'09 IL OL Michael Schofield (Michigan Verbal)

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Orland Park (IL) Sandburg

Height: 6-foot-6
Weight: 270 lbs

Originally Posted by Rivals Bio

Michael Schofield as a junior in 2007 was named as an all conference and all area performer for the Eagles and head coach Dave Wierzal.

Five-Star talent in Midwest - NCAA Football - Yahoo! Sports

Another big lineman that people in the Midwest will be talking a lot about is Michael Schofield of Orland Park (Ill.) Sandburg. His name is just starting to emerge and after schools saw his film on Rivals.com, they’re starting to come after him like crazy. Seeing him in person Saturday, showed why. He measured in at 6-foot-7 and 276 pounds. He’s still got a lot of room to grow into his frame, too.

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3/18

From O&B News...Arizona and Northern Illinois have offered and he thinks Northwestern, Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan State are close to offering. Talks about his summer plans and his connections with the Northwestern and Illinois staffs.

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4/2

By EdgyTim...Illinois has offered after he visited last weekend for a spring practice. Says interest has picked up from Minnesota, Indiana, Purdue and Michigan State.

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4/9

By EdgyTim...talks about his visit to Iowa last weekend to catch a practice. Some new schools have picked up their contact, including Oregon, Indiana, Wisconsin and Colorado.

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4/10

From O&B News...Indiana has offered, joining Illinois, Northern Illinois and Arizona. Thinks Iowa and Michigan State could be close to offering and admits to favoring Illinois since he grew up a fan.

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4/14

By EdgyTim...talks about visiting ND and picking up the offer from the Hoosiers.

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4/17

From the Northwestern site...talks about why he thinks Northwestern hasn't offered yet. His coach talks about what makes him a D1 prospect. Is expecting coaches from Arizona, Notre Dame and Illinois during the evaluation period.

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4/28

By EdgyTim...talks about his visit to Evanston for the Northwestern spring game. Picked up offers from Vanderbilt and Iowa. Also talks about his visit to Iowa for a spring practice.

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5/12

From EdgyTim...talks about receiving and offer from Michigan State last week...also talks about the NIKE camp at OSU.

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5/15

By EdgyTim...Michigan offered today...talks about how it went down and says he will make a visit this weekend.

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5/19

By EdgyTim...received an offer from Cincinnati last week and visited UM for their barbecue over the weekend...done taking visits until after his exams and talks about how much he enjoyed A2.

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Sandburg's Schofield on the Rise

5/24

by Taylor Bell

A year ago, Mike Schofield was only a blip on most college football recruiters’ radar screens. A very big blip, to be sure, but despite his impressive size the 6-7, 275-pound offensive lineman hadn’t made much of an impression during his junior year at Sandburg.
"Last year, the coach said to play to the whistle," Schofield recalled. "I did that pretty good. I did a lot of things. I got to the second level pretty good. I felt I had a good enough year to be all-conference. But I wasn’t. I was good but I never thought I'd get so many offers
." Now Schofield ranks among the top 10 prospects in the Class of 2009 in the Chicago area. He has received scholarship offers from Illinois, Arizona, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan State, Vanderbilt, Boston College and Northern Illinois. He has received interest from Notre Dame, Northwestern, Virginia, Ohio State, Purdue, Penn State, Oregon and Colorado.
He is the most recruited player to come out of the Orland Park school since Jeff Alm in the 1980s. Alm later played at Notre Dame and in the NFL.
Other noteworthy Sandburg products were Zak Kustok, Jeff Roehl, former Sandburg coach Mike Navarro and current Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald.
"I don’t know that he came out of nowhere," said Dave Wierzal, Sandburg’s second-year coach. "When recruiters see him on film, he is one of the kids who plays to the whistle, makes the second block and blocks downfield. Put the whole package together and you see a kid who will produce at the Division I level in the next few years."
Schofield, whose father is a firefighter, admitted he knew nothing about the recruiting process. He didn’t think colleges began to contact prospects as soon as they did. When he began to receive e-mails and letters last February, he said he began to catch on.
In February, Northwestern came in to talk to him. In March, Arizona made the first offer. Now he is talking about making some unofficial campus visits in June, then making a commitment in August, before the season begins, so he doesn’t have to worry about recruiting during the season. He marvels at how fast everything has happened.
"You have to talk to the coaches and get to know them and the players, then see how you like the school," Schofield said. "Sometimes it is a little overwhelming, getting 10 letters a day. But I won’t rush my decision. It is one of the biggest decisions of my life."
Recruiting analyst Tom Lemming believes Schofield has a great opportunity to make a statement this fall.
"Schofield is a good athlete and it is a bad year nationally for offensive linemen," Lemming said. "Everyone is looking for them and Chicago is loaded with offensive linemen. If you’re an offensive lineman, you should be working on your quickness. If you improve your foot speed, you'll get a scholarship. Kids who are borderline national recruits are getting offers. There are very few good offensive linemen in the South and East."

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5/27

By EdgyTim...picked up offers from Oregon, Colorado and Virginia...plans to sit down with parents and coaches to narrow list soon.