Seth Green, 6-foot-3, 208-pound rising junior quarterback from East Ridge, received a scholarship offer from Minnesota last June after a strong showing at the Golden Gopher football camp and is considered the state’s top prospect in the Class of 2016. He
Seth Green, 6-foot-3, 208-pound rising junior quarterback from East Ridge, received a scholarship offer from Minnesota last June after a strong showing at the Golden Gopher football camp and is considered the state’s top prospect in the Class of 2016. He also has scholarship offers from Iowa, Louisville, Wisconsin, Illinois and others.
Green helped lead the Raptors to an 8-2 mark this past season, losing to Eastview 38-3 in the second round of the AAAAAA playoffs.
Gopher Hole recently caught up with Green to learn more about his recruitment.
Gopher Hole: You picked up some new offers recently like Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Pittsburgh and are now up to seven offers. How pleased does that make you feel knowing that all your hard work is paying off and you are getting quite a bit of attention right now?
Seth Green: It is really showing me that it is paying off and that when I keep working, it is for something. It is not just for my personal well-being. It is for me to achieve the goal that I have set out for and that, of course, is to play Division I college football. Every time one of those offers comes and I am blessed with them, that it just shows the hard work is paying off and that I need to keep working that much harder to continue down that path.
Gopher Hole: I know that you played well in the recent Rivals camp in Chicago. Did that give you even more confidence playing against not only players from Minnesota, but against people from all across the country?
Seth Green: It certainly helps to see how I stack up and how and what I need to work on against other players and not just others players, but for myself, to become a better player and that always shows you what some coaches look for, what others coaches look for. It gives you different styles of teaching which will help you in some areas and may not cover other areas that you are used to covering. So, I think that it is good to get that different kind of exposure and coaching.
Gopher Hole: Do you feel that when you go to camps like that, you are able to pick up things that you can incorporate into your game to make yourself a better player?
Seth Green: Oh, of course.
Gopher Hole: Have you thought much what summer camps you are going to attend?
Seth Green: No. Texas is the only one for sure right now with Coach Strong’s staff and Coach Watson. Right now, just the Sound Mind Sound Body and the Rivals Five Star out in Baltimore.
Gopher Hole: Obviously. Texas is a school where Coach Strong and his staff had recruited you hard at Louisville. When you see a coach at a certain school leave for a different school, does that make you realize that it is a business and that a lot of things can change with a coach going from one school to another school?
Seth Green: Oh, of course. That is one thing you have to look for when you are picking a school is the coaches and how dedicated they are to the program. That is a great opportunity for the coaches they had going to Texas and I don’t blame them for taking it, but when you pick a school, you want to go in with the same people that brought you in, so that is always a big factor.
Gopher Hole: You lost some good seniors at East Ridge like J.C. Hassenauer (who signed with Alabama, George Behrs (who inked with Rutgers) and Nick Leach, but you have some good players coming back. What are the expectations for East Ridge this upcoming year and your role with the team?
Seth Green: The expectations are no different. We still expected to get as far as we want to, which hopefully, God willing, is the state championship. With losing those players, we are this summer, looking to see how is going to step up and play that role.
Gopher Hole: Obviously, you had a good season last year, but you came up a little bit short of where you wanted to get. Is that a motivating factor to get even farther this upcoming season?
Seth Green: It shows that not only that the in-season games are important for seeding and stuff like that, but the postseason, no matter how you do in the regular season, everybody makes the playoffs and everybody has a fair shot, so no matter who you are playing against, you have to go 110% and do your best to try to get to that championship.
Gopher Hole: Obviously, your dad (Brian Green) played football for the Gophers. What have you learned from him as a football player who has more insight about the game than the typical dad?
Seth Green: It has helped me a lot, showing me the drive and the skills and the IQ that you need to play the game, especially at a higher level when it comes to higher high school games or even college games.
Gopher Hole: What are you hearing from the Gophers right now?
Seth Green: Same as always. The offer is on the table, so they are showing great interest and it is a great school, so I am still looking into them.
Gopher Hole: A lot of their quarterbacks are on the younger side. Leidner is going to be a sophomore and several others are freshman. Is that something that appeals to you? When you look at school, do you look who they have as quarterbacks?
Seth Green: I do look at the quarterbacks and their classes. You want to get in where you fit in, so if you have five 2015 quarterbacks of that age, you don’t want to go in right behind them and possibly only get a year, so the competition is really good, but you want to get in a spot where you can be successful.
Gopher Hole: What would it mean to maybe play for the homestate school?
Seth Green: It would be cool because considering everyone around here knows me and they would be able to stay and see the games.
Gopher Hole: You picked up some other Big Ten offers like Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. Have you even thought about when you make a choice would staying close to home and maybe playing in the Big Ten mean more or is that a factor?
Seth Green: Close to home would be cool because everyone would get to see me still. Conference strength of the Big Ten, it is a very strong conference. Those are both positive outlooks for Minnesota.