Football teams are often built in the trenches. Bronco Mendenhall and the Virginia Cavaliers are aiming to climb the ladder in the ACC by strengthening their talent base along the offensive and defensive lines.
The Cavs took a step in the right direction by landing a commitment from 6-9, 270-pound offensive tackle Ryan Swoboda out of Windermere Preparatory School (Fla.). His decision came during an official visit to Charlottesville, where he gave the pledge to Mendenhall and offensive line coach Garett Tujague:
#HoosRising ⚔🔶🔷⚔ pic.twitter.com/Pd5hDOGeQf
— Ryan Swoboda (@ryan_swoboda) December 5, 2016
Swoboda was a late-bloomer who didn’t get a ton of recruiting attention until lately. That’s largely because he has added 80 pounds to his frame since he was a 190-pound sophomore.
UVA was one of the first schools to take an interest in Swoboda, who built a rapport with Tujague during the recruiting process. That weighed heavily in him selecting the Wahoos over Central Florida, Dartmouth, Kentucky, NC State, South Florida and others that were in the picture.