Karl Dorrell and the Buffaloes scored a major recruiting victory today on the Fourth of July, as Littleton (Heritage) tight end Erik Olsen announced a commitment to CU per his Instagram.
A total of four four-star tight ends come out of the Centennial State in the 2021 recruiting cycle: Olsen, Terrance Ferguson (also of Heritage), Cherry Creek's Gunnar Helm and Cherokee Trail's Sam Hart.
Ferguson was the most recent prospect off the boards, committing to Oregon, while Hart pledged to Ohio State just before New Year's Eve.
Helm now remains the only undecided in-state tight end on the market. While Colorado, anticipated to bring in a smaller class in 2021, ultimately would not have been in a position to land multiple or all of the stud homegrown tight ends this year, keeping Olsen in-state is a big deal.
While programs across the country are at a collective recruiting disadvantage on the recruiting front, given the extended NCAA dead period brought on by ongoing COVID-19 concerns, Dorrell and his staff had the extra challenge of being a new staff that had far less time to forge meaningful relationships with recruits.
Olsen, who held close to 20 Power Five offers, over the last few months narrowed down his options via a series of top schools lists. The Buffaloes remained a consistent contestant since Dorrell personally offered him back in mid-April and from that point, Darrin Chiaverini and Taylor Embree got to work with Olsen, selling him on the future of tight ends at Colorado for one.
"I also do have to admit that I feel pretty hopeful for the future of tight ends at Colorado and maybe I could be the first one to start that legacy," he recently told CUSportsNation.
Clearly, Colorado's plans to increasingly incorporate the tight end position into the offense was a major selling point for Olsen.
Olsen went on to announce he'd be committing on the Fourth of July on June 27. His finalist schools were CU, Stanford, Washington, UCLA and Notre Dame.
With the 6-foot-5, 235-pounder's commitment, Colorado has taken a significant step in the right direction as Dorell and Co. look to further construct their Class of 2021.
