High school football: Medina QB Drew Allar's stock rises

MEDINA — After national signing day comes to an end Wednesday, college football coaches will emphasize the 2022 class. If things go the way they usually do, the whirlwind recruiting life of Medina's Drew Allar will turn into an F5 tornado. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound quarterback already has offers from Texas A&M, Michigan, Penn State, Iowa, Iowa State, Kentucky, South Florida, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Pitt, Princeton, Toledo, Wake Forest, Eastern Michigan, Akron, Bowling Green and Central Michigan. He has interest from Notre Dame, Illinois, Syracuse, Oregon, Michigan State and Washington. The amount of schools likely will double over the next few months. "It's not really overwhelming," Allar said. "I'm taking it day by day and really just gathering all the information that have interest or have offered me. I'm taking it slow right now. "It's super exciting. If you would have told me this going into my freshman or sophomore year, I wouldn't have pictured any of this happening. I always wanted to play college football, but it's hard to picture it because you know how hard it is to pique interest in schools. You need a lot of things to happen, and I'm super thankful for it to happen." Allar estimates 8-12 pieces of mail arrive every other day. He's text messaging coaches every day, calling or getting calls every other day and is on a Zoom call two or three times a week. Those numbers fall right in line for someone who is about to explode in the recruiting world. If the usual pattern falls in place — it has so far — the mid-majors throw interest and then offers. After that, someone like Iowa or Kentucky offers and then the biggest schools come calling. That happened to Allar on Saturday (Penn State) and Monday (Michigan, Texas A&M) with more offers for the three-star quarterback, who should turn into a four star very soon as more offers arrive. "It's rewarding because I've put a lot of work into this that people don't see," Allar said. "I don't know how many hours a day I put into this. I'm thankful things are turning out like they are. I'm looking forward to getting better each day." With offers already from the SEC, Big 10, Big 12, ACC and Mid-American Conference, it would be easy to get a big head, but Allar is staying the course and concentrating on taking Medina past the regional finals. "I stay grounded because there are a bunch of quarterbacks that are super talented," Allar said. "I have to stay grounded and differentiate myself by working harder and watching more film, doing stuff that people don't see behind everything that goes on. I just put my head down, work out every day, lift, run and do whatever I can to get better as a football player and teammate." If the pandemic gets in check, Allar's recruiting should hit the next level during camp season. Those usually start in March, when colleges holding individual camps. That's where more coaches find blue-chip prospects, though Allar's name is already out there. He'll head to the Elite 11 in the summer, which is the top quarterback competition among incoming senior quarterbacks and a select few juniors. Elite 11 alumni include 24 of the 32 current NFL starting quarterbacks, 13 of the last 14 Heisman Trophy winners and 61-of-64 Power Five conference starters. It's the best of the best, and Allar has been invited twice. Last year's competition was canceled. "When the camps open up, I have to be at my best," Allar said. "I have to make an impression on these coaches when I meet them maybe one or two times. It's going to be important to go out there and compete." Allar is leaning toward committing by the first high school game of his senior season and wants to put ink to paper in December during the early signing day so he can be on a college campus in January. "Right now, I'm enjoying it and getting better for my high school team," Allar said. "We know what we want to do different that last year. It's going to be pretty hard to top what we did last year, but I know my class and the classes below me want to go farther than we did last year." Contact Brad Bournival at bournival929@gmail.com.