Mannion taking his time

Pleasanton (Calif.) Foothill quarterback Sean Mannion is one of a few passers out West that are very talented, but for one reason or another is still searching for his first scholarship offer.

"Obviously my size helps, and I'm accurate," Mannion, who threw for 2,608 yards and 23 touchdown as a junior, said. "I also can make good decisions in the pocket."

Mannion earned all-league and honorable mention honors as a junior, which has sparked attention from quite a few schools out West like Arizona, California, Oregon State, San Diego State, UCLA and Washington State.

"The recruiting process is going pretty well," Mannion said. "I visited a couple schools – Washington State and Oregon State – for their spring practice. Just recently I visited San Diego State and UCLA for their spring practice, so it has been going well."

The schools he's visited have definitely made an impression on him.

"All of them have great coaching staffs that I could definitely see myself playing for," Mannion said. "The schools up North, Washington State and Oregon State, the scenery is definitely a lot different than at San Diego State and UCLA, but I could see myself playing at either one of those schools. They're great places to play.

"It's hard to say. I'm not really picky, I just want to play at this point. It's hard to rank them because they're all great schools. I can't really rank them at this point."

But when it comes time to rank them, Mannion has a few things in mind to help make the decision easier.

"Obviously down the road, I'll want to get a really good education because that's important to me," he said.

"As far as programs, I want to be in an offense that's pretty similar to what I run right now in high school. Other than that, wherever I would get to live would be a factor and how the program's been doing lately would be good. Right now the offense and the education is biggest.

"I obviously want to play wherever I go. Wherever I will get to play is definitely a place I would like to go to a lot more than somewhere where I wouldn't play, no matter where it is."

Mannion is going to work hard this summer to impress coaches at a few camps.

"I'm going to attend Washington State, Oregon State and UCLA for sure, and I'll try to go down to San Diego State if I can and Cal if I can," he said. "At this point I think I'm also going to go to the combine at Laney College and maybe one at Stanford."

Mannion is going to work hard to find that right fit.

"I don't want to rush it, but if an offer comes soon, I'd like to try and make it before my senior football season starts," he said. "It would be one less thing to be worried about."