Early Signing Day: Mason Curtis signs with Michigan football

The first commitment of the 2024 class has officially signed! #GoBlue

Ratings

Stars Overall Position State
247Sports 4 #27 LB #8
On3 4 #30 LB #11
Rivals 4 #16 LB #4
ESPN 4 236 #14 LB #4
247Sports Composite 4 305 #22 LB #6
On3 Consensus 4 309 #25 LB #8

Vitals

Hometown Nashville (Tn.) Ensworth
Projected Position Linebacker
Height 6-foot-4
Weight 200-pounds

Notable offers

Readiness Level

The first commitment of the 2024 class, Curtis will likely take a year or two to develop before seeing the field.

Notes

  • Committed June 27, 2022

Scouting report

Via Touch The Banner:

Curtis is a tall, lanky outside linebacker right now, and I think it’s tough to peg him for a specific role because his body hasn’t completely filled out. Based off his sophomore film, he looks like a guy who could be a tight end, H-back, outside linebacker, defensive end, or inside linebacker. He has good speed and lateral quickness for a linebacker, and his ability to use his long arms and shed blocks is a good quality. I like that he can bend at the knees and play low, which helps him at the point of attack and when tackling ball carriers. (…)

Overall, Curtis is a good prospect who I would put in a category with Noah Furbush. Furbush was a linebacker/defensive end prospect who looked like an edge guy but really turned out to be more of a blitzer Michigan would find mismatches for inside, coming from depth.

Film

Original commitment story

Michigan football receives first commitment in 2024 class

What does “ATH” mean: Breaking down three Michigan commits

More clarity on some top prospects! #GoBlue

Michigan has a history of recruiting versatile players. Whether it be Jabrill Peppers playing essentially every spot on defense (and offense), or Mike Sainristil making the switch from WR to CB without a hitch, Harbaugh loves football guys.

Michigans 2024 class is no different. Jadyn Davis and Jordan Marshall may take the cake as the top names, but Harbaugh and his staff made sure to load up on prospects who can do it all.

As background knowledge, it is important to know what the ‘ATH’ tag means. Essentially, this is a position assigned to athletes who have the ability to play multiple spots at the next level. Sometimes players have it temporarily, other times they carry it throughout the entire cycle.

Players like Trevon Diggs, Jabrill Peppers, and Jordan Addison all finished their respective cycles at athletes, and would go on to have great college careers.

This year, Michigan has three players ready to contribute at different spots: Jacob Oden, Mason Curtis, and Jaden Smith. Each has a different role at their respective high schools, but can be game changers in the winged helmet.

Michigan football receives first commitment in 2024 class

HUGE get for #Michigan! #GoBlue

While Michigan football fans lament the slow spring and summer in terms of recruiting in 2023, the 2024 class just got something of a jump start. The even better news? It comes at a position that the maize and blue have needed to shore up with elite players.

On Monday afternoon, the Wolverines got a jolt.

2024 Nashville (Tn.) Ensworth four-star Mason Curtis was offered by Michigan back in April, and has offers from schools such as Tennessee, South Carolina, Michigan State, Virginia Tech, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Kentucky, and others. Rated the No. 203 player in the country according to the 247Sports Composite, Curtis is the second-best player in the state of Tennessee in 2024 and the 14th-best linebacker in the country.

And he pledged his verbal commitment to Michigan via Twitter.

Michigan has had success recruiting the Volunteer state in recent years, with players such as Junior Colson, Myles Pollard, and Kody Jones hailing from Tennessee.

He’s listed as 6-foot-4, 200-pounds. Watch his highlights below:

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Legacy recruit hoping to further build his relationship with Clemson, Hall

The Clemson Insider recently caught up with a legacy recruit, who made his way to campus in March and had a chance to check out a spring practice at Clemson. Ensworth (Nashville, TN.) four-star linebacker Mason Curtis remembers turning to his mom …

The Clemson Insider recently caught up with a legacy recruit, who made his way to campus in March and had a chance to check out a spring practice at Clemson.

Ensworth (Nashville, TN.) four-star linebacker Mason Curtis remembers turning to his mom and telling her that they practice like pros at Clemson. That’s definitely something that’s intriguing to the rising junior, who wants to further build his relationship with the program, as well as Lemanski Hall, who has a longstanding connection to his high school.

“I felt like (the visit) went good,” Curtis said. “I got to talk to Coach Ski and some of the players that played with my dad when he played. I got to meet with a lot of new coaches that I never met before. I was able to talk briefly with the linebackers coach (Wesley Goodwin).”

Curtis’ late father, Rodney Curtis, played defensive end at Clemson in the mid-1980s.

So it’s unsurprising that he has been to Clemson before. He visited back in 2018 when his older brother — Devyn Curtis — was a prospective recruit. Devyn is now a redshirt freshman linebacker at Middle Tennessee State University.

