Father of 11-year-old with offer: I was shocked

RELATED: Illinois reportedly offers 10-year-old

Titan Lacaden landed his first offer from Hawaii two weekends ago.

That is not a particularly interesting nugget. It becomes one when you realize the Hawaii native is 11 years old and isn’t even in middle school yet.

“I was shocked,” said Titan’s father, Frank Lacaden.

“It shows that (Hawaii coach Nick Rolovich) has confidence in him as far as his age group that he’s doing a good job. You can’t compare it to seniors and juniors. He’s looking at his class of 2024-25. I was shocked, but at the same time like any father, we’re all out there grinding and trying to get noticed. I was happy for my son that a D-I coach liked and appreciated his hard work and his skills.”

The relationship between the Lacaden family and Rolovich go back to the coach’s time at Nevada when he was an assistant and Jake Lacaden, Titan's older brother, played for the Wolf Pack.

This offer didn’t just come out of the blue, even though it’s incredibly rare to offer a fifth-grader. Lacaden has excelled in flag football and some tackle leagues, and was at the Hawaii camp basically to watch his older brother compete with other high school kids when the offer came.

It’s such an odd situation that Rolovich, at first, asked Frank Lacaden how he would feel about offering his 11-year-old son. The dad took it as a compliment, knowing full well that at this stage it means very little.

To Frank Lacaden, the offer was more recognition of his son’s abilities early in football and not necessarily Rolovich picturing Titan Lacaden on the Hawaii football team anytime soon.

“(Rolovich) saw us and we were talking about Titan and he said Titan is different,” Frank Lacaden said. “I agree. The kid is different. He carries himself different. He asked me how I would feel if they were to offer. I was shocked.

“I’ve been through the recruiting process and it’s long, narrow and hard. When you get opportunities like that, you accept it. Titan is different. He sees all this stuff going on, but for an 11-year-old he has his head screwed on tight. With positives there will be negatives and he deals with it.

“The people that love him are all that matters. We know what the scholarship is about. It could be taken away today. We’re going to keep on grinding.”

The Lacaden family seems to have a firm grasp on what this offer means. But to Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell, Rolovich offering an 11-year-old is an attention-seeking charade that could backfire.

Farrell asks how should a high school junior feel about getting a Hawaii offer right after Rolovich offered a kid who is still years away from even being in high school?

With FAU coach Lane Kiffin offering a 13-year-old in Kaden Martin, the son of USC offensive coordinator Tee Martin, are we starting down a bad road of offers going out even sooner?

Ohio State freshman quarterback Tate Martell famously committed to Washington as a 14-year-old. He was committed to the Huskies and Texas A&M before signing with the Buckeyes.

Martell even tweeted about Lacaden’s offer ....

The offer to Lacaden could have been an innocent gesture from Rolovich to a budding, talented young football player who could potentially be something special down the road. Or it could have been a little more calculating.

“It’s ridiculous,” Farrell said. “I don’t care if there is a previous relationship. I don’t care if it’s Tom Brady’s fifth-grade son. I’ve seen the video of the kid, certainly not breaking them down because there is no scouting at that age, and he’s clearly ahead of his local level of competition at his own age, but there is absolutely nothing that says surefire Division I FBS prospect.

“It’s clear it was done to gain attention. That’s why Kiffin does it and why the Hawaii coach does it. It puts unnecessary pressure on the kid and it makes your program look a little like a laughingstock.”

All of this could be much ado about nothing. Frank Lacaden said if his son’s life path strays from football, he would still support him. He’s 11. His future is still incredibly uncharted and unknown.

To quell the pessimists, Lacaden said no other schools have reached out and started recruiting his son after the Hawaii offer. Perhaps there is a line in the sand, even for college football coaches.

“I don’t foresee anything crazy like that,” Lacaden said. “Maybe later on in high school. If it did (happen), I’d probably be floored.”

Never say never.