Up to this point in his life, a 14-year-old Aaron Armitage had long been hoping he could someday evolve into an American football player, one who could earn scholarships for some of the best football programs in the nation and possibly carve out a path to the NFL.
Armitage, the son of hard-working teachers Howard and Zubeda, is a born Canadian, growing up just a bit northeast of Toronto.
The 2021 Ohio State defensive end target and Blair Academy (N.J.) star defensive end is now a sturdy 6-foot-4, 245 pounds, and that comes as no surprise (his father – a former Canadian college football player – is 6-foot-2, 260 pounds). The younger Armitage is bigger than most of the kids his same age, and that was also true at 6 years old when he became immersed in the Toronto area’s club football leagues.
Given his size, he was put at defensive and offensive line, knocking the socks off whoever lined up across his facemask up until he turned 11. That’s when someone nearly as important as Howard saw Aaron’s ability.
Richard Karikari, a former Canadian Football League All-Star defensive back for the Montreal Alouettes, took over Armitage’s club team during his sixth- and seventh-grade years. And, sure, Armitage says he would love to carry the ball a couple of times a game, but he had quickly become a youth star with the type of work ethic that pairs well with immense potential.
That’s when an 11- or 12-year-old Armitage started having some fun conversations with his dad about the prospects of potentially leaving Canada to pursue those college dreams, but really, Aaron says, it was mostly talks of, “Oh, yeah. How cool would it be to go play in the States?” he recalls of those initial discussions.
But about two and a half or three years later is when the two began truly believing a departure from The Great White North was more probability than a pipe dream. That’s because Karikari funneled a connection to the Armitage family that he had with a coach at Trinity-Pawling, an all-boys boarding school resting in a small hamlet 60 miles north of New York City, a brisk jog to the west of the Connecticut border and more than eight hours away from home.
On behalf of the Trinity-Pawling coach, Karikari told the Armitages there was an invite to take a visit to the school, and eventually, Armitage remembers his dad telling him, “This is an opportunity you should take.”
But first came convincing Zubeda to let her son leave to a boarding school about 500 miles – and a whole new country – away from home.
“My mother did not want me to go, but my dad urged her to finally say yes because of the opportunity,” Armitage said. “I didn’t think too much of it. I didn’t think about, ‘Oh, yeah. I’m gonna be in the States.’ But it’s a whole different lifestyle living on campus and being away from home.”
He eventually left for Trinity-Pawling for his freshman year. There wasn’t a culture shock, Armitage soon realizing American and Canadian cultures are pretty similar (at least that's the case in his experiences since, after all, he’s been in a confined area).
It's not like the Armitage clan sent their kid off to the Arctic. Because so many of Blair Academy’s students are international, they are given a lot of breaks – about five months’ worth between summer vacation, 4-5 weeks total for Thanksgiving and Christmas, plus another 3-4 weeks in March.
But the boarding school lifestyle was still an uncomfortable one that got off to a bad start, and moments of doubt instantly hit.
“The first night, I was like, ‘What the hell am I doing here?’” Armitage said. “The first two months were pretty tough. During football season, after games, I’d just wish I could be able to go home, sleep in my own bed and see my parents.”
But this is exactly what Armitage wanted. He watched CFL games growing up, going to a few Toronto Argonauts games and even playing on the field in some youth games. He loved the competitiveness of the NFL and the business side of the league more than the CFL, and he didn’t like the instability the CFL sometimes brings.
“I know a lot of the guys in the CFL have second jobs – even after they’re done or during their playing (days),” Armitage said. “If I wanna go professional, I don’t wanna have a second job while I’m playing the sport that I love. I just wanna focus on that. Even if I to go to the NFL and have a second job after that, I’ll go and do that, but during (my playing days), I don’t really want that.”
Overall, simply put…
“Canadian football isn’t as good as American football,” Armitage said. “My dream’s always been to play professionally and earn scholarships to play at the best American universities in the nation. This was the main (way) to get me used to the lifestyle there and earn these opportunities.”
Eventually, Armitage adapted to his new boarding school digs. His parents visited a lot, traveling to six of his eight games that freshman season, offering plenty of support. But the true turning point came when he started building strong friendships, spending more time with his classmates and teammates.
“That helped a lot to set the foundation,” Armitage said. “It was an all-boys school so we got to see each other a lot, and everyone was cool with each other. There was no drama like being at a co-ed school like I am right now. It was pretty nice getting used to that and waking up each morning. The schedule’s so repetitive so once you get used to it, you just forget about everything else and focus on what you have to do throughout the day.
“Around mid-year to the end of the year, I was loving it. I was like, ‘This place is amazing.’”
Not too amazing, though.
