Sam Schlueter, a 6-foot-6, 272-pound tackle from Victoria (MN) Mayer Lutheran, is considered one of the top linemen in the state. Schlueter has seven offers, including one from the hometown school.
Sam Schlueter, a 6-foot-6, 272-pound tackle from Victoria (MN) Mayer Lutheran, is considered one of the top linemen in the state. Schlueter has seven offers, including one from the hometown school.
Schlueter helped lead the Crusaders to a 2-8 mark last season, losing to Minneapolis North 58-22 in the second round of the Class A, Section 4 playoffs.
Gopher Hole caught up with Schlueter to learn the latest on his recruitment.
Gopher Hole: Did you have a chance to get to many Junior Days?
Sam Schlueter: I only went to the Gophers’ Junior Day, but I am going to the spring practices. I am going to Michigan State and Northwestern this week and I went on a visit to Wisconsin this spring, but it wasn’t a Junior Day.
Gopher Hole: Anything else planned in the next month or two?
Sam Schlueter: I am trying to get to Oregon and a possibly some other places like Iowa State, Louisville, maybe. Wisconsin for a practice. Maybe Stanford. We are still looking at it.
Gopher Hole: What college football camps are you planning on attending this summer?
Sam Schlueter: I have not made any plans yet for this summer.
Gopher Hole: How about your high school team? Do you have a lot of players back or did you lose a lot of seniors?
Sam Schlueter: We actually only lost a couple of seniors. I think it was four total, but we are returning our whole offense and our defense is going to be senior-based this year.
Gopher Hole: Obviously, you didn’t have the best season win-loss wise last year. What are the expectations this season?
Sam Schlueter: To really step it up and play our hardiest. We are going to have a lot more experience this year and hopefully, we are going to go out and get a good record and play well in the playoffs
Gopher Hole: Have they named the captains for Mayer Lutheran yet?
Sam Schlueter: Yes, they have. I am one of the captains.
Gopher Hole: I assume that you with being a senior that you are going to be more of a leader. Is that something that you are looking forward to?
Sam Schlueter: Yes. Definitely.
Gopher Hole: Are you more of a leader by example or a vocal leader?
Sam Schlueter: I guess that I am a little bit of both. I like to lead by example. If I do something, I want someone to follow in my footsteps, but also be a vocal leader during camp.
Gopher Hole: You mentioned that you have been to a few spring practices already. When you go to those, is there something that you watch for? I assume that you are watching people who play your position, but is there something that you focus on when you are watching practices?
Sam Schlueter: I really like how the coaches coach the team. How they interact with each other? How they act on the field and I like to see how the coaches coach to see if it is somebody I want to play for someday.
Gopher Hole: Minnesota has already offered you. What are you hearing from the Gophers? What are they saying to you?
Sam Schlueter: They like me and really want me to come to Minnesota. They know that I have offers other places, but they think that they can provide some things for me that those other places can’t. They are going to keep recruiting me hard.
Gopher Hole: Did you get a chance to go to many college camps last year?
Sam Schlueter: Last year, I went to an adidas Camp and I went to Michigan State, Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota State and Minnesota.
Gopher Hole: You have seven offers right now from Minnesota, Michigan State, Louisville, Wisconsin, Iowa State, Northwestern and South Dakota State. What other schools are you hearing from?
Sam Schlueter: I get flyers from Purdue. I hear from Syracuse and Louisville. I get letters from Stanford and Oregon, but a lot of it is Big Ten.
Gopher Hole: What would it mean to have the opportunity to play at the Division I level?
Sam Schlueter: It would be great. It would be a good experience. I have the offers already, which is a huge plus. It is something that I am really looking forward to in my career.
Gopher Hole: How about the possible opportunity to play for the hometown school? What would that mean to you?
Sam Schlueter: It would be crazy. I know a lot of the kids that are going there and some that are committed. I just want to see if it is the best place for me. That I fit in and when I go there, I want to feel that it is going to somewhere that I want to be, even if my football career ended. It is going to be somewhere where I want to be for the next four or five years of college.
Gopher Hole: They have a few in-state commitments already like Carter Coughlin, Jojo Garcia and Thomas Barber. Do you know any of the kids very well?
Sam Schlueter: Yes. I have talked to Coughlin and Garcia.
Gopher Hole: What do you see as your strengths as a linemen?
Sam Schlueter: I guess it is my ability to do things like pull and play guys that are faster than me and be aggressive and put them on the ground every single play. That is my goal every time.
Gopher Hole: What things are you working on to improve yourself and hopefully be ready for a big senior season?
Sam Schlueter: I am trying to get a lot bigger and a lot stronger. Quicker off the ball and explosive. Work on my technique a lot more, especially pass blocking.
Gopher Hole: Do you watch a lot of football? Are there certain players that you watch when you watch games?
Sam Schlueter: Whenever I am watching football games, I play attention to the tackles and see how they do and how they play.
Gopher Hole: What position are most schools look at you playing in college?
Sam Schlueter: Tackle. Offensive tackle.
Gopher Hole: Left side? Right side? Does it matter?
Sam Schlueter: No, not really.
Gopher Hole: Have you even thought about a time table when you would even decide on a school?
Sam Schlueter: A little, but not really. I am weighing my options right now.
Gopher Hole: Would you like to decide before the school year or does that not really matter?
Sam Schlueter: I am hoping to have a good idea sometime this summer. That is kind of my goal, but if I don’t, I’ll probably do it sometime early in my senior year.
Gopher Hole: When you finally make your decision on a school, what is going to be the main factors that are going to make you pick School A over School B and C?
Sam Schlueter: A lot of it is going to be the coaching staff, because all the facilities are great wherever you go, but if I go somewhere. I want to have that great feel that I want to be there and it is somewhere I like all the coaches and all the players. People I want to be around and the big part of it, is going to be the education. I want to go somewhere I am going to be prepared for anything that comes after football.
Gopher Hole: Have you thought about what you would like to major in?
Sam Schlueter: Business, I am thinking.
Gopher Hole: Did you get a chance to go to many college football games last year?
Sam Schlueter: I did get to go to quite a few. I went to Iowa, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Nebraska.
Gopher Hole: What Gopher game did you make?
Sam Schlueter: I went to the one that they played Ohio State.
Gopher Hole: What were your impressions of the Gophers this year?
Sam Schlueter: They did really well. They definitely keep building the program every single year. Coach Kill is doing a great job with all the players and I really like how the coach gets with that.