Erickson's decision.
Jack Britt coach Brian
Rimpf is a former East Carolina offensive lineman and two-time Pirate
team captain. Rimpf, who played under both Steve Logan and John Thompson
at ECU, logged 40 career starts, including 37 straight between 1999 and
2003. Three times he earned first-team All-Conference USA honors after
making the All-Freshman team in 2000.
Rimpf didn't attempt to
influence Erickson's decision, despite his ties to ECU. But he was proud
to be sending a quality player to his alma mater.
"By no means did I
pressure him into the decision,'' said Rimpf, who led Jack Britt to the
state 4-AA finals in his first season. "But I did speak to my personal
experience (with ECU). I still know some of the staff there and I knew
they would take care of him.
"Personally, I like it
(Erickson's decision).''
Duke, North Carolina and
Wake Forest had also been expressing interest in Erickson, but the
Pirates struck first with an offer.
Erickson hails from a
football family. His father, Kevin, lettered in 1985 as a center at
Humboldt State University, an NCAA Division II school located in Arcata,
Calif., and was also a walk-on player at Colorado.
Kyle Erickson began
following in his father's footsteps when he started playing the game,
too, at age 6. Like his father, he also became an offensive lineman and
progressed fast enough to see varsity action at Jack Britt as a freshman
after receiving a late-season promotion from the junior varsity.
Erickson moved into the
varsity's starting lineup as a sophomore and helped the Buccaneers reach
the state 4-AA Eastern finals. The Bucs made it all the way to the state
title game last season as Erickson earned first-team All-Mid-South 4-A
Conference and All-Cape Fear region honors.
He helped the Buccaneers
rack up a Cumberland County-best 5,422 yards of total offense.
"He's a good player,''
Rimpf said. "For one, he's aggressive, and that doesn't necessarily come
with size. It's a mentality. As an offensive lineman you have to have
that.
"He's also very athletic.
He played basketball for us, so he can move. He's been starting at left
tackle for Jack Britt the last two years. So he's been in a lot of
(state) playoff games and faced good competition. He had tenacity and an
aggressiveness on the field, which our coaches love. He has all the
physical traits that they look for on the Division I level.''
Rimpf predicts Erickson
will be close to the 300-pound mark when he arrives at ECU in 2014.
"He's only ending his
junior year, so he has another year to fill out,'' Rimpf said. "The one
thing that is important to the Division I coaches in their offensive
linemen is height. You can't control how tall people are. You can
control how big they get. So he'll already have the height coming in.
He'll start to fill out and by the time he gets there he'll be pushing
300 pounds.''
The Pirates have recruited
Erickson to play guard or center, positions which he's never played
during his career. But Erickson isn't concerned about having to learn a
new spot.
"I think I'll be able to
handle the transition,'' Erickson said. "I've been taking some reps at
guard this spring just to try to get used to it.''
Both players expected to
start at guard for ECU in 2013 — Jordan Davis and Will Simmons — will
complete their eligibility when the season is finished. So will starting
left tackle Adhem Elsawi.
Those losses, and the
departure this spring of last year's right tackle starter, Robert Jones,
will open up plenty of opportunities for playing time when Erickson
arrives on campus.
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