Top ’19 TE Ryland Goede Talks Notre Dame Offer, Baseball And More

Georgia tight end Ryland Goede picks up huge Irish offer.

Ryland Geode may have the strongest first 8 offers that I have seen, with Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Ohio State, LSU, Tennessee, UCLA and as of Tuesday morning, Notre Dame.

“We were in weight training and my coach came out and handed me the phone. I talked to coach Long and he explained to me that they wanted me to come up there and that they had a spot on the team in a few years if I was interested in doing so,” said Goede.

At this point, Goede isn’t crystal clear on who Notre Dame really is, but he liked what he head from Chip Long during their conversation.

“I don’t know a ton, but I was talking to coach Long for a bit and he explained to me that he’s also the tight ends coach so I’d be getting to play under him,” said Goede.

“He explained to me that the last four tight ends that they’ve had have actually gone to the league, so that that was a pretty cool stat that he pulled out there. Obviously I know about the tradition out there. It’s a special place and I’ve heard a lot of great things about it,” added Goede.

Although Geode is currently a dynamic tight end with the outstanding size and talent, football wasn’t always his strong suit, nor something he was particularly fond of.

“My first sport I actually picked up was golf, but then I picked up baseball when I was about 7. I still play baseball now. I started playing football when I was 8 and for the first few years, I played offensive line, so I hated it with a passion, explained Goede.

“And then around sixth grade, I grew a good bit and I had a pretty strong arm so I played quarterback all through middle school. I played a little bit of wide receiver but then in high school they moved me to tight end. So, I’m still getting used to playing tight end, learning the ins and outs.”

Ryland comes from a very athletic family with professional football history. “My dad played at Liberty University and then he went on to play in the CFL and my mom played volleyball in college, and my sister is actually getting looks for volleyball in college as well,” he said.

Ryland Goede is also a star baseball player who told me he throws a fastball in the mid-80’s. I asked him if he’s thinking of playing both football and baseball at the Division 1 level.

“A few college coaches have told me that if I want to play both sports than that is definitely a possibility for me. And I’m definitely interested in doing that if I end up feeling like that’s the way to go for me,” he said.

Must Read: Top 5 Players From The 2016 Notre Dame Recruiting Class.

Goede, who boasts an impressive 4.2 GPA, then told me about his excitement for his upcoming junior football season where he will be suiting up for another tough year for Kennesaw Mountain Varsity

“We’re actually looking really, really strong. We were very young this year on the offensive side of things. We only lost two seniors so we’re going to be competing this year, so that’s going to be fun because usually, a typical season for us is 1-9, 2-8 so next year is going to be a very exciting season for us,” said Goede.

After hearing him speak of their poor record, I asked Goede why his varsity team tends to struggle year in and year out.

“We have 7 classifications. My team is in the 7th classification so we’re at the highest level in Georgia. But the funny thing about our school is we attract kids from all over our area that come for just math and science, and that’s all they do. They count all those kids towards our classification, so we’re not a very a good football school because of that,” he explained.

“We should be about a 4A school but we’re playing against 7A schools with tons of more kids than us and way more athletes,” said Goede. “We play a high school called McCeachern and each year they have at least 20 D1 prospects on the field.”

As a sophomore in high school, Ryland is literally an ideal size for an NFL tight end. His father is also a big man. “I’m about 6’6, 240. I bounce between 235 and 240.  My dad is 6’4, 260 and played left tackle,” said Goede.

As always, getting any recruit with an early offer on campus for a visit is crucial. Goede explained his past and upcoming visit situation.

“I haven’t been up there (to Notre Dame) yet but I definitely plan to at some point either this year or the following year. It’s tough for me because I have high school baseball in the spring and then summer ball every day, all day in the summer. So, it’s a hard schedule for me to work around,” he explained. “This year, I haven’t been on any.”

“I went to Georgia last January, last year I went on a ton. This spring and summer, I’m basically just kicking into baseball gear. This year, I’ll probably go to a couple of schools. Notre Dame is definitely one of them, for sure.”

Notre Dame added two of the top 3 tight ends in the country from the ’17 class and are in it for several top ’18 tight ends, currently. With new offensive coordinator Chip Long’s use of multiple tight end sets, the Irish should be well on their way to being more confidently called “Tight End U.”

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