Cochran takes Midwest tour

Aaron Cochran has been on a Midwest tour this week and even though the four-star offensive tackle is not ready to make a decision yet these trips could be valuable later in his recruitment.

The Atwater (Calif.) Buhach standout has already seen Notre Dame, Wisconsin and Northwestern and his trip will wrap up Friday when he sees Purdue.

At Notre Dame, meeting with coach Brian Kelly especially stood out to Cochran, rated No. 11 at offensive tackle and No. 98 in the 2013 rankings by Rivals.com.

"I pretty much saw everything there," Cochran said. "They took us on a campus tour and then coach Kelly toured us around the football facility and I really liked that.

"What really stood out was coach Kelly. His coaching philosophy was really great and I like the relationship he and his staff have with the players."

Northwestern and Wisconsin are also being seriously considered by Cochran and he seemed to have outstanding trips to both Big Ten schools.

"I got to meet the head coach (at Northwestern) and I got to talk to the offensive line coach a little more and I like the fact that they have their own beach," Cochran said. "They're building a new facility that will be done in 2014 and it will be right on the lake shore.

"When we went to Wisconsin they were on their spring break but we saw the indoor facility and some of their offensive linemen are projected to go in the first or second round. I thought that was pretty cool. Their entire offensive line is All-Americans. Almost all of them are going to go pro sooner or later and that was impressive."

The 6-foot-6, 320-pound four-star lists offers from Cal, Colorado, Notre Dame, UCLA, Washington and Washington State so far but said no favorites have emerged.

His brother, Matt, is a three-star center from the 2012 class that signed with Cal so many believe Cochran will follow him but he said he's not ready to name frontrunners yet.

"I don't have any favorites right now," Cochran said. "I think that will start to happen toward the end of my football season."