Springs enjoying latest attention

Yesterday it was Tennessee and Michigan State. Last week it was Clemson and Mississippi State. A few days before those were Arizona and Texas. Every other day it seems another coach is looking for San Antonio (Texas) Roosevelt defensive back Arrion Springs with scholarship papers in hand.

It has certainly been a wild experience and Springs is enjoying being caught in the middle of the whirlwind.

"It's very exciting and humbling and I'm glad I have the opportunity. It's crazy when coaches tell me 'call me, call me, call me,' and then you forget some days and you have to call them tomorrow. It's pretty crazy."

Some offers have come out of the blue while other schools have been in touch before. Some are at cornerback or nickel and others are at safety. The 5-11, 190-pound defender is happy to welcome them all, and he should as he has put in a lot of hard work to earn them.

It was not long ago when Springs was thought of only as a safety prospect, but Springs wanted more and looked to diversify his skill set. He had the size, the speed, and the natural athleticism, but his footwork was not where he wanted it. So he went to work…with a soccer ball.

"It has helped me out a lot," Springs said. "When I first started I could barely dribble the ball and now I'm doing skill moves with it. You can really tell in my work when we go do DB drills how my footwork has dramatically improved. That helps me on my press coverage when my guy is juking and stuff and I can play it better."

He did not stop there though. Another big opportunity came through some friends of his father.

"I train with the SA Talons, the Arena Football team. I work out and practice with them every now and then. The coach and players help me and that helps me out a lot," Springs said. "I just try to go and run and hit a lot of ladders and four-corner type stuff."

With the work has come improvement and with improvement has come more and more college attention. He has taken a few visits over the last few months with the most recent being to Texas and Baylor. He does not have any other scheduled at this point but during the summer months does plan to visit Oregon and Miami. The two out of state programs have not offered but both have been in touch and both are very high on his list.

"Oregon and Miami are the two right now that are out there a little bit from everyone," Springs said. "Oregon they have awesome facilities and they're a top of the line school. Coach (John) Neal is a great DB coach. He's taken two and three star guys and turned them all into NFL guys. He's a really good coach. Miami, they're trying to rebuild and get their tradition back. Coach Golden has a good thing and coach Williams is a good coach and I've been talking to him lately. I feel like it's a nice environment I could play in."

Among the schools who have offered there are three who have caught his attention.

"Texas, they have more DBs in the NFL right now and coach Akina has created that NFL type environment for the DBs there," Springs said. "It's a great place and a nice city and you're almost celebrities when you go there. And they have awesome facilities. Oklahoma is the same way. They have great tradition there and coach Stoops is an awesome coach - fiery, very energetic. Clemson, I've always wanted to visit there and see how it is. It's a nice place. It's a beautiful place to be. They beat LSU in a bowl game. I'm thinking about getting out there and checking them out."

Texas Tech, the first to offer, continues to show the most interest. The attention has also left an impression. It's not just the coaches showing the interest either with friend and fellow San Antonio standout Justin Stockton also letting him know the opportunities of the Red Raider program.

With offers and opportunities coming in by the day it is hard for him to trim his list, so Springs plans to take his time and wait before making too many decisions.

"I'm going to try and wait until after spring ball to have like a top three or a top five," Springs said. "Then I'll make my decision in the summer."