Jay Schell’s play has already turned plenty of heads around the country. The 2028 Rabun Gap (GA) linebacker has seen his recruitment take off in recent months, and, as a sophomore, that can certainly be a lot to manage. However, he’s very deliberate in everything he does. And that includes setting up campus visits.
Schell (6-3, 215), whose father played quarterback for the Tigers, visited Clemson last month for a spring practice, and he was back last weekend for another recruiting event. He’s also received interest from USC, Indiana, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Texas, Florida State, Nebraska, Michigan, Oklahoma, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest.
Clemson is certainly one of those schools holding some cachet at this stage of his recruitment, but that hasn’t stopped those other programs from making an impact.
One of those schools, Texas, was the site for one of Schell’s last visits, and he left Austin incredibly impressed. Another recent visit was the Georgia. He’s also made stops at USC, Nebraska and Indiana, and he is going to Oklahoma this weekend.
And with his visits, Schell is hoping to signal to each program where it stands in his hierarchy.
“So, there are a lot of schools, and I appreciate every single one of them for recruiting me,” Schell said. “And that means a lot to me. I’m still early in the recruitment. But yeah, I’ve said this before; I’m really intentional with my visits. I don’t wanna waste the coach’s time. I don’t wanna waste my time. So everywhere I go, it’s for a reason.”
When it comes to narrowing down his choices, he hopes to join a program that excels at development. Schell feels Ben Boulware’s work with Sammy Brown exemplifies that trait for which he’s searching.
“Coach Boulware, he’s great,” the Georgia prospect stated. “I got the chance to kind of sit in on their meeting room. I also think they have something special, the development there is, and I’m big on development. I’m sure you can hear that just from me talking. But yeah, Sammy Brown being an example, I got to watch him a good bit and was impressed with him, just how he played.”
Last season Schell had 77 tackles with 14 tackles for loss and three sacks.