“There was an improvement in the facilities from the last time I was there,” he continued. “It really fits Clemson. When you think about Clemson, the facilities were exactly how I’d imagine and they matched the expectations.”

Speaking of improvement, Mason is hoping he can further build his relationship with Clemson’s defensive ends coach, who spent seven years coaching at The Ensworth School.

“I really haven’t gotten to talk to him,” he said. “Over the next year, I’m gonna try to build a better relationship now that I can finally talk to him and communicate.”

While he was on campus a couple of months ago now, Mason said he had a good conversation with Hall. The NCAA ru1es prevent Hall from directly contacting Mason until Sept. 1 of his junior season, but he still wants to stay in contact and build a relationship.

“I for sure want to keep a close relationship with Coach Lemanskiu Hall,” Mason continued.

While Curtis hasn’t been in contact with Clemson since he visited in March, he’s going to try to get back up to Tiger Town to camp there this summer.

As far as his recruitment is concerned, things have been picking up pretty fast. Mason pinpointed Michigan and Boston College as two schools that have stopped by Ensworth multiple times.

He currently holds offers from the pair of programs mentioned above, as well as Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Louisville, South Carolina, Kansas and Mississippi State.

What are some of the more important factors that Mason is looking for in a school at the next level?

“I know a main factor is the culture that the school has and how the coaches on the team connect with the players outside of football,” he said. “Like getting to know them personally, what they’ve been through and everything like that.”

In addition to Clemson, Mason visited both South Carolina and Mississippi State. His main focus this summer will be getting to camps, and he previously expressed interest in making his way back to Tiger Town for the Dabo Swinney Camp this summer.

Mason underwent thumb surgery in late-February, so he’s hoping to be cleared by next month. He actually hurt his thumb prior to his sophomore season at Ensworth. Mason played the entire season with the injury, in which he tore a ligament and it ripped some of the bone off.

After playing this past basketball season, that’s when he had to call it and opt for surgery. Mason’s thumb was constantly getting hit and he could no longer withstand the pain.

While he will be limited in what he can do this spring, Mason is only gonna continue to get better.

— Photo for this article courtesy of Mason Curtis.

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Legacy recruit planning to visit Clemson this summer

Clemson has started to express interest in a legacy recruit in the 2024 recruiting class. Earlier this month, Ensworth (Nashville, TN.) linebacker Mason Curtis saw his Twitter notifications light up. In a span of a couple of minutes, Curtis was …

Clemson has started to express interest in a legacy recruit in the 2024 recruiting class.

Earlier this month, Ensworth (Nashville, TN.) linebacker Mason Curtis saw his Twitter notifications light up.

In a span of a couple of minutes, Curtis was followed by several members of Clemson’s defensive coaching staff, including defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall, who spent seven years coaching at The Ensworth School. 

That definitely caught his attention. 

“I think it’s kind of cool because I’ve always known about Clemson, my dad played at Clemson,” he said. “I’ve always been around Clemson. I was a huge Clemson fan growing up, so it’s been a cool experience.”

Curtis’ father, Rodney, played defensive end at Clemson from 1985-86. 

Mason said that he was told that Clemson would like for him to come up this summer for a visit and a tour of campus.

His recruitment has started to heat up over the past month or so. He’s picked up a quartet of high-profile offers from Ole Miss, Tennessee and Memphis, in addition to his Vanderbilt offer.

“I feel like it’s cool because my older brother, I was always in the back seat for his recruitment, seeing him pick up offers, seeing him go on visits and now it’s just like me stepping into his role basically,” he said.

Mason’s brother, Devyn, is a redshirt freshman linebacker at Middle Tennessee State University.  

One thing that helped Mason the most and is still helping him was watching his brother go through his recruitment. He got a chance to go on a couple of visits with him. He’s asked him some questions about what he looks for in a school and things of that nature.

“I would say my brother, I learned a lot from him about football,” Mason said, “and I still am learning things to this day. That’s one of the things he’s good at is teaching me that he did this because of this.”

How would Mason describe himself as a player to someone, who hasn’t seen him play before?

“I would say I’m long, athletic and very versatile,” he said. “I can come off the edge or play in space. I have a high motor. I think I do a good job of not taking plays off and I’m a real high-energy player.”

His high school puts him at different spots, but between 85-90% of the snaps he sees come at outside linebacker. This past season, he recorded three interceptions, two defensive touchdowns, roughly 35 tackles and between 4-5 forced fumbles.

If you’re looking for a player to compare to Mason, a former Clemson standout and current Arizona Cardinals do-everything-linebacker is someone that’s been very influential in how he’s shaped his game.

“I try to base my game off Isaiah Simmons and I think he showed how versatile he is being 6-4, 235, getting reps at safety, outside linebacker, things like that. I try to base my game off of him. Ever since I found out about Isaiah Simmons, I’ve been telling everybody that’s what I want to be. I want to be somebody like that.”

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