Mike Price received some good news this morning when Coronado Thunderbird triple-threat weapon Cole Freytag committed to the UTEP Miners. I spoke with Cole this afternoon and can confirm he has verbally committed to UTEP. Freytag was recruited as an athlete and will likely play wide receiver in Aaron Price's 1-Back offensive scheme. He took an official visit to UTEP this weekend and was impressed with UTEP's facilities, offensive scheme, and academics.
"All the coaches are great and I love being in El Paso. We've been here for three years, and I took a visit this past weekend and loved everything about it. The coaching staff was amazing and I was really impressed with UTEP's academics. Im going in as a business major and they have an excellent business program. Everything just fell together with UTEP."
I asked Cole if he'd been asked to play defense, or if he would consider playing on the defensive side of the ball. "UTEP recruited me as an athlete and I'm going to play wide receiver. They did mention defense as a possibility and I would definitely consider that. I’m willing to do what the coaching staff needs me to do."
During his visit, Freytag watched some UTEP video with Miner coaches. He also attended a couple of UTEP games this season. "I love (UTEP's) offense. I like that UTEP uses versatile quarterbacks within a spread system. I think I can be a good receiver in that system and make plays."
El Pasoan's should know a lot about Freytag. He starred at Coronado High for the last three seasons and was named the Most Valuable Player of the El Paso Senior All-Star Classic in December after he recorded two touchdowns for the West team. As a senior, the Thunderbird passed for 563 yards with 5 touchdowns, rushed for 649 yards with 12 touchdowns, and had 309 receiving yards with 2 TD's. He also averaged a ridiculous 44 yards on kick returns and took four kickoffs to the house. Not a bad season, I'd say.
Freytag confirmed that he 6'2, 180 lbs., and runs a 4.6 forty yard dash. Reviewing his highlight videos, like the one embedded above, Cole has excellent game speed and has good instincts with the ball in his hands.
Scout.com tends to agree. From Scout:
Good sized quarterback, he is erratic in his passing, making some solid passes and then coming back with a questionable pass into coverage. Average arm, he does a solid job of getting the ball out to the receiver, he needs to lead the receiver a bit more. Does a good job of taking off and running with the ball and is a real team leader on the field.