Olive Branch (Olive Branch) MS tight end Jalen Shead on Friday conducted a virtual visit with the Buffaloes and left impressed, not only with what Colorado as a school and in terms of facilities to offer, but the collective NFL experience of the Buffs' coaching staff.
Shead's virtual visit with the Buffs should be seen as a good introduction for him.
“Before I was offered, I really didn’t know much about Colorado," he said. "I have a few friends that want to go to Colorado so we talked about it a few times, but after I got the offer I did a little bit of research and did my own little study on it. Whenever my visit came around, I learned a lot of stuff that I didn’t find out on my own. They have a lot that other schools don’t have, even in the SEC and Big Ten."
Shead picked up an offer from the Buffs and Taylor Embree back in April. Other than Colorado, Memphis and Central Florida are also in the mix and recruiting hard, as are Louisville and Florida State, grated the latter two have not formally offered yet.
Other than that, Tulane, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Texas State, Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Liberty and Georgia State have offered. Ultimately, his visit did much to illuminate the opportunity in front of him were he to choose Colorado.
"The coaching staff is real chill and they let you know right on the spot that it’s going to be hard, but that’s part of football," he said. "They included everything and tried to bring Colorado to me. I talked to (Drew Wilson), the trainers, a few of the staff members — everyone told me about themselves and how they help the program. Everybody seemed really excited about me."
Embree has served as Shead's primary recruiter and spent some time during the visit running through his past, especially his time in San Francisco with the 49ers.
“Coach Embree has a lot of NFL experience (having) coached with the 49ers last year," Shead said. "He was with George Kittle — the best tight end in the league right now. After the visit, after they showed me campus and everything, (Embree) showed me some plays that he drew up for George Kittle and how (the 49ers) used him. He kind of compared me to him, so the coaching staff all have a lot of NFL experience and they know what they’re talking about. If I did go to Colorado, I’d be in a good spot.”
Shead, who is 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds, got to talking with Embree, as well as Mitch Rodrigue and Darrin Chiaverini, who also joined in on the call, about how he'd fit into Colorado's offense as a tight end.
He was told that the Buffs see him as a do-it-all kind of player, who can be utilized as a route runner but also in a three-point stance for blocking assignments.
“That’s exactly how they explained my abilities," he said. "In my opinion, I’m a versatile player that can play anywhere on the field. I feel like I’m a good athlete and (Colorado) felt the same way. They said they want to run a lot of 11 and 12 (personnel) formations — a lot of stuff where i would be involved. We talked about route concepts, how to break down defenses and basically just showing me how they are going to use me, (which is) how I think I should be used.”
On the academic side of things, Shead has his eye on an engineering degree and was impressed with how Colorado presented itself in the classroom.
“Say I don’t make it to the NFL or something, engineers are in high demand so right out of college I’d probably be making somewhere close to six figures, so it seems like a good major to have," he said. "They have a full academic staff that helps (student-athletes) transition from high school to college. (Colorado) has the No. 10 engineering program in the country."
Shead has done just one other virtual visit and that was with Louisville. As he continues to weigh his options and prepare for his senior season at Olive Branch, the Buffs look like they've made an impression on him.
"I feel really good about Colorado," he said. "The visit definitely boosted my interest in Colorado.”
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