2020 long snapper Travis Drosos sees an opportunity to seize at Colorado

On Wednesday, Class of 2020 long snapper Travis Drosos of Gilbert, AZ. announced that he'd received a PWO offer from Colorado.

Drosos was in Boulder unofficially recently and has seen his recruitment take off in the last few months, as multiple Power 5 teams have gotten on his radar and seem to be looking for the rare commodity that is a polished and dedicated high school long snapper.

It might be fair to say that playing long snapper is not something the majority of high school athletes aspire to do. In the world of recruiting, specialists and in turn colleges' attempts to recruit them are few and far between.

But heading into 2020, the Buffs find themselves in a spot where their steady long snapper, senior JT Bale, won't be on the team come next fall.

Bale has been the starting long snapper for CU since the 2016 season and holds the Colorado program record for most spans played by a specialist.

It is in anticipation of Bale's absence that Colorado issued a PWO offer to Drosos, who has played long snapper for the Perry High School Pumas the last two seasons.

Previously, he played free safety and linebacker.

So why the change and how did he become a long snapper?

“I knew I wanted to play this game as long as I could and I knew I’d have to adopt a skill," he said. "With a combination of my athleticism I thought it’d be best for me to become a long snapper and help my team. I grinded at it, and it’s just my craft...“(The position change) was self-inspired. I knew it was a great knack to have and it can get you really far and get your school paid for one day.”

Drosos said that the Buffaloes have been in touch with him for a few months.

“A month or two ago, (Director of Player Personnel Geoff) Martzen found me on Twitter and since then (CU) has told me they like what they see. (Director of Quality Control for Special Teams) Coach (Reed) Heim, he’s obviously a great coach and great guy — me and him have been building a relationship and when I got the phone call that I was being offered as PWO I was grateful for the opportunity.”

Drosos was invited by Colorado to attend the CU/UW game at Folsom Field unofficially, and during the visit, got to chat with Bale.

“I talked to him and mentioned I wanted to stay in touch with him so I can get a point of view of what it’s like to play at Colorado from a snapper’s perspective," Drosos said. "He’s a really cool guy and was welcoming. It was awesome getting to meet him. He started as a walk-on and earned his spot (on the team) and started all four years — I’m trying to do the same thing."

As his senior season at Perry High began and progressed, not much was happening initially on the recruiting trail for Drosos, but as things came to an end, his phone started ringing.

Drosos now holds PWO offers from about a half dozen schools — Oregon State, Oklahoma State and San Jose State among them.

Drosos was quick to answer when asked what he thought one thing people should know about being a long snapper.

“A long snapper is doing his best job when his name goes unnoticed in the game," he said. "If your name is getting mentioned, it’s either a really good thing or a really bad thing. There’s no in between.”

Colorado currently has two long snappers on the roster, redshirt freshman James Townshend and freshman Derek Bedell. Far from concerned about some healthy competition, Drosos instead sees an open door at Colorado, and one that he can take and make the most of.

“I know there’s going to be competition but I’m ready to take on whoever it is and win the job fair and square," he said.