2019 TE Thomas Gordon on new Baylor offer, who could be next
At a Baylor prospect camp last Sunday, Thomas Gordon played so well that Matt Rhule chose to offer him on the spot. Now he thinks that other top programs might be inclined to join in on his recruitment.
The 2019 Strake Jesuit prospect already had a number of FBS offers in-hand prior to his performance over the weekend, but came to the camp on a mission to leave with his first Big 12 offer. Turns out, he had a pretty good plan in place to make that happen.
“Every time I caught a pass, I would run down to the end zone and talk to Coach Rhule,” he said. “He was showing more interest every time and then on the last play I just destroyed this kid and I got to the end zone and he was like, ‘alright, you got an offer now.’
“Kalon Barnes, the receiver out at Silsbee that committed, (Rhule) actually told him to come tell me that I had the offer,” he continued. “So I went over to him and he was real happy. Afterwards he talked for like five minutes with me and my dad.”
Gordon recalls winning all of the one-on-one reps he took at the camp and thought that he showed well for himself during position drills. Now that he’s been offered, he plans on returning in July for an elite prospects camp - but this time as a guest of the staff rather than someone auditioning for it.
IN HIS WORDS
More on his visit to Baylor
“I feel like the most attractive part about the program is the way that they’re planning on using their tight ends,” he said. “They showed me some tape of the offense they’re going to be running and told me it’s going to be a lot like what Oregon did last year in that their tight ends all caught like 50 passes a year.”
On his relationship with the coaching staff
“Their coaches all recruit so well,” he said. “Coach (Joey) McGuire and Coach (Francis) Brown both talk to me a lot, show a lot of interest, and I think they’re great and cool guys. Coach Rhule offered me, spent some time talking to my dad and was really nice.”
On TCU and Mississippi State, who he feels are close to offering
“Mississippi State basically told me that the coaches are really close to offering me, they just needed to go back through their recruiting board,” he said. “TCU basically said that if I come to a camp that I would get an offer so that shows me that they’re pretty interested.”
RIVALS REACTION
The film session Gordon had with Baylor clearly made an impact. When comparing the Bears and Horned Frogs, he reiterated the potential role he could have in Rhule’s offense.
“I feel like Baylor would get a slight nod there because of how they use their tight ends,” he said.
Gordon has been active in camps this spring and early summer, having attended camps at Northwestern, Texas, and Texas A&M. He’ll be at Duke this weekend and at Stanford on June 20, so his work is far from done this offseason. He said that he’s been told that coaches would like to see him improve his speed and prove to be a capable blocker heading into his junior season. He did, however, give one of the best receiving performances in the first Rivals Three Stripe Camps presented by Adidas event in New Orleans this spring.