By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Almost immediately when Matthew Klopfenstein got on the Baylor campus for a March 24 visit, he was sold.
Taking in practice and watching how the team went through its spring practice gave him the confidence that Waco was right for him. On Thursday, the Phoenix Horizon 3-star tight end gave his verbal commitment to the Bears.
Klopfenstein is the ninth commitment to the 2023 class and the second tight end. Houston Stratford'sHawkins Polley committed Dec. 6, 2021. Klopfenstein chose Baylor out of his 22 offers.
"Baylor was the fit from since I got on campus!,'' He said. "I felt the love and could easily see myself fitting in. Never really could get a sense for what it looked liked [looking at the school on line]. It was much more beautiful than I thought it would be."
Klopfenstein developed a strong relationship with Baylor offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes who also coaches the tight ends. Baylor's use of tight ends in variety of ways has been one of the new wrinkles to the RVO offense.
"He’s an amazing person. He has been around the country coaching really good players,'' Klopfenstein said of Grimes. "He has his handful of experience when it comes to college football."
The attraction to Baylor began almost immediately at the time of the offer in late January. From there, it was a matter of maintaining the relationship. The visit sealed everything.
Klopfenstein has the potential to fill the role that was set by Ben Sims. He enjoyed a prolific junior season catching 47 balls for 575 yards (12.2 ypc) and 10 touchdowns.
"He was telling me they use the heck of a lot of TEs,'' Klopfenstein said. "He sees me being an all around guy that he can use everywhere!''
That coincides with Sims who was the fourth-leading receiver for the 2021 offense with 31 grabs and averaged 11.6 yards per receptions.
Klopfenstein plans to sign in December and arrive in January 2023.
Publisher
Almost immediately when Matthew Klopfenstein got on the Baylor campus for a March 24 visit, he was sold.
Taking in practice and watching how the team went through its spring practice gave him the confidence that Waco was right for him. On Thursday, the Phoenix Horizon 3-star tight end gave his verbal commitment to the Bears.
Klopfenstein is the ninth commitment to the 2023 class and the second tight end. Houston Stratford'sHawkins Polley committed Dec. 6, 2021. Klopfenstein chose Baylor out of his 22 offers.
"Baylor was the fit from since I got on campus!,'' He said. "I felt the love and could easily see myself fitting in. Never really could get a sense for what it looked liked [looking at the school on line]. It was much more beautiful than I thought it would be."
Klopfenstein developed a strong relationship with Baylor offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes who also coaches the tight ends. Baylor's use of tight ends in variety of ways has been one of the new wrinkles to the RVO offense.
"He’s an amazing person. He has been around the country coaching really good players,'' Klopfenstein said of Grimes. "He has his handful of experience when it comes to college football."
The attraction to Baylor began almost immediately at the time of the offer in late January. From there, it was a matter of maintaining the relationship. The visit sealed everything.
Klopfenstein has the potential to fill the role that was set by Ben Sims. He enjoyed a prolific junior season catching 47 balls for 575 yards (12.2 ypc) and 10 touchdowns.
"He was telling me they use the heck of a lot of TEs,'' Klopfenstein said. "He sees me being an all around guy that he can use everywhere!''
That coincides with Sims who was the fourth-leading receiver for the 2021 offense with 31 grabs and averaged 11.6 yards per receptions.
Klopfenstein plans to sign in December and arrive in January 2023.