One of Armitage’s Trinity-Pawling teammates had previously played against Blair Academy – a co-ed boarding school in Blairstown, N.J. – and got in contact with the program’s former head coach, Jim Saylor. Armitage’s teammate transferred to Blair, and after an April visit his freshman year, Armitage followed suit once he finished the semester in New York.
“Making the transition was hard because I loved Trinity-Pawling because it was a fun school,” Armitage said. “It wasn’t as hard in academics, and it was a lot more fun being there. But changing over to a school like Blair has given me the opportunity of a lifetime.”
It’s at Blair where Armitage’s career has taken off. He’s making the most of the resources and coaching given to him. It’s here where a foundation was laid for a couple of fellow strongside defensive ends to move onto Big Ten programs, and that became a recruiting pitch, of sorts, for the Buccaneer coaches to Armitage.
In the 2018 class, Jayson Oweh made waves as the state’s No. 2-ranked player at Blair Academy before signing with Penn State, and in 2019, David Ojabo signed with Michigan after evolving into a top-10 New Jersey prospect in Blairstown.
“That was an important moment for me, especially at my position,” Armitage said. “(Saylor) was like, ‘You’re gonna get the looks. I can’t guarantee any scholarships because it’s all up to the coaches, but you have the academics here. You have the football and the opportunity for football. It’s your choice. I’m not pressuring you, but if you wanna take that path and possibly earn a scholarship, I’m sure this is the better path to be on.’”
He then got some “unbelievable” coaching from defensive line coach Mike Coyle, who he works with every day in practice and who he credits for teaching him things about the defensive end position that he has “never even heard about. … I’ve never been with a coach that just knows so much about football.
“Growing up playing football, I learned about the game and what it’s all about. I’ve got a high motor playing, and that’s something I think I’ve picked up. I chase the ball around every play, but skill-wise, I’d say out of any team I’ve played for, Blair has been the biggest impact on me football-wise.”
That long journey and the people along the way are what have helped Armitage become what he is now. He took a nerve-racking step by venturing out from Canada, but he has turned himself into New Jersey’s No. 2-ranked overall player in his class. He’s ranked as a top-10 strongside defensive end nationally and is nearing status as a top-150 overall prospect.
And those offers that Saylor said he would have the opportunity to earn? Those have come too.
I would like to thank all the coaches and schools that have expressed interest in me. I am more than grateful and honoured for your recognition. After considerable thought, I would like to focus on these 12 schools.
— Aaron Armitage (@armitage_aaron) December 26, 2019
(My recruitment will remain open)
Thank you!@SaylorBlairFB pic.twitter.com/KM9WQL5hgD
Ohio State, Florida, Texas A&M, Stanford, Penn State, Michigan and Notre Dame all ended up on a final list of schools that Armitage released last week.
The Buckeyes wound up on that list first because of Armitage’s relationship with co-defensive coordinator Greg Mattison.
Mattison recruited Ojabo when he was a defensive line coach at Michigan, and that’s when Armitage wound up on his radar. Armitage then visited Columbus last summer, which became a turning point in his Ohio State recruitment, and he visited again for the Buckeyes’ win over Penn State in late November.
His experiences in Columbus and relationships with Mattison, Larry Johnson and Ryan Day are what is putting Ohio State on a path to being a true top-five or top-three option for his future. But whether it’s to the Shoe, The Big House, Happy Valley or South Bend, these college visits are still a dream.
“I never knew it would happen, but being at school in Canada and playing football, I always had that feeling where I’m gonna earn these scholarships at some point, but I just didn’t know how it was gonna turn out,” Armitage said. “But I just thought, ‘It’s gonna happen. I just gotta keep working.’
“Coming from Canada, the opportunity is so low. There are so few kids – ones that I can think of right now are Theo Johnson, Lamar Goods – like five to 10 kids a year from Canada that get the opportunity (to play high-major Division I football), and that’s a lot. A few years ago, it was nothing. The only kid I know about from like three or four years ago was Neville Gallamore, and he just finished at Oklahoma. It’s pretty unbelievable to have an opportunity like this, and I still don’t really believe it. But I’ve just gotta keep working and see where it takes me, but I’m very grateful for the opportunity.”
Like Armitage says, his journey is far from over. He still has nearly a year before he’s going to make his next life-altering schooling decision, one he says he won’t make until at least August, though he’s leaning toward waiting longer (he said it would be cool to make his announcement on ESPN next December).
But he doesn’t have to hope for those opportunities anymore. All the proper doors have been creaked open, and now he’s got a shot at busting them down. That will take a strong leap of faith into some unknowns, but that shouldn’t be a problem.
He’s done that before.
