St. Francis, MN TE Wyatt Schroeder commits as PWO over FBS, FCS scholarship offers

This is a huge commit for a PWO. Schroeder is a 6-5, 220 pounder who was just committed to South Dakota State as a scholarship player. Also had an FBS scholarship offer from Buffalo in the MAC as well as other FCS offers from North Dakota, UNI and Jacksonville State.


https://247sports.com/Player/Wyatt-Schroeder-46059336/

<iframe src='//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/6773724/5bda27144210ad06bc9bb4b9' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen></iframe> .

This kid is clearly elite and believes in himself. Love kids like this.


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He'll clearly work hard to earn that scholarship. Welcome!

He ran the wildcat in high school. If he can throw a pass, maybe he’ll take over after Seth leaves.

We like our big athletes!

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:

We like our big athletes!

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Yes, get him in the weight room and on the nutrition program and I bet he will be a stud.

Classy on the SDSU staff part. Smart too, they know if it doesn’t work out here for him, he’s a good candidate to transfer to Brookings.

Gotta love any kid willing to pass on a scholarship somewhere else in order to try and earn one here. Quality walk ons are vital to the success of any team.

WAGopher said:

He ran the wildcat in high school. If he can throw a pass, maybe he’ll take over after Seth leaves.

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I love this idea, I'm sure there are a few other BIG boys that would love the shot as well.

Thanks for staying in Gold Country Wyatt!!

The only college football coach that I've ever gotten to really know was Dennis Franchione back when we were both in New Mexico. One of his lines was that if you really want to know how good a recruiting class is, look at the walk-ons. I'd say we're looking really good.

per Megan:

Also of note, the Gophers earned a commitment Wednesday evening from a local recruit. Wyatt Schroeder, a tight end out of St. Francis, will be a preferred walk-on in the 2020 class. The 6-4, 225-pound player is a two-star recruit, according to 247Sports.com. He previously was planning to be a scholarship player at South Dakota State.

http://www.startribune.com/gophers-...ccording-to-preseason-coaches-poll/513496232/

Go Gophers!!

Congrats and Good Luck to Wyatt!

There will more Blake Cashman & Sam Renner stories in the making. These are the guys that you want on your team who want to be Gophers true and true.

My sources tell me Schroeder also excels in the arts.

Q&A: Wyatt Schroeder Living His Dream After Signing With Gophers

He is absolutely a big prize catch as a PWO. He has the frame to put a few more pounds in strength and conditioning.

They needed two TEs in each class, and getting him as a PWO is a huge win.

Quietly not being mentioned is PWO commtment Donald (Trey) Toner III, a 6' 5" 240-lb TE from Spring Lake Park, MN. According to his Twitter, he is not signing in the early sigining period. Let's not let him get away to Winona State like we did with 2019 Recruiting Class PWO Trevor Oppedal, a 6' 7" 275-lb OT from Blue Earth Area HS to Winona State. Part of that is he may not have been be able to afford his way as a PWO to the U.

Donald (Trey) Toner III:

As a developmental program, the Gophers need to develop starting TE's for when Jake Paulson and Ko Kieft graduate.

Currently, there are six TEs on the roster. What is the ideal number of TEs? This depends on the offensive scheme.

The TEs are relatively young as a group:

Jake Paulson - 6 5 270, RS Soph, Christian Academy, Louisville KY
Ko Kieft - 6 4 255, RS Junior, Center City HS, Center City IA
Bryce Witham - 6 4 265, RS Junior, West Catholic, Grand Rapids MI
Clay Witherspoon - 6 4 255, RS Soph, Eden Prairie HS, Eden Prairie MN
Nick Kallerup - 6 5 260, Freshman, Wayzata HS, Wayzata MN
Brevyn Spann-Ford - 6 7 270, RS Fresh, St. Cloud Tech, St. Cloud MN

Wisconsin and Iowa utilize their TEs as an integral part of their offense to stretch defenses. The number of TE they carry on their current rosters reflect their offensive schemes:

Wisconsin - 9
Iowa - 8
Nebraska - 8
Northwestern - 7 (They call them Slot Backs)
Illinois - 7
Gophers - 6
Purdue - 4

The number and type of TEs the Gophers have on their roster reflects Kirk Ciarrocca's offensive philosophy - they are primarily extra blockers. But why? One theory is that they have not been able to build a great offensive line yet. PJ had been at WMU only four years, and three years with the Gophers. It takes time to build a Wisconsin like offensive line. A long coaching tenure and program stability with a continuity of balanced classes will change a lot of things.

IMHO, not using the TEs as pass catching threat is a missed opportunity. They need to utilize Brevyn Spann-Ford's physicality to do what Wisconsin and Iowa do effectively. They don't have to be dominant like Iowa's Noah Fant & TJ Hockenson last year, this year's Wisconsin TE Jake Ferguson, or this year's Penn State TE Pat Freiermuth. A TE play or two in a game might be the difference between winning and losing a close game. The ability to stretch defenses by disguising plays with a TE always an extra legitimate threat.

