2020 in Review: Pogorelc rose from unknown to sought-after recruit
James Pogorelc's road to Stanford involved a couple turns. A couple years ago he thought he'd be a tight end and after his junior season he thought the highest level of football he'd play was in the FCS.
He kept working to add weight and strength and by the time his senior season began he had offers from top Power Five schools from across the country. While his football choices changed dramatically, what he wanted from a school never changed.
He shared his thoughts on that journey and more with Cardinal Sports Report.
Does it feel real yet that you're going to be a freshman at Stanford?
"It’s been like two months since I signed and it still feels surreal that I’m in this position. It was something that when I first started this process I dreamed of and it is hard to accept the fact that my dream turned into a reality."
After your junior season, what did you think the next year was going to look like?
“I really had no idea. After my junior year I was getting a good amount of attention from FCS, Ivies. I didn’t really have any contact with Power Five schools. I was just focused on continuing to improve and get bigger.
“That’s when these Power Five schools came around and started talking with me. I was able to go to camps and show out.”
Was there a moment or a sequence of events when you realized that the work you had done largely out of the spotlight had worked?
“Starting with my junior year I worked pretty hard. I thought I was going to be a tight end. Looking back on it, I’m really glad my coach told me, ‘Look, you’re an offensive tackle’. (Laughs) From that point forward I put everything I had into being the best tackle I could be.
“I gained probably 40 pounds that offseason. I lifted just about every day. I did everything I could to transform myself from somebody with a tight-end frame to more of a true offensive tackle.”
You probably had dreams of catching a touchdown in the Rose Bowl, not necessarily blocking for the guy throwing the pass to the tight end, right?
“Yeah.” (Laughs)
If you still have some of those tight end skills you can start working on Coach Kevin Carberry from the moment you get there about sneaking in one of those trick plays.
“It’s funny because I remember in high school I was trying to convince my coach the last five weeks of the season: ‘Hey, we should put in this tight end screen. It worked really well. No one would ever suspect it.’
“I guess I’ll have to work on Carberry, too, for that.”
When you were still uncertain what opportunities football would give you, what was your mindset about choosing a school?
“Going back to I guess probably February last year, I really had the same things I was looking for in schools. If you look at my first offers it was Ivy Leagues and all pretty good schools. I don’t think that ever changed for me. I was always looking for a spot I could get a great education and use football to help me get it. That really never changed for me. But I didn’t expect to end up at Stanford, which is the Holy Grail for me.”
Were you thinking about Stanford before football became involved?
“It was a school I had dreamed of. I remember at the end of sophomore year our football coach had us fill out a questionnaire about college -- our dream schools, what we think is realistic, and all that. I remember Stanford being one of my dream schools. It was always a goal. At times I didn’t know if it was achievable. It turned out just the way I wanted it to.”
Where did that drive to focus on academics and dream of Stanford come from?
“My family has always been academic-driven. Both my parents are engineers. My brother is starting engineering at Carnegie Mellon. The academic piece was always important to me in my family. I knew I wanted to go to the best academic school I possibly could while playing football. Stanford, it doesn’t matter where you’re from. You can be on the other side of the world and still know what Stanford is because it has a reputation of being a world-class school.”
What is your area of interest to study?
“I’m going to go into Management, Science and Engineering. From there I want to work on Wall Street. I’m pretty focused on that.”
Where did that come from? Is there no pressure to be an engineer?
“I’ve always been kind of the black sheep of the family. I’m trying to make my own path. Before my junior year I don’t think I had a set idea of what I wanted to do. I took AP economics and I really fell in love with the class. From there I went exploring. I had a dream I wanted to work on Wall Street.”
It sounds like you were set up to have very high expectations for Stanford before your first visit. What were you thinking about that trip?
“Definitely when I went to the Washington game I had pretty high expectations because from the second I got my offer there I knew it was going to be one of my top schools no matter what. On the visit everything blew away my expectations. It was great. I was almost disappointed because it was a really short visit for me. I had a game the night before so it was a quick trip in and out. I wish I had more time to spend there. Obviously on my official visit I got to experience the whole thing.”
What have the past few months been like getting to know your classmates?
“I’ll take it back to the official when I got to meet with everyone in the class. It was one of these things where we instantly clicked. Everyone got along really well. I felt like I could see these guys as my teammates and I wanted them to be.
“With the offensive line, I love all of them. We have a group chat (for the whole class) and then we have an offensive line group chat. We talk about whatever. It doesn’t have to be football related. We’re all looking forward to getting to campus and getting to work.”
Drake Metcalf said you guys are already helping each other learn the playbook. How has that process been for you?
“It’s a lot. I mean, just looking through all the terminology and plays it’s going to be a lot to learn. Doing it as a group will be a lot easier so we can quiz each other and hold each other accountable. We’ll make sure when we report that we’re all set to get to work.”
What have you been working on to improve physically?
“I’ve been doing I think pretty well. I’m doing all the runs, lifting, and then training three times a week on the side. I’m trying to get stronger, faster, more athletic, better technique. When I come I want to come ready.”