After being at a crossroads, York County offensive lineman makes his Division I choice

Joden Nelson thought he found his next home.

Then he needed a new one.

The York High senior center verbally committed to the University of Connecticut this past June. But things changed when UConn coach Randy Edsall, a Susquehannock grad, parted ways with the program after an 0-2 start to this season. UConn has gone 7-41 since 2017.

Nelson decided to reopen his recruitment rather than stay with a program in flux.

His eventually picked the school that first offered him when he reentered the process.

Nelson officially signed his national letter of intent to play football for Division I FCS Towson University Wednesday. He joined Central York's Beau Pribula (Penn State), Gettysburg's Frankie Richardson (Coastal Carolina) and Red Lion's Jeff Nyamekye (Wagner) as YAIAA players to sign with Division I programs.

But Nelson was the only one who had to change schools during the recruitment process.

"Even before they offered me I had such a bond there," Nelson said. "It's close to home and the coaches really welcomed me. This (whole process) wasn't easy but I wouldn't change anything."

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Nelson basically had two recruitments over the course of 2021.

The 6-foot-4, 280-pound lineman received seven Division I offers this past offseason before he decided on UConn, the lone FBS school to offer him. He knew the Huskies were going through a rebuild, but he was excited to play for a coach from York County at the highest level of college football.

Things changed in September when Edsall announced he would retire at the end of the season. UConn put out a statement the following day that the coach would step down immediately.

Not knowing who UConn's next coach would be or the direction of the program, Nelson informed a few schools he was reopening his commitment and then publicly announced his de-commitment in early October. UConn hired former UCLA and NFL head coach Jim Mora in November.

"I loved UConn, but it was just tough with coach Edsall leaving," he said. "When I announced I was de-committing, my tweet got a bunch of attention right away."

While he had stopped communicating with many of the schools previously recruiting him, Nelson didn't have to wait long for more opportunities. He received 12 Division offers in October and November, including Georgetown, Colgate, Richmond, Lehigh, UMass, Monmouth and St. Francis.

He credited York High head coach Russ Stoner, offensive line coach Ben Cregger and quarterbacks coach Matt Baker with getting him quickly connected to so many schools.

But he felt differently about Towson right away.

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The school had been recruiting him since he met members of its coaching staff at a football camp at Rutgers this past summer. It was the first team to offer him after he reopened his commitment.

Stoner also played at Towson and was able to give him a more personal tour of the area during a visit to the school this fall.

"It's super cool for your high school coach to relate to you so well," Nelson said. "He was able to tell me about about stuff he used to do there, and how it's changed and what's different."

Located in Maryland about 45 minutes from York, Towson competes in the Colonial Athletic Association. The Tigers went 4-7 this season but have made the Division I FCS playoffs three times in the past decade under coach Rob Ambrose.

Nelson, who plans to major in business or sports management, will likely play center for the Tigers. He initially played left tackle in high school before switching to the middle this season.

The move seemed to work. He was named a first-team all-star by league coaches and GameTimePA and helped West Virginia commit running back Jahiem White rush for over 2,100 yards and 30 touchdowns for a 7-3 Bearcats team this season.

After weighing close to 290 pounds this summer, Nelson is down to 278 after the grind of the high school season. He said his target weight for college football is 290 and he's currently eating about 5,500 to 6,000 calories a day to put on the weight. His diet most days includes a five-egg omelet and pancakes for breakfast, a trip to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and "two of three helpings" of dinner.

But he's also still working out on a daily basis. A few hours after signing his NLI Wednesday, he was back in the weight room when contacted for an interview about his college decision.

"One of the first things Towson said to me was the work really starts now," Nelson said. "There were times no matter how much I ate I couldn't keep the weight on. The season takes its toll. I'm trying to add some mass in the weight room now so it's easier when I get up there."

Matt Allibone is a sports reporter for GameTimePA. He can be reached at 717-881-8221, mallibone@ydr.com or on Twitter at @bad2theallibone.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Towson University football: York High's Joden Nelson makes commitment