If you don’t think that Mack Brown and his staff are having an impact on the recruiting trail, Saturday night’s commitment might change your mind. That’s when 2020 4✮ ILB Ethan West committed to the Heels via Twitter following his visit to Chapel Hill on Thursday. The Heels are currently one of the hottest teams on the recruiting trail and it’s time for national analysts to take notice.
West is in the process of beginning preparations for his senior season at Cosby High School in Midlothian, VA. Unfortunately, there are no stats available on MaxPreps for West, who has been starting for Cosby since his freshman season.
West fits exactly what Jay Bateman wants in his linebackers, as shown on his tape. West has great speed for a linebacker, which should allow him to be successful as a sideline-to-sideline linebacker in Bateman’s system. The fact that he a strong open-field tackler will also help, as he consistently showed the ability to tackles in 1-on-1 situations, something he will face rather often in Bateman’s defensive scheme. He should also be able to handle himself in coverage, as he has played both nickel and corner throughout his high school career. Having another linebacker that can handle his own in coverage is a huge bonus for a defense that has had trouble finding consistently over the last few seasons.
With West commitment, the Heels 2020 class moves up to 16th overall nationally in the class, while also moving up to 4th in the ACC class rankings. The Mack Brown hire was expected to pay big dividends in the 2019 class, and while that has been true, the biggest impact has come on the 2020 recruiting trail, where Brown and his staff have landed three prospects within the last month, including each of the last two days. It’s time the country takes notice of what is happening in Chapel Hill at the moment.