Terps Have The Attention Of Florida Center
For football aficionados, and particularly old-schools fans of the Maryland Terrapins, the last name “Myslinski” should ring a bell. Thomas Myslinski Sr. played defensive end for UMD back in the mid-1960s, while Tom Myslinski Jr., a graduate of Tennessee, spent nine years in the NFL and has been the Jacksonville Jaguars’ strength coach since 2012.
Now, there’s another Myslinski who has begun to ascend in gridiron circles. Michael Myslinski (Bishop Kenny/Jacksonville, Fla.) is a rising-star center recruit with early offers from UConn, Louisville, Oregon, Maryland and several others.
“The offseason has been going very well for me,” Myslinski said. “I was playing basketball, but I stopped this year to concentrate on working out full-time with my dad. He’s had a lot of experience, and we’ve been doing a lot of marshal arts things so I can get my hands even stronger, and become every quicker. I’m very lucky to have him.”
The 6-foot-2, 285-pounder said all of his early offers warrant attention, but three in particular have his eye at this stage. He said Louisville, which he’s visited before, is on the brain, along with Oregon and Maryland.
“Louisville was my very first major offer, which was big for me,” Myslinski said. “I visited there too and just really enjoyed it. I liked the atmosphere and how the coaches treated the players. It was a great time, and I’m excited to get back there March 1.
“With Oregon, I have a really good connection with the coaches and just like what they’ve been telling me. It’s a great program in the Pac-12 and they’re very serious about football out there.”
As for Maryland, Myslinski said the Terps immediately caught his eye since his grandfather was a Terp. But the Bishop Kenny prospect also allowed that Maryland assistant George Helow has been in contact for some time, dating back to the new inside linebackers/special teams coach’s tenure at Colorado State.
“Coach Helow has known me for awhile now, and he came to see me when he was at Colorado State. I actually go to school with his younger brothers, so he’d come down from Colorado State to see them and we got to know each other pretty well,” Myslinski said. “He really loves my aggressiveness and physicality. We kept talking after he got to Maryland, and [in mid-February] he decided to offer me. Coach Helow is an awesome guy and almost like a second dad to me. I’d love to be able to play for him if Maryland’s the right fit.”
Myslinski said he’d like to take in College Park, Md., sometime in the spring or summer and will be finalizing a date with Helow at some point. He’s also attempting to see Oregon and UConn, while he has firm dates for trips to Louisville (March 1) and Iowa (March 26). Myslinski has already taken in Louisville once, along with UCF; NC State; Coastal Carolina; and Georgia Southern.
The center prospect said the Hawkeyes and Wolfpack coaches have shown interest in him.
“Right now, I’m taking things in and seeing what happens,” Myslinski said. “I don’t have a set time for deciding on a school or anything like that. My main thing right now is to figure out a major, because there’s life after football to consider too.”