Payton Jordahl, a 6-3, 210-pound long snapper from Perham (MN) High, will make an official visit to Minnesota this weekend.
Gopher Hole caught up with Jordahl to learn the latest on his recruitment and upcoming visit.
Gopher Hole: You are coming down this weekend for your official visit, right?
Payton Jordahl: Yes. We plan to visit from Friday. Just the weekend visit. I’ll be arriving in the cities around 5.
Gopher Hole: Did you get a chance to go to any Gopher games during the regular season or did you go to any of the football camps this summer?
Payton Jordahl: Yes, actually, going into my junior year, I went to the special teams camp in the summer and I went to the University of New Hampshire game that fall. I also went to the same special teams camp this past summer and I made it to the Iowa game this year. Also, this past summer, I went down for an unofficial visit just to kind of walk around campus and get a little more in-depth tour with Coach Nunez and a couple of the grad assistants, too, so I have been around the campus quite a bit.
Gopher Hole: What are you hearing from the Gophers? What are they saying to you?
Payton Jordahl: I went to that junior special teams camp and after that, they knew that they had interest in me and I would say that after I went to the camp this year for my senior summer. I did really well. During the recruiting process, the coaches have been telling me that I am the guy for that position. They say that they really want me to get down there, so I think that this official visit is kind of big for me. I am excited.
Gopher Hole: Have they offered you a preferred walk-on opportunity or what have they said about that?
Payton Jordahl: I called up about a week ago, Coach Nunez, who is my recruiting hang-out, the one that I formed a relationship with. Coach Nunez said they will have a few meetings and Coach Kill is going to talk about a few things. Basically, what I picked up on was that they are going to lock in their primary skills positions and see where they are with their scholarships and after that, decide if they have enough money out there to offer me or not, so right now, I think that they are trying to feel out the rest of the recruiting process and I can completely understand that. We’ll see what happens this weekend.
Gopher Hole: How long have you been long snapping?
Payton Jordahl: I started my freshman year. We were at practice one day. We don’t really dress freshman, but my freshman year, I was playing a little bit of time at linebacker and I realized that I could get an official spot on the varsity team, if I long snapped, so I just grabbed the football and jokingly just tried it and it worked, so I worked on it a little bit and I realized that I could do it. Honestly, it wasn’t until I went to that special teams camp that summer that I realized that I had a legit opportunity to go somewhere as a long snapper, so I started working on it a little bit more in the past two years.
Gopher Hole: Is it something that you enjoy because unfortunately, most fans who watch football only think about the long snapper when something goes wrong?
Payton Jordahl: Something that is probably helpful at our position is that you want to go unnoticed. I have been getting recruiting by FCS schools and some Big Sky and Division 2’s to play linebacker at schools like the University of North Dakota. Ever since my sophomore year, I have played both sides of the ball the whole time and I am really competitive. Right now, I have to decide if I want to go up and be the special teams guy at a big level or stay at a smaller level and where I can the play a position that I have been playing the past few years. I think that I am accepting the fact that I can get my school paid for and be a small part of the team. I think that if I am on a football team and wearing pads and going out on Saturday afternoons, I’ll be happy anyway, so right now it is not a huge deal, if I am long snapping or playing linebacker at a smaller level. I am just blessed to be able to play college football.
Gopher Hole: What other schools are you hearing from besides Minnesota?
Payton Jordahl: I have been hearing from quite a few schools. I think that I can tell you that my top three right now is the University of South Dakota. They have an offer on the table for me to long snap and play fullback with them. Minnesota and the last one in the top three would be the University of North Dakota. I have a visit planned with them for the weekend after this week, the 24th.
Gopher Hole: Have you already been up to South Dakota?
Payton Jordahl: I went to South Dakota on an official visit in December and that is when they offered me.
Gopher Hole: Was that a full ride or a partial?
Payton Jordahl: It was a partial.
Gopher Hole: What is going to be the main factor that is going to make you pick School A over School B or C?
Payton Jordahl: I would say, first and foremost, would be the education. I am pretty confident that all three schools in my top three can provide with a pretty good education, so that part is taken care of, I believe. The next thing I would probably look at is tradition and coaching staff and the people that I am around and then I would have to go to facilities and everything else overall. The money talk has got to be there, too, because it would be a real treat to find a way to get some more of my college paid for, if not a lot of it or all of it. That has to be a factor for me, too. I would say a big thing is education and the coaching staff and ultimately how I feel if I could fit in.
Gopher Hole: If you decided on Minnesota, would you play another position or would you be just strictly a long snapper?
Payton Jordahl: From what I have been hearing from the coaches, is just strictly a long snapper. If the opportunity arises and I get an opportunity to work on a position, I’m not going to pass on that, but right now I know that I can help a team best at that long snapping position and I would probably be OK with that. Like I said before, I am playing football and I am going to be OK with that.
Gopher Hole: Their long snapper, Jake Filkins, is a senior, right?
Payton Jordahl: Yes. Jake Filkins is a senior and I think that he is preparing to get into the NFL right now. Like snapping in the NFL, there are only 32 of them in the NFL and they have a really long lifetime in the NFL. He is working hard to find his way on a team and he is a senior this year.
Gopher Hole: Is that something that appeals to you because they are going to be looking for someone to step in next year?
Payton Jordahl: For sure. Some schools are talking about redshirt. The opportunity to play my freshman year or to redshirt doesn’t really make a difference to me, but it is exciting to feel that I could play soon.