Stanford is not only one of the few football programs to still use a fullback, but the coaches take finding the right one very seriously. They found their next hammer between the tackles in Jay Symonds Jr. (Buckinghamn Browne and Nichols School, Cambridge, Mass.).

The 2018 fullback was committed to the University of Pittsburgh since March 16 and he announced Sunday that he was changing his verbal pledge to Stanford.

Symonds went public a week after informing the Pitt coaches and several weeks after learning he was admitted to Stanford, which was the development he was waiting for to commit to the Cardinal.

“He is an outstanding young man,” said Mike Willey, head coach at BB&N. “He is a very focused student, a very hard worker and is a very bright guy. He is really excited to go on and study medicine, which is awesome.

"As a football player he is tremendous. He started for our varsity football program in eighth grade as a receiver. He has built himself into whatever he is right now -- 6-4 and about 250-pound, college-ready player. He has worked so hard and he really deserves this opportunity that Stanford has given him.”

Symonds was interested in Stanford from the start of his recruiting process and he visited in August when the team got back from Australia.

“It was so much more than I could have ever imagined,” he said. “Obviously people tell you and you hear about Stanford that it’s unbelievable … but to actually get there and experience it and see the campus, the athletic facilities and hear the history was just incredible. All the great athletes that have been there is mind blowing. It is the best combination of academics and athletics in the country.”

The journey to get a Stanford offer included sending his highlight video to Stanford two different times.

The first time the Cardinal coaches responded they were waiting for new running backs coach Ron Gould to join the staff. There wasn’t much communication after that, but then Symonds saw this tweet from offensive coordinator Mike Bloomgren.

Symonds sent his highlights again.

“That’s when it picked up and took off from there,” he said. “I was in contact with Coach Gould constantly. He said they were really interested. In early August Coach Gould extended the offer and that was awesome.”

Symonds watched film with Gould during his visit and they talked about how he can expand the role of the fullback in the offense and play an H-back role as well. Stanford sees his combination of size, physicality and catching ability creating a lot of versatility with how they can use him on the field.

“I feel comfortable in a lot of areas but obviously I’m going to keep working," Symonds said. "I can’t wait to get out there and Coach Gould to work with me. I love it. In high school I play five different positions so coming in at fullback and being able to focus on that one position, and to have Coach Gould of all running backs coaches improve my skills, I can’t wait to get out there.”

Symonds’ head coach, who also is his academic adviser in school, met him in seventh grade. And Symonds joined the varsity team as an eighth grader and started at wide receiver.

In a game against rival Lawrence Academy, Willey called a flea flicker.

“It’s a deep ball to Jay and little Jay, well he wasn’t little, young Jay made one of the biggest catches we had that game. It was in the fourth quarter and set up our game-winning touchdown. He jumped over a guy and that kid was a senior. I thought that was a tremendous play but the following kickoff he runs and it’s one-on-one with their best athlete and he makes the tackle. That was when I thought, ‘This kid is special.’”

"They were so great to me the whole time I was committed. It made it pretty difficult. I was dreading the call. I really want to go to Stanford and was confident in my choice, but it was really hard having to call them and tell them I was leaving. I had become so close to so many of the coaches. But when I did make the call they were completely understanding. They handled it very well and were super understanding because it was Stanford.”