Atoe plans to make lots of calls

Sam Atoe is not hearing as much recruiting news as he'd like so the Santa Rosa (Calif.) Maria Carrillo running back will take things into his own hands the next few weeks and call a bunch of schools to introduce himself.

He has already talked with Southern Cal and he plans to chat with coaches from Oregon, UCLA, Arizona State, California, Washington, Utah, Nevada and maybe others. He thinks once his junior highlight film is viewed by more people then more programs will want to know him.

"That's the whole idea," Atoe said. "I'm going to call so they know I'm interested in them and hopefully they'll get interested in me and let them know I'll send them a highlight video out to them if they want to check it out."

Atoe is a 5-foot-11, 206-pound prospect who was one of the most physically impressive recruits at the recent Rivals.com Five-Star Academy at Cal.

But recruiting has gone slow for him even though he finished with about 900 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns on 103 carries and had 77 tackles, three sacks and three fumble recoveries playing strong safety last season. Atoe feels he's suited best for defense in college but he's willing to play anything.

"I'm really not sure what position they want me to play and which position they're recruiting me at," Atoe said. "For me, my favorite position is actually strong safety but I've gotten more looks at running back than I have at strong safety. I'm going to try to go on the defensive side when I go to college but I'll go wherever they want me to play."

Southern Cal recently reached out and Atoe said new quarterbacks coach Clay Helton is supposed to stop by Maria Carrillo to watch a spring practice. That's big news for Atoe, who said he's excited to see a Southern Cal coach at his school. Once coaches see him in person, recruiting could take off for the northern California recruit.

"It seems like they're pretty interested in me," Atoe said of the Trojans. "The quarterbacks coach is going to come down to our spring ball so he's going to come and watch.

"It's really exciting, very exciting. I'm for sure going to come out and do my best and try to put on a show for them. If the coach comes down and watches that's very exciting for me so I'm looking forward to it."

Atoe's summer schedule is still being worked on but he has penciled in a trip to the USC Rising Stars camp. Other than that visit, Atoe is unsure where he will camp and a lot could depend on which coaches pick up their phones when he calls throughout the next few weeks.