It wasn’t until his freshman year of high school that Pennsylvania offensive tackle Michael McMonigle started his football career, but it hasn’t stopped him from gaining plenty of attention.
Last week, Iowa State became one of the 15 programs to extend an offer to the 6-foot-6, 290-pound prospect.
“It’s pretty crazy,” McMonigle said. “I started playing football my freshman year. If I could talk to myself then, I mean, I didn’t expect it to be like this. I’m very happy that it is like this, but it’s really crazy.”
McMonigle’s dad pushed him to try it, which has led to an offer sheet that includes Syracuse, Western Michigan, Army, Buffalo, Marshall, Kent State, Old Dominion, Charlotte, James Madison, Towson, Rhode Island, Dartmouth, Penn and Colgate.
“My dad was pushing me to try it,” McMonigle said. “He just wanted me to give it a try – at first I was nervous, but once I started actually practicing, I really just fell in love with it. I fell in love with the whole brotherhood and the entire idea of it.”
Iowa State was hitting the recruiting trail in the region and stopped by William Penn High School to officially extend an offer.
“They said the offensive line coach (Ryan Clanton) really liked my film,” McMonigle said.
The 2024 prospect is rated as a three-star player by 247 Sports.
Syracuse looks to be Iowa State’s main competitor.
“Some schools will offer you and not necessarily keep in contact and like if a school doesn’t show interest in me, it’s hard for me to really show interest in them. Other schools, such as Syracuse, they’ve offered me and kept in contact and I’ve been up there on campus a couple of times.”
