A majority of 16-year-old high school football players are spending the remainder of the winter enjoying the offseason and looking forward to the opportunity to get back on the gridiron.
However, Todd Kelly Jr. is not your average sophomore, and he's finding that out quickly.
The 6-foot, 180-pounder popped up on the radar of many recruiting services by landing a football scholarship offer from Auburn on Sunday. Tennessee, the school at which his father Todd Kelly Sr. starred, followed suit by pulling the trigger on Monday.
Things cranked up a notch for Kelly Jr. on Tuesday as Clemson sent word through Dan Brooks that The Webb School Spartan has an offer to be a Tiger.
Before Cupid's arrows quit soaring on Valentine's Day, two more Southeastern Conference schools came calling as defensive coordinator Bob Shoop and wide receivers coach Angelo Mirando passed along offers from Vanderbilt and Mississippi State, respectively.
"It is starting to get a little overwhelming," Kelly told InsideTennessee.com. "I didn't really expect this to happen. I'm gaining followers on Twitter and everything like that. It's really getting crazy. I'm starting to get fan messages and stuff like that. For right now, every college is equal inside my mind it's so early. I'm just focusing on school and trying to make good grades. It will at least be a year before I have a leader or a favorite. But, for right now, every college is equal."
Long story short, the recruiting game is not on Todd Kelly Jr.'s mind at the moment in terms of eliminating or leaning toward anyone. He maintains he's concentrating on being a student, improving at the three sports he plays — basketball, football and track — and being respectful to the colleges interested in having him on their campus as a student-athlete.
"I'm just trying to enjoy the high school life. I'm not really trying to jump into all this stuff so quickly," said Kelly, who won't sign a National Letter of Intent until Feb. 5, 2014.
Finding someone his age to sympathize with the hoopla of the moment is no simple task, but Kelly has become friends with Demarre Kitt, who is a sophomore from Tyrone, Ga., that has offers from Auburn, Georgia and Mississippi.
"I'm just going to try to help him out as much as I can, and I guess he's going to try to help me as well. But, we are both really great players and for myself, I'm trying to be the top safety in the country. That's not easy. So, I'm going to keep working and hopefully things will pay off."
Kelly and his basketball teammates take on Franklin Road Academy in the East/Middle Region tournament on Friday night. Later this weekend he will visit Alabama. The following weeks he will check out Auburn and Tennessee.
