Tre Swilling’s days are packed with focusing on his senior year, graduation and his last season as a cornerback for the Brother Martin Crusaders in New Orleans, La., but despite the pace of his days, Swilling’s taken on a personal side project.
Even before receiving his high school diploma, Swilling’s taken up role of ambassador for undecided Georgia Tech football recruits.
On Wednesday, Swilling, who committed to Tech in August, targeted 2017 Tech recruits and wrote to them on Twitter, trying to convince them to choose the Yellow Jackets before signing day.
“I want to share with everyone else how great the program is and just try to broaden it and get it back to National Championships and have those 4-star and 5-star guys,” Swilling said. “Having those high caliber guys and showing that just playing college football is more than just playing football, it’s about building relationships and having great academics that sets you up for after.”
With a talented slate of recruits already committed to Tech, such as punter Pressely Harvin, kicker Joseph Bulovas, running back/linebacker Bruce Jordan-Swilling and defensive back Jaytlin Askew, Swilling sees the next biggest need for the Jackets on the defensive line.
Swilling, a 6-foot, 180-pound cornerback, wrote on Twitter, "Calling all big time defensive linemen to come join something special at Georgia Tech and take the challenge of rebuilding… I need you!"
An hour later, Swilling posted again on Twitter calling out to Westminster Schools defensive end Cortez Alston, Nashville, Tenn., defensive tackle Ben Hutch and Lee County High School defensive tackle Aubrey Solomon. Swilling wrote, “Let’s talk… Make that move. I need y’all. #TogetherWeSwarm.”
Those three Tech targets are uncommitted seniors. Alston, 6-foot-3, 250 pounds, has 20 scholarship offers, including a Tech offer that was announced Aug. 1. Solomon, a four-star recruit from Leesburg, Ga., has 11 offers, but Tech is not one of them, according to 247 Sports.
“I’m just trying to recruit everybody to be honest,” Swilling said. “I’m trying to get some real good guys up front all be freshman, so that’s kind of my selling point: you have to have a good defensive line if you want to get a lot of interceptions. You see that in the best defenses as far as the NFL with the Broncos, the Cardinals, any team that has great defensive backs are looking at a great front seven that are monsters up front. That really helps.”
Hutch, 6-foot-3, 315 pounds, replied to Swilling's challenge Wednesday evening with a thinking emoji. Hutch, a three-star recruit from Hillsboro High School in Nashville, Tenn., announced his offer from Tech in August, but is predicted to choose Louisville, Texas A&M or Penn State. Hutch has 12 offers, according to 247 Sports.
Swilling was hesitant to approach Hutch at first because Hutch’s top schools did not include Tech. After a conversation between the two, Swilling became more persistent when discovering that Hutch will play against fellow Tech commit Gentry Bonds and Riverdale High School of Murfreesboro, Tenn., this season.
“I just kind of hit him up and said, ‘Hey, keep a spot open for (Tech),’ and he said he’s he’s still open, and I’m trying to get him up there on a visit sometime, but the problem is some guys … they’re graduating in December, and Georgia Tech only has a handful of home games left in the season,” Swilling said. “I’m trying to get (recruits like Hutch) to not go too far from home.”
After committing to Tech on Aug. 22, Swilling’s first attempt at recruiting his peers was successful when the cornerback recruited his teammate and brother, Jordan-Swilling. Jordan-Swilling, a four-star running back for Brother Martin High School, committed to Tech on Aug. 23 and will join Swilling on the Jackets’ defense in 2017.
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