Four-Star TE Andrew Rappleyea breaks down his flip to Penn State
Early Sunday morning, four-star tight end Andrew Rappleyea made some waves in the recruiting world as he announced via Twitter that he is flipping his verbal commitment from Michigan to Penn State.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound tight end prospect out of the Milton Academy in Massachusetts spoke with Rivals recruiting analyst Adam Friedman to break down the decision.
“I always had a really good relationship with Penn State,” Rappleyea told Rivals. “Coach (Ty) Howle is a great guy, always liked him, then coach (James) Franklin recruited me himself and I made relationships with everyone on the Penn State staff in a way that I really never did with any other school and that really came into play especially when there was a lot of confusion with what was going on at Michigan.
“Then there were some coaching changes and what not, so that came into play and Penn State was my favorite school all along I would say. There was a little confusion at one point with their being room possibly or not, but I mean that cleared up. So I made the decision to go where my heart told me and I understand some people are going to be upset. I didn’t mean to play with my words, I never wanted it to go this way and I know everyone might not understand that. At the end of the day there are always coaching changes and dishonesty is the way it goes sometimes with this business and level of football. It’s a business, it really is.”
Along with the fact that he had already built a pretty good relationship with the Nittany Lions staff, the track record of Penn State tight ends making the NFL also played a huge factor in this decision.
“When I also looked at the success at Penn State and a guy like Pat Freiermuth came out of the ISL (Independent Sports League up in Mass.) just like I will and he’s had great success there,” said Rappleyea. “Then there is Mike Gesicki who starts for the Dolphins and every one of the guys who goes there, loves it. Everyone going from Franklin through the entire staff loves it there and they love what they do. I’m not saying that isn’t the case at Michigan, but Penn State is three hours and 45 minutes from my home. Also my family loves it there and it was a no brainer for me. I understand it took a little longer, but now I’m at the place I want to be, I’m at my school and that is where I want to go. I’m ready to get to work.”
Rappleyea was on campus a few weeks ago back on March 19th and that’s when he connected with some of the current tight ends. He also was being recruited by a few of the other commits in the now No. 4 ranked recruiting class.
“I got a chance to talk with Theo (Johnson), Tyler (Warren), Brenton Strange and spent some time with those guys,” he said. “From a recruit standpoint, kids from the class were hitting me up the minute I said I was going to go back for a visit to campus. Jven Williams, Joey Schlaffer, Alex Birchmeier, Lamont Payne and others hit me up. It definitely played a factor.”