But, then that will mean some WRs won't be catching as many balls. Who cares as long as you have multiple offense options that will make it difficult to defend the Gophers offensive onslaught.

Any change in the Gophers' in philosophy about TE play involves improvement of the Offensive Line. I think the staff have realized that the Offensive Line is a top priority. They had a missed opportunity with Bryce Benhart and Quinn Carroll in the same class. It is a catch twenty-two. They have to win on order to attract top offensive linemen. The key to the Gophers success is building a strong offensive line.

The Gophers are close, but they are not at the level of Iowa or Wisconsin yet. That is why those two teams utilized their TEs effectively as receiving and running after catch threats to a high degree of lethality. They don't need to rely heavily on the TEs as extra blockers with their strong offensive lines. The Gophers rely on their TE as extra blockers because they have to.

This coaching staff clearly got schooled and out-coached by Wisconsin and Iowa this season. They are the senior statesmen of the B1G West. One thing for sure about PJ Fleck - he and his staff are quick learners and will gain more wisdom as time goes by. Their offensive philosophy have to morph and adjust to go to the next level.

You achieved this through program stability and maturity. The Gophers are developing continuity and depth in addition to hopefully coaching stability. The most important one is PJ Fleck himself.

TE U!

hungan1 said:

He is absolutely a big prize catch as a PWO. He has the frame to put a few more pounds in strength and conditioning.

They needed TEs in each class, and getting him as a PWO is a huge win. The Gophers need to develop starting TE's for when Jake Paulson and Ko Kieft graduate.

Currently, there are six TEs on the roster. What is the ideal number of TEs? This depends on the offensive scheme.

The TEs are relatively young as a group:

Jake Paulson - 6 5 270, RS Soph, Christian Academy, Louisville KY
Ko Kieft - 6 4 255, Center City HS, Center City IA
Bryce Witham - 6 4 265, RS Junior, West Catholic, Grand Rapids MI
Clay Witherspoon - 6 4 255, RS Soph, Eden Prairie HS, Eden Prairie MN
Nick Kallerup - 6 5 260, Freshman, Wayzata HS, Wayzata MN
Brevyn Spann-Ford - 6 7 270, RS Fresh, St. Cloud Tech, St. Cloud MN

Wisconsin and Iowa utilize their TEs as an integral part of their offense to stretch defenses. The number of TE they carry on their current rosters reflect their offensive schemes:

Wisconsin - 9
Iowa - 8
Nebraska - 8
Northwestern - 7 (They call them Slot Backs)
Illinois - 7
Gophers - 6
Purdue - 4

The number and type of TEs the Gophers have on their roster reflects Kirk Ciarrocca's offensive philosophy - they are primarily extra blockers. But why? One theory is that they have not been able to build a great offensive line yet. PJ has been at WMU only four years, and three years with the Gophers. It takes time to build a Wisconsin like offensive line. A long coaching tenure and program stability with a continuity of balanced classes will change a lot of things.

IMHO, not using the TEs as pass catching threat is a missed opportunity. In both Iowa and Wisconsin loses, the opposing TEs killed the Gophers. They need to utilize Brevyn Spann-Ford's physicality to do what Wisconsin and Iowa do effectively. The ability to stretch defenses by disguising plays with a TE always an extra legitimate threat.

But, then that will mean some WRs won't be catching as many balls. Who cares as long as you have multiple offense options that will make it difficult to defend the Gophers offensive onslaught.

Any change in the Gophers' in philosophy about TE play involves improvement of the Offensive Line. I think the staff have realized that the Offensive Line is a top priority. They had a missed opportunity with Bryce Benhart and Quinn Carroll in the same class. It is a catch twenty-two. They have to win on order to attract top offensive linemen. The key to the Gophers success is building a strong offensive line.

The Gophers are close, but they are not at the level of Iowa or Wisconsin yet. That is why those two teams utilized their TEs effectively as receiving and running after catch threats to a high degree of lethality. They don't need to rely heavily on the TEs as extra blockers with their strong offensive lines. The Gophers rely on their TE as extra blockers because they have to.

This coaching staff clearly got schooled and out-coached by Wisconsin and Iowa this season. They are the senior statesmen of the B1G West. One thing for sure about PJ Fleck - he and his staff are learning and will gain more wisdom as time goes by. Their offensive philosophy have to morph and adjust to go to the next level.

You achieved this through program stability and maturity. The Gophers are developing continuity and depth in addition to hopefully coaching stability. The most important one is PJ Fleck himself.

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Agree with all of this. We need to start using our TEs as receivers. Otherwise, they are just smaller, less effective OL. The defense isn’t going to respect them as anything else unless they start catching some passes.

GopherDog1 said:

Yes, get him in the weight room and on the nutrition program and I bet he will be a stud.

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As long as it is not the wisconsin 'nutrition' program!