Nick Herzog talks about Kansas, keeping open mind
There have been several coaches from Kansas involved in recruiting Nick Herzog. The Blue Valley prospect will be the top-rated lineman in Kansas for the 2022 class.
One of his first offers came from the Jayhawks and Kansas offensive coordinator Brent Dearmon has been doing a lot of the early recruiting.
“It's been great talking to him,” Herzog said. “Me and Coach Dearmon have had great calls. I love talking to him. He's a good dude and it’s been awesome to talk to him.”
Dearmon is just one of the coaches who has been in the recruiting process for Kansas. Several staff members have communicated with him and they are trying to show recruiting in numbers.
“It's awesome to see,” Herzog said of the attention. “It makes me feel like I'm a priority to them which they've told me time and time again. So, that makes me feel good. It makes you like at school. So, I'm excited to get out there for official visits and all that good stuff.”
Lee Grimes is a new name that has entered the recruiting picture. He was named the new offensive line coach at the end of December. Grimes first day in the office was last week, and he’s already getting to know Herzog.
“I think he's excited about the job and he's ready to get to work,” Herzog said. “We've been talking a little bit and about what he wants to do. He wants to get a good set of guys and form the line because he knows just as much as I think anyone that’s how you build the line.
“A team centers around an O-line, just as much as any other position. So, when you build a strong O-line, I think you build a strong team and that's what he's trying to do.”
There is one message Herzog wants to make clear, and that is the fact he doesn’t have any leaders or a group of schools that he is leaning to. He’s not likely to narrow his group of schools until he can meet with coaches in person.
When asked if any schools have pulled ahead, he quickly responded.
“I'm open,” he said. “I’ve been keeping my options open and I personally believe that you should. I know that there may be a time where we're not able to make official visits and all that, but I'm going to wait until that's a for-sure thing. I would love to meet coaches in person before I make those decisions. So, I'm completely open to answer that question.”
Herzog is in the middle of wrestling season and this spring will turn his focus to workout where he trains at TopSpeed LLC. He hopes the NCAA opens-up restrictions so he can make visits to schools and meet with coaches.