TE Leitao ready to recruit, play for Nebraska
Nebraska dipped back into the Sooner State over the weekend adding Jenks, Okla. tight end Reese Leitao to its 2017 recruiting class.
The 6-foot-4, 236-pound Leitao took a very detailed approach to the recruiting process as he looked into all of his 20-plus offers, visiting many of them along the way. Over the summer he narrowed things down to Nebraska, Penn State, Maryland and Oklahoma State before coming to the conclusion he wanted to be a Husker.
Leitao said there were a handful of things that pushed Nebraska over the top for him, including his relationship with tight ends coach Tavita Thompson.
“As you guys know, I’ve been to a lot of trips out during the summer and even during the spring,” Leitao said. “I think I was pretty thorough with my recruiting and I just felt like now was the time to commit to Nebraska. I figured out that they were the best fit for me and I waited on it for about one or two weeks and then made the announcement.
“Nebraska started recruiting me sometime in early March. Ever since then me and my position coach, Coach Thompson, have had a good relationship over the phone. I came and visited in June and just advanced that relationship a lot so that was really helpful.
“When I came up there in June I got to meet with academics and learn how it’s like academically for student-athletes at Nebraska and that really spoke to me. Just how much they really support you and help you out academically.
“It was the tradition as well. I know that Nebraska has a rich tradition so I’m looking forward to - along with the other 2017 commits as well – bringing back that tradition to Nebraska.”
Leitao’s thorough approach to the recruiting process was aided by his father, Dave Leitao, whom is the head basketball coach at DePaul University.
“It helped a lot because he’s been recruiting people for pretty much over half of his life, ever since he started coaching,” Leitao said about going through the recruiting process with his father. “So really, he’s been through it all basketball-wise. We did point out some differences between basketball recruiting and football recruiting and there is a lot, but there are also a lot of similarities. When I would have questions about what these teams are doing or what these schools are doing he was always able to lend a big hand.”
Nebraska feels as if Leitao compares well to senior tight end Cethan Carter and have plans to use him in much of the same way they use Carter in the current offense.
“I think they’ll use me by just being a versatile threat at the end-line position as well as flexed out,” Leitao said. “I’ll try to play that H-back position kind of like who they have right now, Cethan Carter, kind of do a lot of movement in the backfield, split out and doing some end-line blocking too. I’m just going to try and be as versatile as I can be in them helping me utilize my athleticism.
“They showed me what they’ve done previously at Oregon State and then some of Cethan. Coach Thompson just emphasized that Cethan is a senior and that they need someone to help replace him. So hopefully I can come in, work hard and help replace someone like that.”
Now that Leitao is committed to Nebraska he wants to take an active role in getting other recruits to join him. The big tight end feels the program has a bright future and wants the fans to know he’ll be working hard for them.
“I’m definitely going to be getting on the phone and seeing who I need to start recruiting because as a commit I feel like that relationship between another commitment and a future teammate can be real special,” Leitao said. “I just want to make my team and this 2017 class the best it can be.
“Nebraska fans are going to see a guy that’s going to come in, work hard and hopefully see the field early. I want to start a trend of other tight ends coming to Nebraska and make it ‘Tight End U’ and they’re just getting a guy that is going to work to see another championship at Nebraska.”