Flash back to the early 1980’s and you’ll see Glenn Meyers playing linebacker and nose guard for the Florida Gators. Now, almost three decades later, there is another Meyers on the Florida horizon. Glenn Meyers’ son Jonathan is one of the top recruits in the country but the fact that his father wore orange and blue isn’t as a big of a factor to the fullback/linebacker from Greenwich, Connecticut as some might think.
“I think a lot of people, a lot of reporters, try to spin it that it is big deal that I am a legacy there but at the end of the day he is looking out for my best interest,” Jonathon said about his dad. “We are trying to make a mutual decision based on my needs. He isn’t persuading me to go anywhere. He is just looking out for me.”
Even without any pressure from his dad to follow in his footsteps, Meyers said Florida is one of his top choices.
“I really don’t have a top five right now,” he said. “But Florida is obviously up there. Michigan is up there as well. Those are probably my top two right now, but I got a lot of schools, about 15 offers now, so there are a bunch of schools up there too.”
Meyers (6-1, 220) talked about his top two schools and what appeals to him about each one.
FLORIDA: “It has everything you are looking for — national championship, great coaches and a great location. I went down there and met with the kids, which was my biggest thing. I wanted to kind of get a feel for the kids on the team and fit in with them really well. They have some really great guys down there. I stayed with some of the 2007 recruits, Justin Trattou and Duke Lemmens, kind hanging out with them. We stayed with a bunch of the guys on the team, like offensive tackle Phil Trautwein who is from New Jersey. I was kind of getting that Northeast feeling with a couple of recruits from New Jersey. They are trying to bring a little of that Northeast down there. I spoke with Tim Tebow as well. They are all just a bunch of really great guys. Everyone has similar mindsets and similar goals. Just the caliber of the people down there is really high, they are the kind of people you want to be around.”
MICHIGAN: “I still haven’t gotten out there yet, but it is obviously a great school and a top level football program. They have a great tradition out there and Ann Arbor is a great town. I think they have a lot of things working for them. You can only read so much text and see pictures, etc. but I think getting out there is something that is really important and that is something I stress. I talked to the coaches about getting out there and I think there are only a couple of windows so it will probably be this summer or sometime in June.”
In addition to his legacy connection, Meyers’ main recruiter from Florida, Coach Steve Addazio (offensive tackles and tight ends) has ties to Connecticut. Coach Addazio spent six years as the head football coach at Cheshire High School in Cheshire, Connecticut. According to Meyers, Coach Addazio already had a friendly relationship with his head coach Richard Albonzio before he started recruiting Meyers.
“I think they go pretty far back, so there is a good connection there,” Meyers said. “I have met with Coach Addazio multiple times and he is a great guy. He always has good things to say. He is always trying to look out for the Northeast guys and looking out for our caliber of football, which is called into question some places. We think we can play with anyone up here and he knows that as well.”
While Coach Addazio has made a favorable impression on him, Meyers has also enjoyed meeting Coach Meyer several times.
“He is a great, he’s got an aura that I think is really attractive to a lot of people,” he said. “He has the confidence and the drive that wants to be a champion. He wants to win championships and that is what he is there to do. But at the same time he is looking out for his players. He makes sure everyone is on track with their academics, everything is ok at home and everything is all right with people’s heads. He has that competitive drive but he also has that father like figure which I think is important in a football coach especially in college.”
With his dad’s connection to Florida, Meyers first started attending games when he was in middle school. However, he said going as a fan and going as a recruit were completely different experiences. Although he hasn’t visited as a recruit during the season, he was in Gainesville for the Orange and Blue game and loved it.
“It is just an awesome atmosphere,” he said. “Being with the players on the sideline and seeing how the whole process works out with practice the day before was great. I was really just kind of living the life of a Gator football player.”
Meyers, who said his fastest 40-time is 4.55, had a busy winter as he visited several schools including Penn State, Boston College, Maryland, Notre Dame and Stanford. In addition to his offer from UF, he already has offers from Maryland and Stanford. He expects both Penn State and Notre Dame to offer him relatively soon. At this point he is unsure of when he will make his decision.
“I really don’t know when I am going to make my decision,” he said. “I think I am going to make my decision when I feel comfortable. I am not going to rush into anything, I am going to sit down with my family once this May period is done and make my list and then go to some camps and see what happens. But, I am not going to rush into anything, it is all going to happen when I feel comfortable.
“I think it is really going to come down to how I feel and obviously my parents. I am going to look to them for their guidance. They aren’t trying to push me anywhere, but I will definitely ask their opinion and see what they have to say. Ultimately it will be my decision, where I feel most comfortable to spend the next four years.”
Meyers has always thrived as a linebacker. As a sophomore he was first team All-League/All-County selection. But, going into his junior year, he added a new line to his resume, fullback, and as expected he excelled.
“Last year was my first year playing offense,” he said. “I got a lot of carries because our feature back got hurt, so I became the workhorse of the offense. We run a Wing-T so it is a lot of inside runs, I don’t have too many outside plays.”
As the workhorse of the offense Meyers helped lead Greenwich High School to a 12-1 record and a state championship. He carried the ball 135 times gaining 1,140 yards (8.5 yards per carry, 95 yards per game). He also caught two passes for 40 yards. He finished third in the state with 23 touchdowns.
Even though he carried the ball a lot, Meyers still had the stamina to be the leader of the defense. He recorded 127 tackles, 10 sacks and had 13 pressures/quarterback knockdowns.
At one point it looked as if Meyers was a lock to play linebacker in college, but now he isn’t so sure.
“I am being recruited at both linebacker and fullback,” he said. “Some schools have even said I can play both there. I love both positions and I am looking forward to playing wherever the team needs me.
“I can play either inside or outside linebacker, I have played both in high school. My senior season I will probably be bumped around a lot of defense, but I think a lot of schools are looking at me as a Will linebacker.”
Meyers isn’t content to simply sit back in bask in his success, rather he is hard at work trying to improve his game.
“I am always looking to get bigger, faster and stronger,” he said. “We have a rigorous off-season workout program. We get up at six in the morning and come in and lift two or three times a week before school. We are always competing and working hard in the off-season. I don’t have any goals, I am just trying to get better. We are competing in the team a lot, always trying to out do each other so that keeps things going.”
Besides doubling on both offense and defense, Meyers is a two-sport athlete, and a very good one at that. He is a star defenseman on the lacrosse team in the spring. He was All-State as a sophomore and said he is a nationally recognized recruit in lacrosse as well. However, he doesn’t know how much of a factor continuing his lacrosse career will be.
“I am more football first,” he said. “There are a few schools where I can play both and I have certainly thought about that. But, I am not going to be going to a school to play lacrosse. I have spoken to Virginia about playing both and they would love to have me there. I talked to Notre Dame about playing both. As far as division one football programs go that also have a high caliber division one lacrosse program there aren’t too many of those lying around. There are a few, but not too many who can combine both.”
As if being a star football and lacrosse player isn’t enough, Meyers is extremely intelligent and excels in the classroom. He reports a 4.4 GPA and scored a 2020 on his SAT.
Stay tuned – Meyers is sending us his video highlight reel, which we’ll put up as soon as it comes in!