wyoming_football

 

The Cowboys continue to pick things up on the recruiting front with their third known verbal commitment in 6’3″, 295-pound Gretna, Nebraska offensive guard Patrick Arnold.

Arnold was offered by the Wyoming coaching staff back on April 4th.  Outside of this past Saturday’s visit for the Air Force game (35-26 Wyoming homecoming victory), the Gretna big man visited Laramie back in March for Junior Days and also in late July.  His lead recruiter was offensive line coach Scott Fuchs.

He had offers from Air Force, Army, Colgate, Columbia, Navy, and South Dakota.

As of this past summer Arnold posted testing numbers of a 5.20 forty, a shuttle time of 4.5, benched 375-pounds and lastly squatted 545-pounds.

The Omaha World-Herald Super Six selection had 42 tackles defensively this past season (17 so far this season) but it is the offensive side of the ball that drew most attention by college recruiters.  He projects as a likely offensive guard or even center.

So what was it that lead Arnold to pick the Pokes over other FBS/FCS suitor?

“I have tremendous respect for the coaching staff and where the program is headed.  Culturally it is the perfect fit and I couldn’t ask for anything more in a school. I see a program with all the right parts to be very successful and starting to realize that success,” Arnold said.

“Every second of every hour I’ve spent in Wyoming I’ve had nothing but a smile on my face,” Arnold said on Twitter. “This is where home is, and this is where I will be calling home for the next four-five years of my life.”

Even though most Nebraska kids grow up dreaming to be a Nebraska Cornhuskers, Arnold realized very early on that becoming a Wyoming Cowboy was a real possibility even with those Nebraska aspirations.

“One year ago, a friend asked me where I thought I would play college football.  I said, ‘Wyoming’.  This was before I ever received any recruiting interest from Wyoming. It was just a gut feeling,” said the Nebraska standout.

“There was a kid from my high school that went there awhile back, last name (Alex) Stover, and I remember watching him on TV and realizing that could be me.  As I started to look at schools around this area, I found that Wyoming was the perfect fit for me, and it was all just meant to be.”

Wyoming has dipped into Nebraska pretty heavily since coach Craig Bohl has taken control of the Wyoming football program.  That has not gone unnoticed by Arnold and other Nebraska prospects.

“I’ve definitely been taking notice of that.  Coach Bohl knows the secret that there are great football players in Nebraska.  I appreciate having Nebraska ties on the coaching staff (Craig Bohl, Steve Stanard, and Michael Grant) because they know what Nebraska prep football is all about and they have a respect for it.”

Now that Arnold has committed to the Cowboys, he is very likely not the last Nebraska prospect to follow in the 2017 recruiting class.

Rivals and Scout rank Arnold as a 2-star recruit.

Patrick Arnold Hudl highlights http://www.hudl.com/profile/3695204/patrick-arnold