Greg Pickel
Scout.com
This story was originally published on ScoutFootball.com.
Harrison City, Pa., Penn Trafford long snapper enters his senior year looking for the right college fit.
It’s not easy to gather attention from college programs as a high school specialist. Michael Pifer is doing what he can to make schools aware of what he can do, though.
The 6-foot-3, 232 pound Harrison City, Pa., Penn Trafford 2015 long snapper recently visited Penn State to make sure the Lions were still interested in him.West Virginia and North Carolina are also interested in what he has to offer.
Pifer visited University Park for the Lions’ first two-a-days last Saturday. Besides taking in practice, the senior also had the opportunity to speak with the Penn State’s special teams coordinator, Charles Huff.
“I just wanted to go up and talk to the coaches,” Pifer said. “I wanted to make sure they were still interested.”
The Lions were, and he was reminded on more than one occasion that the program knew he was serious about it, too, considering he visited on his own.
“Coach Huff told me they’ve been busy with camp and recruiting, but there is still a lot of interest,” Pifer said. “They’re just trying to figure out with the, sanctions and everything, what is going on with the specialists.”
The message may have been discouraging to some, but not Pifer. Instead, he checked off many of the things he wanted to see while watching practice.
There was an emphasis on special teams, just as head coach James Franklin had said there would be as soon as he took over the Lions’ program. It was an up tempo practice, just like Pifer had expected, adding the liveliness that came with it was just like he thought it would be.
Put together, the trip gave the long snapper plenty of reason to want to get back to Happy Valley for a game this fall.
“They said they like how my work ethic is, and they like the way I snap,” Pifer said. “I snap it pretty fast, and they like that about me.”
“I have relatives that went there, so I know the tradition.”
Of course, Penn State isn’t the only program showing interest.
West Virginia first made contact with Pifer’s coach earlier this year. He returned that interest by traveling to Morgantown, W.Va., for a camp. There, he met former long snapper and special teams coordinator Joe DeForest for the first time.
“They called my coach the week before their camp to see if I could come down, so it showed they were pretty interested in me getting down there,” Pifer said. “I like Coach DeForest. He was a snapper, so he related pretty well to me.
“They have a lot of good things going on there, and it’s close to home, so that’s a plus.”
The Mountaineers’ depth chart, which includes a scholarship long snapper already, could bode well for the Keystone State native.
“Coach DeForest seems really interested in me,” Pifer said.
Pifer hopes to make it back to West Virginia for a game this fall. Ideally, he would make a similar trip to North Carolina, too.
Special teams graduate assistant Jonathan Rutledge has been in contact from the Tar Heels, and that open line of communication led Pifer to visit this summer.
“They told me that they loved me,” Pifer said. “I try to keep in contact with Coach Rutledge once a week, so there’s a lot of conversing going on with them, too.”
