‘Edgy’ Tim: Ford, Riordan, Coles setting up spring recruiting visits

Waubonsie Valley junior quarterback Colin Ford (6-foot-4, 220 pounds) has been a mainstay on the camp circuit over the past few seasons. Ford, who has all the tools to develop in to a high level signal caller, checks in and breaks down his latest recruiting news.

“I'm in track this winter and spring along with working with my quarterback coach, Taylor Graham,” Ford said. “I've been working with coach Graham since my freshman year along with just lifting with the team and working on my speed and conditioning.”

Ford broke down his latest recruiting news and suitors this winter.

“We had a lot of college coaches who made in-school visits back in January,” he said. “I've been in contact with the coaches from Yale along with the coaches from Wyoming, Butler. North Dakota State, plus Northern Iowa, Grand Valley State, St. Thomas and Brown. I also made game day visits last season to Winona State and also a game day visit to Central Michigan.”

So what has Ford been working on to improve this winter?

“The main thing for me this winter is to improve my overall accuracy and improving my completion percentage. I'm also working on polishing up my game and also my overall technique and fundamentals. I also feel my overall speed has gotten better over the last two seasons.”

Ford is drawing recruiting attention at more than just quarterback.

“North Dakota State (said) they like my athleticism and that they are looking at me as more of a tight end, but so far they are the only school recruiting me not at quarterback. I did play some tight end early last season before I had a nagging injury which I played through the rest of the season. I'm pretty open for now when it comes to position, but I feel the most comfortable at quarterback.”

Hinsdale Central junior offensive guard Gene Riordan (6-foot-4, 275 pounds), ranked three stars by Rivals.com, added an offer from Auburn, his second SEC offer this winter.

Riordan broke down his initial impressions about the Tigers.

“The Auburn coaches reached out to me on a few weeks ago … and we had a good talk,” he said. ”(They) really like my game and liked my video from last season. I know that Auburn has great culture, tradition and history and I'm just very grateful to add an offer from them. The coaches want me to come and visit them this spring. I know that Auburn is putting together another strong recruiting class and it feels great that they want me to be a part of that recruiting class. I'm sure I'll get out and visit them sometime this spring.”

Has Riordan lined up any spring visits?

“I'm set to make a visit to Oklahoma on March 8,” he said. “I'm also planning to visit Northwestern, Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota sometime this spring along with a few other schools. Oklahoma is the only date I have set up for now. When I make visits all depends on my schedule and when I can get away to make a visit. I'm trying now to get things all sorted out.”

With the recruiting dead period ending, Riordan is ready for a busy spring.

“It's been sort of nice lately with the dead period …,” he said. “Things got really hectic in January but in a very good way with recruiting.”

Barrington sophomore tight end Austin Coles (6-foot-4, 190 pounds), a four-star recruit, has continued to see his stock rise this winter He recently added an offer from the University of Florida.

“I've been working out this winter every day along with playing some 7-on-7,” he said. “Our 7-on-7 schedule will start to ramp up soon and we will be playing in tournaments pretty much every weekend now.”

Coles broke down his early impressions of Florida.

“I've been in touch with the Florida coaches for some time now so I'm pretty familiar with them,” he said. “I made a game day visit last year to Florida when they played LSU and it was a pretty memorable game.”

Coles is also starting to line up some spring college visits.

“The plan is for me to get out and make a lot of visits this spring,” he said. “I'm planning to make visits … to Missouri in a few weeks along with Texas A&M, Florida and also Michigan State. Those schools have been showing me a lot of love lately and I'm excited to see what each school has to offer.”

Don't expect Coles make a college decision anytime soon.

“I don't have any sort of time frame right now for making a decision,” he said. “I'm planning to take my time for now.”