Dylan Stephenson is headed across America for his college football.
As announced exclusively with Rivals, the Miami (Fla.) Columbus pass rusher went public with his decision to attend Stanford University next year. Troy Taylor and the Cardinal won out over finalists Florida State, Miami, Auburn, Louisville and Illinois.
“I feel like it’s the best of both worlds,” Stephenson said of his decision. “When you think of a pinnacle of great academics and great football, Stanford is the school you think of most.
“They have a great history under their previous coach and now with that coach Taylor has planned for the future, I think it’s a great opportunity for me.”
Stephenson, ranked within the Rivals100 at No. 69 overall, is the highest-ranked Stanford commitment early on in Taylor’s tenure.
The newest Cardinal had visits set up throughout June, and beyond, to programs like Florida State and Illinois. Others were working on dates, but an official visit to Palo Alto to kick off the month of June all but ended the process.
It was Stephenson’s second time in town, enough to push the pass rusher to the other side of the map for his next stop.
“It was pretty close for quite a while,” he said. “A couple of months ago, I probably would say it was going to be FSU. But some things changed and finally getting over there to California definitely showed me what the opportunity was like if I was to go there.
“It was the best visit I’ve ever been on. It was the amount of stuff they did, the amount of things I saw on the visit, the information I was able to take in. It wasn’t about photo shoots. We had lunch and dinner with faculty and professors, I’ve never seen that before.”
Stephenson says multiple SU coaches contributed to the recruiting win, from Taylor on down his staff.
“All of the coaches played a part and also coach Taylor,” he said. “He did a great job getting me over there, too. But if I had to give somebody the cake it would have to be the D.C. and outside linebackers coach, Bobby April. He was at Wisconsin and ever since he got there, I felt like there was a connection.
“He has a history of developing people at my position and making them great players in the league.”
Ranked as a pass rusher across the industry, Stephenson brings length and twitch off the edge. This spring at Columbus, in between track meets, he worked almost exclusively off the ball in order to round out his game. The hybrid talents will also be in play in the Pac-12 one day.
“There’s a mutual agreement between me and coach April, I’m kind of the apex predator of the defense,” Stephenson said. “I kind of control everything on the edge, whether boundary or field side. I’ll probably be more of a boundary edge, be able to rush the passer off the edge but also able to drop in coverage as needed. It’s the best of both worlds, Swiss army knife type of things.”
While planning on being cordial with other programs still looking to court him, Stephenson has no plans on continuing the recruiting process.
“I want to focus on the season ahead of me,” he said. “I’m excited to be able to focus, also relax and take a deep breath now that I have a decision. I’m happy about it.
“Let’s get back to smellin’ them roses!”
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