Mitch Leigber commitment strengthens DB class

Laguna Hills safety Mitch Leigber committed to Stanford Saturday about a week after he heard from head coach David Shaw that he had been admitted to the university.

The defensive back position group is far out in the lead for the 2021 class -- Leigber is the fourth commit to Duane Akina's room out of five total in the class. All four can play safety and are being recruited to begin their careers on The Farm at that position. (Jimmy Wyrick may play cornerback instead.)

Leigber committed to Stanford over offers from Washington, Cal, UCLA, Northwestern and several Ivy League schools. Academics were a major emphasis for Leigber -- his mother, Alison, is a teacher at his high school.

"Stanford was the best choice for me," he told Cardinal Sports Report in a phone call Saturday. "I have a really good relationship with Coach Akina, Coach (Tavita) Pritchard (his area recruiter) and I've talked with Coach (David) Shaw a few times. I've built a great relationship with them.

"The academics speak for themselves and they have a great football program, too. It was just the best fit for me and my family."

Alison was actually his English teacher this past year and his parents have always emphasized that his academics came first.

"I definitely always had to finish my homework on time and be on top of things when she's at home," he laughed. "It was fun, for sure."

Leigber visited Stanford when he was in ninth grade but since becoming a football recruit was not able to take an unofficial visit before COVID-19 cancelled all normalcy. However, Leigber felt like the virtual visits, video calls and sitting in on a position group meeting showed him everything he needed to know about what it would be like to be a Stanford student-athlete.

(In fact, of Stanford's four defensive back commits only one, Wyrick, has taken an unofficial to the school. Josh Moore, Caleb Ellis and Leigber have all committed without the benefit of a typical visit.)

Leigber was impressed by Akina and Pritchard's football knowledge in conversations with them and also about their sincerity when the coaches talked about wanting to help him also be a great person.

There is plenty to like about what Leigber can become on the field. He rarely leaves it for Laguna Hills.

As a junior, he rushed for 963 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns on 6.5 yards per carry and had 32 catches for 510 yards (15.9 yards per catch) and 10 receiving touchdowns. On defense, he had 10.9 tackles per game (team lead), 5.5 tackle for loss, four interceptions that he returned for 24.5 yards per return, and two pick sixes, and one fumble caused.

Every coaching staff that offered Leigber wanted to use his playmaking ability on defense, although a couple thought he could be a linebacker instead of a safety. Akina and Stanford think he can cover a lot of ground from the backfield.

"Playing on both definitely helps your ball skills and your knowledge about formations and looking at the game from the other side of the ball," he said. "I love flying around at defensive back and making plays -- getting interceptions and coming up and making tackles. I've loved defense ever since I was little."