Chris Monter: Ernie Heifort Gets Dream Chance With The Gophers

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Ernie Heifort, a 6-foot-5, 230-pound senior linebacker/tackle from Bemidji (MN) High, took his official visit to Minnesota this weekend. He was committed to the Golden Gophers Sunday as a preferred walk-on and will play a new position in college. GopherHole.com caught up with Heifort to learn the latest on his decision.

http://www.forums.gopherhole.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1286
 



Awesome article Chris!

Quick question though, Heifort mentions that we currently have 3 TE's on our roster who are SRs and on scholarship. Who is the third (beside Lair and Eure)?

Heifort mistaken? Is someone switching positions?
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Awesome article Chris!

Quick question though, Heifort mentions that we currently have 3 TE's on our roster who are SRs and on scholarship. Who is the third (beside Lair and Eure)?

Heifort mistaken? Is someone switching positions?
Click to expand...

Is Hageman is SR?
 



This is exactly the kind of player that will help turn this program around...in state, wants to be a Gopher and is willing to take a walk on role...if we were locking down 3-4 1AA kids per year like this instead of them going to UND or USD...over the long haul...it would be a huge game changer. Some of these kids will be starting as Seniors...some will be stand outs on special teams...some will earn scholarships...all will send the messge back to thier high schools that playing for the U is great and where you should want to be. Best of all, we still have scholarships to attract out of state talent we desperately need.
 

GopherinPhilly said:
This is exactly the kind of player that will help turn this program around...in state, wants to be a Gopher and is willing to take a walk on role...if we were locking down 3-4 1AA kids per year like this instead of them going to UND or USD...over the long haul...it would be a huge game changer. Some of these kids will be starting as Seniors...some will be stand outs on special teams...some will earn scholarships...all will send the messge back to thier high schools that playing for the U is great and where you should want to be. Best of all, we still have scholarships to attract out of state talent we desperately need.
Click to expand...


GopherinPhilly, you really hit on a good point here. These kinds of situations really endear the U to the coaches in the area.

I know that the Zach Mottla situation really endeared the Gophers to the CDH staff. Mottla was a kid (like Heifort) who was a really good HS football player but wasn't getting the kind of offers that he was probably capable of getting. He also wanted to be part of the program at the U and wasn't offended by the idea of walking on and earning a scholarship. A lot of this was done because the Cretin coaches told Brew that they really thought Mottla could be a Big 10 player, Brew took a look, agreed and gave him the preferred walk on opportunity. It really all worked out for everyone involved. I am pretty sure that Mottla is on scholarship now, he is a RS SO, and he will be fighting for/getting PT for the next three years in this program.

Next year, the U will have a handful of guys who came to the team as walk ons who will be fighting for PT (Ed Cotton, Z. Mottla, M. Rallis, K. Henderson, A. Hahn), it'll be nice to see this number increase.
 

Preferred Walkon

Can someone explain what a preferred walk-on is? How many are typically brought in? I assume these are more highly thought of than a regular walk-on? How often do they earn scholarships? Do they still sign letters of intent?

I'm still a little confused if he has been guaranteed scholarship or not.

The Bemidji Pioneer just says he committed to the Gophers and makes no mention of "preferred walkon." It makes it sound like he has a scholarship saying he "will sign the official letter of intent sometime after the signing date in early February."

Can anyone clear all this up?

Thanks....Donnie
 



Hey Bob-
You can add Aaron Hill and A. J. Barker to your list of kids who came in as walk ons that will probably be seeing the field in the next few years.
 

Don said:
Can someone explain what a preferred walk-on is? How many are typically brought in? I assume these are more highly thought of than a regular walk-on? How often do they earn scholarships? Do they still sign letters of intent?

I'm still a little confused if he has been guaranteed scholarship or not.

The Bemidji Pioneer just says he committed to the Gophers and makes no mention of "preferred walkon." It makes it sound like he has a scholarship saying he "will sign the official letter of intent sometime after the signing date in early February."

Can anyone clear all this up?

Thanks....Donnie
Click to expand...

Simply they are guaranteed a spot on the roster and are able to attend fall camp prior to school starting.
 

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