The future stars of Ohio State football officially begin their Buckeye careers today as standouts from all over the country put pens to their National Letters of Intent. Signing Day is here.
Eleven Warriors would like to officially welcome Kevin Feder to the Ohio State football program.
The Feder File
- Class 2015
- Position OL
- Size 6-9/305
- School Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, NJ)
- Composite ★★★
- Rank 55 (OT)
You don't see 6-foot-9 offensive tackles every day. You don't see many 6-foot-9 football players, period. Kevin Feder is not your average kid; he's a football playing, wrestling, fun-loving, 6-foot-9 teenager. Despite his size — or maybe because of it — Feder's college recruitment didn't take off as you'd expect, given the nature of his athleticism.
He received his first scholarship offer from the University of Miami in the summer of 2013, two days after camping in Coral Gables and exhibiting that prodigious athletic ability for the Hurricanes' coaching staff. After the Miami offer, it was expected that Feder's interest from other schools would ramp up, but that didn't really happen until his commitment to Miami in January of 2014. He added offers from Rutgers, Tennessee, Michigan State, Maryland, and Syracuse during the spring.
Although the commitment to Miami felt solidly based — Feder pointed to his relationship with the staff there as a primary reason for his pledge — the lineman decided to visit Rutgers for their spring game. That trip helped Feder realize that perhaps he needed to re-examine his recruitment.
"I'm pretty solid in my commitment to Miami," said Feder told NJ.com. "I like everything there, especially my relationship with all the coaches. But I might take a visit or two out to different places, and I think they know that."
One of those visits was to Ohio State. Feder had been hearing from Ed Warinner and decided it was a place worth checking out.
"For the past few months before I got the offer, coach Warinner, the offensive line coach, was coming out to Bosco to watch the workouts,” said Feder. “So, he saw me and I Impressed him during workouts, and he came back two-or-three more times. And every single time he would tell me he wanted me to come out to an Ohio State camp just so I can show the rest of the coaches what I’ve got. And if I went out there and performed well, I could possibly earn an offer."
Feder went to Ohio State's one-day camp on June 21st, but the smoke regarding a potential "flip" started the day before. Eleven Warriors was the first to predict that Feder, upon hearing from a good source in Columbus it was going to happen, would be a Buckeye. Two days later, June 22nd, Feder became the 10th member of the Buckeyes 2015 recruiting class.
Feder told NJ.com that his decision was not as difficult as some would think.
“I liked how he worked with us. And getting to see the whole campus and all that stuff out there, once I got the offer, it was really a no-brainer for me to commit," Feder said. "It’s just a great place and I really feel it’s a better fit for me out there than over at Miami.”
What the Buckeyes got in Feder, according to Rivals.com analyst Marc Givler, was a raw athletic freak who could become a truly special offensive lineman.
"His footwork was better than you would expect for someone with little experience and as his technique improves he has a chance to be a special player," Givler said of Feder's camp performance. "If you watched the (offensive line) group on Thursday, he was the first one you noticed. He just towered over the rest of the group which had plenty of guys that were 6-foot-4 to 6-foot-6. He's just an incredible physical specimen on the hoof. Once they started drills, it was also apparent he was the most athletic guy in the drills and he reaffirmed that by winning 'Smokehouse.'"
As a senior, Feder played some at tight end for Don Bosco Prep, utilizing his size and athletic ability as a de facto sixth lineman. He told Buckeye fans that is not in his future.
"Even though I did play a little tight end this year, the plan is for me to come in and play as a left tackle," Feder shared with 11W. "Although it sounds fun to to catch a few balls and score some touchdowns, I'm more satisfied with protecting my QBs blindside."
"I knew by attending Ohio State I would have a better shot at realizing my goals to become an NFL player but for right now I need to focus on the more important things, and that's being ready to play for the Buckeyes. Having Coach Warinner as my coach was a big reason I flipped from Miami to Ohio State."
