Northwestern offers 2026 TE and Missouri state champ Jack Utz

[mshelton33]

Northwestern offers 2026 TE and Missouri state champ Jack Utz

Three-star 2026 tight end Jack Utz was a key cornerstone to Platte County's 14-0 run to a Missouri state title.

northwestern.rivals.com

I talked to 2026 TE Jack Utz about his offer from Northwestern, his title-winning junior season at Platte County, and more.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Northwestern offers 2026 TE and Missouri state champ Jack Utz

Three-star 2026 tight end Jack Utz was a key cornerstone to Platte County's 14-0 run to a Missouri state title.

northwestern.rivals.com

I talked to 2026 TE Jack Utz about his offer from Northwestern, his title-winning junior season at Platte County, and more.

Matt, I have a question.
It strikes me as a little strange that you would be calling a guy Northwestern offered.
Whats the logic there?
Is this a way to help Northwestern recruiting by showing "media" interest?
Or is really newsworthy enough to pursue?
He's probably got a 5-20% chance of enrolling at Northwestern.

I'm just curious.

 

[mshelton33]

Matt, I have a question.
It strikes me as a little strange that you would be calling a guy Northwestern offered.
Whats the logic there?
Is this a way to help Northwestern recruiting by showing "media" interest?
Or is really newsworthy enough to pursue?
He's probably got a 5-20% chance of enrolling at Northwestern.

I'm just curious.

No problem, happy to shed some light on our process. So first off, NU offers about 90-100 players per class, give or take. If we covered Penn State which is sometimes 300+, we’d incorporate more discretion but as things are, we generally try to contact each player that goes public with an NU offer.

We cover NU recruiting but we are not NU recruiting. We are not allowed to, nor do we, advocate for the school or program.

I won’t break our paywall for specifics on Jack Utz, but insight into that 5-20%, as you put it, is the goal of these stories for our subscribers.

Is NU early or late to offer? How long have coaches been in contact? What role do they see a player potentially playing, and does that fit with their goals? Has a player been to NU before for a camp or showcase, or are they planning a future visit? When do they want to narrow their list down or make a decision? Etc.

In a perfect world, we want you to be able to go back and see a Northwestern player’s path to Evanston, start to finish. I know this is a crossover to basketball but I think we did a good job of that with Tre Singleton in the Class of 2025 and, back to football, we’re hopefully doing a good job with Johnny O’Brien in the Class of 2026.

Hope this answers your question but happy to provide more details if you have follow ups.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

No problem, happy to shed some light on our process. So first off, NU offers about 90-100 players per class, give or take. If we covered Penn State which is sometimes 300+, we’d incorporate more discretion but as things are, we generally try to contact each player that goes public with an NU offer.

We cover NU recruiting but we are not NU recruiting. We are not allowed to, nor do we, advocate for the school or program.

I won’t break our paywall for specifics on Jack Utz, but insight into that 5-20%, as you put it, is the goal of these stories for our subscribers.

Is NU early or late to offer? How long have coaches been in contact? What role do they see a player potentially playing, and does that fit with their goals? Has a player been to NU before for a camp or showcase, or are they planning a future visit? When do they want to narrow their list down or make a decision? Etc.

In a perfect world, we want you to be able to go back and see a Northwestern player’s path to Evanston, start to finish. I know this is a crossover to basketball but I think we did a good job of that with Tre Singleton in the Class of 2025 and, back to football, we’re hopefully doing a good job with Johnny O’Brien in the Class of 2026.

Hope this answers your question but happy to provide more details if you have follow ups.

To be honest Matt, I'm just pleased you took the time to respond with details of your approach.
Thanks!
My only remaining questions are "Are reporters for other schools doing the same? and is this sort of thing the domain of the Power 4 teams?

 

[mshelton33]

To be honest Matt, I'm just pleased you took the time to respond with details of your approach.
Thanks!
My only remaining questions are "Are reporters for other schools doing the same? and is this sort of thing the domain of the Power 4 teams?

I think right now most other programs are in the thick of things with basketball or transfer portal but NU has an off week with basketball and isn't as active in the transfer market, so that might be why it seems a little out of place to talk about a HS offer right now. Though, we have had several articles and threads about transfer targets and offers for NU, too.

As for domain of the Power 4 teams, not sure what thing you're referring to specifically there. If you mean in terms of recruiting coverage, yes, Rivals or other site affiliates are more often operating for fanbases interested enough to have a subscriber base and that aligns pretty well with the P4. There are a few other sites for schools outside of the group or even for just one sport, I know we've talked to Ron Bailey with Georgetown's Rivals before and I talked to Matt Schwade of Dayton's site at the Dayton game this year, but that type of site is more rare than schools with P4 football and basketball.

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

I think right now most other programs are in the thick of things with basketball or transfer portal but NU has an off week with basketball and isn't as active in the transfer market, so that might be why it seems a little out of place to talk about a HS offer right now. Though, we have had several articles and threads about transfer targets and offers for NU, too.

As for domain of the Power 4 teams, not sure what thing you're referring to specifically there. If you mean in terms of recruiting coverage, yes, Rivals or other site affiliates are more often operating for fanbases interested enough to have a subscriber base and that aligns pretty well with the P4. There are a few other sites for schools outside of the group or even for just one sport, I know we've talked to Ron Bailey with Georgetown's Rivals before and I talked to Matt Schwade of Dayton's site at the Dayton game this year, but that type of site is more rare than schools with P4 football and basketball.

@mshelton33 do you see most schools dividing their premium content between a basketball and football board? I believe WR is in the minority when it comes to our setup. I checked the main sites for each B1G program a while back and found this was the case. Mind you, I’m not advocating any additional costs/fees, just dividing the Rock in a similar fashion to the two free boards.