Gaylord's Pretzlaff commits to Minnesota
Feb. 4—GAYLORD — Brady Pretzlaff wanted to weigh his options when the offer came in.
That wait didn't take long.
Soon after receiving a scholarship offer to play football at the University of Minnesota, the Gaylord star linebacker made up his mind rather quickly.
Pretzlaff visited Minnesota's campus for Junior Day on Jan. 23.
"We weighed out our options," Pretzlaff said. "Amazing coaching, great facilities; and I have some family there."
Defensive coordinator Joe Rossi visited Pretzlaff that Thursday for a live workout and offered a scholarship afterward, prompting him to commit on the spot.
Pretzlaff, who moved to Gaylord in the eighth grade, has an aunt and uncle who live about 30 minutes away from the Gophers' campus
"When we looked at it, it was the best fit, even with other offers," said Pretzlaff, who also had offers from Illinois and Central Michigan and visited Michigan State, Wisconsin, Cincinnati and Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck's former school, Western Michigan.
"They look for tough, gritty players," Gaylord head coach D.J. Szymoniak said of Minnesota. "We're a blue-collar community. We're going to bring our lunch."
Pretzlaff (6-3, 220) recorded 115 total tackles, five sacks and two interceptions last season, earning him Record-Eagle Defensive Player of the Year honors.
"He brings great leadership," Szymoniak said. "He set the bar for our culture. He's a student of the game. He doesn't just go out there and do what we tell him to. He reads the game."
Now that the recruiting process is behind him, Preztlaff said he wants to concentrate on restoring Gaylord's football program.
The Blue Devils posted their first above-.500 season in four years at 6-4, with a defense that surrendered more than 20 points only twice all campaign.
"We want to show Gaylord football is not one to look over like in years past," Pretzlaff said. "People used to look at Gaylord on their schedule and think, 'Well, that's an easy win.' I want to change that."
The Devils return 21 of 22 starters from last year's team and haven't recorded more than six wins in a season since 2003.
Pretzlaff earned First-Team All-State honors in Division 1-2 from the Associated Press this year as well as First-Team All-Big North accolades.
Another Big North Conference star, Petoskey junior running back C.J. Hibbler, has been picking up big offers on the recruiting trail, despite a broken leg suffered in a collision with Gaylord's Ty Bensinger in Week Four that cost Hibbler the rest of the season.
Hibbler has offers from Vanderbilt, Syracuse and Bowling Green, and interest from Columbia and Penn State. He has visits scheduled for Brigham Young, Michigan, and he's already visited Michigan State, Purdue, Florida A&M.
Traverse City West junior tackle Kyler Brunan, a three-star recruit, has a Central Michigan offer, visited Michigan State, Miami (Ohio), Ohio University and Cincinnati, has a visit scheduled with West Virginia and has interest from Eastern Michigan and Kent State.
Among numerous other area commitments, TC Central running back Reed Seabase and TC West linebacker Vindarr Soffredine committed to Alma College, St. Francis linebacker Garrett Hathaway signed with Indiana Wesleyan, Cadillac tight end Derek Rood signed with Grand Valley State, and McBain offensive tackle Mack Bontekoe committed to Ferris State. St. Francis linebackers Joey Donahue and John Hagelstein both committed to Michigan Tech.
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