Home Grown: Luke Farrell Put In Position To Succeed at Perry High School, Then Did The Rest To Become An Ohio State Tight End

PERRY, Ohio — Luke Farrell stepped into the classroom of Perry High School football coach Matt Rosati prepared for what he thought was a normal meeting.

Farrell, then a gifted 16-year-old with a terrific frame he had yet to grow into, always dreamt of playing at the Division I level. But it wasn't until he left Rosati's social studies class that he fully believed it to be a possibility.

"Even sophomore year when we started this, he gave me a list of schools," Farrell told Eleven Warriors May 12. "A huge packet of schools I would want to send my tape and everything to. He said, 'What would your one dream school be?' And that was Ohio State.

"I never thought that I would be in that."

Two years, countless protein shakes, a mess of workouts and a mega shift in the Perry football team's offense later and Farrell is one of three tight end signees in Columbus as part of its 2016 recruiting class. A sought after recruit and supremely intelligent player and student (the tight end graduated second in his class), Farrell took his time and weighed all variables before choosing Ohio State.

"Bottom line — he visited every one of those places (recruiting him most)," Rosati said. "Actually set foot on it, he knew the coaches, saw all of them during either spring practice or saw them play."

"That was my plan all along, was to make sure I took my time with it," Farrell added. "I definitely know I made the right decision."

Resting a stone's throw from Lake Erie, the Perry Nuclear Power Plant imposes on anyone whose eyes turn north from the high school's campus.

Owned by FirstEnergy, the plant cost $6 billion but has been good to the Perry community. It helped fund the development and construction of Perry High School and it's splendid athletic facilities.

The Pirate softball, baseball, and basketball teams all have gorgeous arenas for their programs but pale in comparison to the school's football stadium and track. Matt Rosati's team is Division IV but plays in a facility that larger schools would feel fortunate to have.

Perry is blessed to reap the benefits from the power plant. It was also blessed to have a talent like Luke Farrell on its varsity roster the last four seasons, and Rosati did his best to use it to his team's advantage.

"I realized Luke was different from anything that I've ever coached before really in his freshman year," Rosati said. "He played some varsity for us when he was a freshman. There were a few things that I recognized right away. We all did."

Farrell's size stuck out at that point. He stood at an imposing 6-foot-4 but weighed only 175 pounds. Still, the potential for him to blossom into his frame and become a matchup problem for any opponent became apparent. Rosati notes Farrell's athleticism and ball skills put him in a different class. Now, Farrell is 6-foot-6 and a robust 245 pounds.

"He was very smooth," Rosati said. "So I knew he was going to be a skilled guy and he was going to be a really big, skilled, guy."

So how did Farrell to it? He worked his tail off in the brilliant facilities available at Perry. Then he ate, ate and ate some more.

"People say they want to be great, but don't put in the work," Farrell said, his eyes peering across the weight room, a place he spent the majority of his time over the past four years.

Farrell grew close with Jeremy Goldizen, a certified personal trainer, and 2004 Perry graduate. Goldizen designed the tight end's weight gain program, complete with a line of protein shakes the tight end began to take his sophomore year.

"I'd wake up a 3 a.m. and make one," Farrell said. "It was part of my diet."

His diet consisted of 4,500 calories a day or more, depending on the time of year. It helped get Farrell to the weight he needed in order to compete and withstand the hits as a key piece of Rosati's offense. Plus, he played basketball to further improve his hand-eye coordination.

"You can't say he didn't put in the work," Goldizen said. "He earned it."

Rosati helped, too. Before the end of Farrell's freshman year, the coach told him he needed to start both ways at the varsity level the following fall. Farrell didn't think he was ready.

"After freshman year he told me I was going to have to start at tight end and defensive end and that worried me a little bit because I was so light," Farrell said. "I got into a little bit of varsity at defensive end and just got destroyed. That motivated me a lot."

The 3 a.m. shakes then came into the equation and a full commitment to transforming his body commenced. College recruiters, including those from Ohio State, noticed and contacted Farrell his sophomore season.

That offseason, Rosati elected to switch his offensive game plan from the run-oriented style of the Wing-T to more of a spread look with Farrell as an integral component.

"We spread it out junior year. Junior and senior year he wanted to move me everywhere so that was the plan," Farrell said. "He does a good job of changing the offense for what he has."

Farrell didn't have a backup at his position on offense — there aren't too many players in the Chagrin Valley Conference with the size and skills like him.

"I still surprise myself sometimes with some of the stuff," Farrell said. "I can remember sophomore year against West (Geauga), it was a jump ball and there was a kid who was in my facemask and then another on the back of my helmet. Another kid had my arm and I just pinned it against my shoulder and caught it."

Plays like that had the attention of not only Ohio State, but Alabama, Arkansas, Michigan State, Illinois, Notre Dame, Boston College, Penn State and more. Farrell is the eighth-ranked tight end in the country, but many thought he'd commit to Ohio State right away as a Northeast Ohio kid once an offer came. He didn't, instead taking his time and doing the recruiting process his own way.

"Luke wanted to go through a process and make sure it was the right fit academically," Rosati said. "He wanted to really understand the culture that he was going to be going into. There were a lot of factors involved in this decision."

Farrell's brother, Nolan, is a recent graduate of Ohio State and hopeful future medical student there. Even that didn't make Luke a Buckeye right away.

Trips to Penn State, Boston College, Michigan State and Notre Dame (who offered late) came and went during his junior year. Whether it be for spring practice, a spring game or to camp, Farrell wanted to meet all the coaches and find the best fit for him.

His final three were Notre Dame, Michigan State, and Ohio State. In the end, Farrell decided the best move was to stay close to home, and he committed to Urban Meyer last July at Friday Night Lights.

"The biggest thing was the coaching staff that had me make my decision for Ohio State," Farrell said.

When Luke Farrell is reminded he is one of three players at his position — all from Ohio — in Ohio State's 2016 recruiting class, he doesn't blink.

"That doesn't matter too much for me," Farrell said.

"(It) didn't matter as far as who they brought in, it didn't factor in," added Rosati. "There's going to be guys coming in from everywhere no matter where you go."

Farrell joins Kierre Hawkins and Jake Hausmann as a more than formidable trio set to revamp Ohio State's tight ends room in Columbus. The position group is undergoing a transition not only with the departure of Nick Vannett to the NFL but Tim Hinton's shift from tight ends coach to a more administrative role and special assistant to head coach Urban Meyer. Ed Warinner, Ohio State's offensive coordinator, took Hinton's place.

"I had a good relationship with Coach Hinton, so I'm glad to see he's still in the program," Farrell said. "I still talk to him. I built a relationship with Coach Warinner so I have no worries. It's going to help us out, if anything."

It's no secret Ohio State has big plans for the three tight ends it brought in with this class. There is so much youth in the program already, but accelerating their growth to make them early possible contributors is of the essence.

Fortunately for Farrell, he is used to that. Rosati pushed him into the fracas as a freshman at Perry. Three years later, he is the first Pirate ever to sign and play football at Ohio State.

"That's pretty crazy to think about," Farrell said.

In the past five years, Rosati sent three players to Division I college football programs. Ohio State is in a class of its own, just like Farrell. That's why the coach made sure the player got the experience and exposure he needed to become a great player.

"I had a pretty good idea at that point in time (his freshman year) that he's like nothing that we've ever had before," Rosati said. "How big it was going to go, I don't want to say I was surprised, but in some respects for me it was like, 'Oh my gosh this is really happening.'"

It is happening, and Farrell earned it.