Interest surging for Florida RB

Coral Springs (Fla.) Taravella is drawing quite a bit of attention early this fall as coaches hear about one of the state’s rising prospects in running back Anthony Heard.

Heard (6-1, 215, 4.55) has gained 650 all-purpose yards and scored six touchdowns in the first two games of the season. He rushed for 145 and two scores while returning a kickoff 97 yards for a third touchdown in the opener. Last week, he added 131 yards rushing, two more touchdowns on the ground and a 95-yard kickoff return for a score.

“I’m very lucky to have a kid like this,” Taravella coach Perry Schneider said. “He played only defense for me last year, and I had no idea he could do these kind of things offensively. People load up against us – put eight or nine guys in the box – and he still gets his yards. He’s a horse. He runs it inside extremely hard.”

Heard has drawn scholarship offers from Rutgers, Syracuse, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, South Florida and Central Florida. And now a few more heavy hitters are starting to take notice.

“Miami likes him now,” Schneider said. “They’ve gotten very interested and started talking to him. Same with Nebraska. They called me this week to ask about him. I just sent them some film.

“He’s going to get a lot more interest as the season goes on. His name is just starting to get out there. But he’s an extremely talented kid. I’ve had a bunch of them in all my years of coaching. This kid can play.”

Schneider said Rutgers has recruited Heard the hardest to date. A New Jersey native, he went to one of the Scarlet Knights’ camps this summer and reportedly loved it.

He’s yet to schedule any visits this fall, but should be arranging those in the near future.