Pennsylvania linebacker Noah Spence (6'4", 245 lbs) is lucky enough to come from an excellent family and to have his father help him through his recruitment. Having someone like his father take on most of the work has helped allow Spence to enjoy the process. "Noah is still getting offers on a weekly basis, almost daily," his father said. "He feels it's best to keep an open mind and talk with all the folks. Hopefully we'll see some spring practices, but he's just kind of feeling his way through now."

With offers from almost everywhere it's going to be difficult to narrow down his list without actually seeing the campus in person. The Spence family is looking forward to seeing some new places, and they have a plan for how to attack them for the spring. "In terms of visits this spring I think he was talking about going to places that are reasonably close," said his father. "Penn State for one of the practices, Maryland, Virginia Tech, and possibly Virginia. Basically places that are within a five to six hour drive."

School and athletics take up much of Noah's time, which is why they don't want to travel too far until school lets out. Once the summer hits they plan on expanding out to places like Michigan and Notre Dame. "I'm pretty good friends with a very good guy, Jesse Rawls, who used to wrestle [at Michigan]. He's been talking up Michigan, and he said Ann Arbor is only about seven hours away," he said. "I know it has the biggest stadium and it seems like a beautiful campus. We definitely want to get out to Michigan."

The elder Spence understands that the new Michigan staff hasn't had much time to settle in, and is impressed that it hasn't stopped them from recruiting his son. "The coaches sound very enthusiastic. It's much appreciated and I know that Noah wants to find out more about Michigan. They have picked up the pace with recruiting Noah, and it was good to see because we're very fond of Michigan," said Mr. Spence. "It was a nice balance of athletics and academics. You can't really go wrong athletically at Michigan and the academics speak for itself." 

Based on the communication between the coaches and Noah they see him at the outside linebacker spot, and as a key piece of their system. "He's been called a natural pass rusher by a few coaches. He's fond of pursuing the ball, and Michigan wants a fast explosive defense that gets after the quarterback," he said. The aggressive style of defense seems to fit what Noah is used to, and Greg Mattison's past defensive styles have shown the Spence's what to expect. "The Ravens and Florida are both aggressive defenses. That has an impact on us and it seems to align with Noah very well," said Mr. Spence.

Players at Spence's high school, Bishop McDevitt, aren't allowed to graduate early so the plan is to take his time with his recruitment and find the best fit. "I think Noah wants to get all the information he can, get a feel for the coaches, and visit campuses," he said. "I don't see [a decision] coming in the near future, maybe if something blows his mind and he says this is it. From what I gather though, he wants to take his time with it."