Montgomery an early priority for Stanford, many other top schools
Sophomore Luke Montgomery is in an enviable position before the start of the summer visit bonanza. Like thousands of other recruits and their families, the Montgomerys plan to crisscross the country to see as many schools as possible after more than a year of Zoom meetings and self-guided tours.
Although, most of the recruits who get into planes, trains and automobiles in June aren't consensus top-100, four-star lineman with offers to play defensive end or offensive tackle. At 6-5, 260 pounds, with a current best time of 4.9 in the 40-yard dash, it's obvious that Montgomery has a rare combination of physical traits.
He reports offers from Ohio State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Penn State, LSU, Florida, Georgia and as of April 15 one from Stanford as well.
“It’s a blessing," Montgomery said in a conversation with Cardinal Sports Report. "It’s really cool, this experience. Not many kids get this opportunity. I’m giving every school a shot.
"I really love Stanford a lot. I really do. I think I’ve done two or three Zooms with them that were a couple hours long. I talked with Coach (David) Shaw; I love Coach Shaw.”
He took part in an April 25 Zoom meeting with Shaw, offensive coordinator Tavita Pritchard, new offensive line coach Terry Heffernan and recruiting director Mike Eubanks that was organized by Jaxon Howard and his father Willie, a former All-American defensive lineman at Stanford.
Montgomery has become good friends with Jaxon during the recruiting process and the Howards took the initiative to set up a Zoom meeting with Stanford coaches and several 2023 recruits with offers from the Cardinal.
The recruits spent most of the time speaking with Shaw, Montgomery said, and it was a "really good" opportunity to get to know each other better.
Montgomery and his parents also took part in a separate two and a half hour Zoom meeting with the same members of the offensive staff and Eubanks. In addition to those meetings, Montgomery said he has called Heffernan "about five times" to get to know the newest member of the staff.
Heffernan is recruiting Montgomery to play for the offensive line, along with several other coaches who were impressed by his Hudl highlights at defensive end, tight end and even fullback for Findlay High in Findlay, Ohio. He is transitioning to offensive tackle and defensive end as his full-time positions for next season.
Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Michigan State and LSU are some of the staffs that want him to play defensive end.
Findlay is less than a two hour drive from Detroit, where Heffernan coached at Wayne State for six seasons. His familiarity with the Michigan and Ohio area has been a nice bonus to help the coach and high school student-athlete to connect.
“We’re building a relationship and I like him a lot," Montgomery said.
Heffernan has a valuable perspective to offer families and recruits who are considering Stanford as someone who very recently went through a process to decide whether to work at Stanford. The former Buffalo Bills assistant offensive line coach updates Montgomery on the latest news from the team during winter conditioning and spring practices.
“How close the teammates are to each other (has stood out to him)," Montgomery recalls of a conversation with Heffernan. "They’re your everyday friends and he sees that. The workouts have been going great. He said they (the offensive line) all have a better than 3.0 GPA this quarter. He said they’re all bought in.”
Montgomery reports a 3.65 GPA in his Twitter bio and plans to take the SAT and ACT, even though it's uncertain if Stanford University will require those scores for his class. But Montgomery laughs when he adds that whether a university requires it or not, he knows his parents will.
He is interested in the sciences and might go into dentistry if coaching in college or the NFL doesn't work out. That is, after he plays for as long as he can.
Of course, the next big decision on his development path will be where he will attend college. He has done Zoom meetings with Oklahoma and Rutgers that really impressed him and has been in regular contact for months with Notre Dame, Penn State, and Ohio State.
“I would love to get out there as soon as possible," Montgomery said of visiting The Farm. Exactly what the travel plan looks like in June and July is to be determined but Stanford has done enough so far to earn a long look from one of the best prospects in the 2023 class.