As the camp season winds down, but spring football at schools across Texas gets under way, Rivals250 linebacker Chad Bailey is expecting to be a name that college football fans are going to start hearing more and more.
The Missouri City, Texas, prospect already has a nice list of offers to his name, but expects a few more by spring’s end. On the Friday preceding his appearance in the Rivals Three Stripe Camp presented by Adidas, he was in College Station to check out the Texas A&M’s Friday Night Lights event. Later this month, he’ll visit LSU and he said that Alabama has started showing more interest as of late.
“I think it’s going to be the end of spring,” he said. “Most colleges want me to play inside and I play outside at my high school. The know that I am playing inside now for my high school this spring, so that will probably make a difference then.”
All this follows another trip he took recently to Ole Miss. The Rebels were one of his first offers and he said they wasted no time trying to get him back on campus again this weekend, but he’s set to take his ACT and will have to catch back up with them in the summer.
IN HIS WORDS
On his Ole Miss visit
“It was really cool,” he said. “Coach (Bradley Dale) Peveto most of the time, Coach (Hugh) Freeze really likes me and I really like Coach Freeze - he’s a good dude. I got to see how the linebackers workout, meet the strength coach, it was a good little visit and I liked the atmosphere there.”
On his Texas A&M visit
“It was an exciting event,” he said. “Coach (Kevin) Sumlin spoke on us heavily about education, what their degree means in society and stuff like that. It was an intense scrimmage, but the fireworks after the game were really cool.”
On his upcoming visit to LSU on April 22
“I want to see how their linebackers get after it,” he said. “Coach (Dave) Aranda told me that they don’t have too many linebackers on the roster right now and next year they’re not going to have that many at all. So I hope they are going to offer.”
RIVALS REACTION
Bailey’s long-standing relationship with Ole Miss will certainly be tested if not by the end of spring, then throughout his senior season. If the major hangup on his recruitment taking off has been lack of film at the position, that is likely to be remedied in a hurry. Other schools like Colorado, Houston and Missouri could try and become a bigger part of the picture if some of these other SEC offers don’t materialize, but there would be a lot of ground to make up on the Rebels if that ends up being the case.
“It’s just a family-feeling environment out there,” he said. “Coach Freeze treats everyone there like their his son. Like I said, I like him a lot and he’s a pretty cool dude.”