SAN ANTONIO – Dillan Gibbons has caught the attention of several college programs in just a couple of years of high school ball. His coach expects the 2017 Florida offensive lineman to continue seeing a surge in his recruitment as he believes the sophomore’s potential is essentially limitless and he would know.
“Dillan’s ceiling is endless,” said Northside Christian head coach Mike Alstott, who was a six-time Pro Bowler in 11 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after a stellar college career at Purdue.
“First of all, his character. He’s a great kid with great character. He works hard in the school. He’s just a great person with a great family. When it comes to his athletic ability, he doesn’t have a turn-off switch. He’s a high-motor kid. He’s a finisher at a young age with great feet. He does very good at a young age. He was starting in ninth grade, so he’s only finished his second year really. Again, his ceiling is endless. He’s doing very well and opening up a lot of people’s eyes as far as scouting.”
Gibbons didn’t make it to Texas for the U.S. Army All-American Underclassmen Combine, but Alstott was in town with his son Griffin, who is a quarterback in the Class of 2017. The 6-foot-5, 292-pound Gibbons has displayed quite a nasty streak on the field.
“Like I said, he doesn’t have a turn-off switch,” Alstott said. “There’s no switch whatsoever. You love the aggressiveness. He is nasty. That’s something I guess you can’t teach. He has great feet. He has to work on some things technique-wise, but that’s with a young kid not having a lot of time playing football. You can’t teach heart, you can’t teach aggression. He’s the real deal.”
Gibbons, who was named First Team All-State and First Team All-County as a sophomore, already has offers from Ohio State, South Carolina, West Virginia, Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida. Alstott sees Gibbons as a tackle, but thinks he could play other positions as well.
“Right now, he plays left tackle for me,” said Alstott. “I think he’s doing a helluva job and I think he’s going to be a tackle. He’s doing very well on the left. It seems to be his more natural side. Versatility is always a key for a lineman, he has great feet and I think he can play a lot of positions on the line.”
Gibbons is the younger brother of former Notre Dame target Reilly Gibbons, who signed with Stanford before transferring to South Florida last year. Despite his personal history with the recruiting process, Alstott admits he’s leaned on Gibbons’ family, including assistant coach Shannon Gibbons, who is Dillan’s father, for advice on the current recruiting process.
“I really don’t have to give him a lot of advice because his family has been through it,” said Alstott. “Coach Gibbons has really been teaching me because it is a new process for me. I’m a young head coach, three years in high school.
“The whole recruiting process from the time I was recruited is night and day. It’s unbelievable how big the change is. I think it’s obviously relationships and contacts and reaching out and branding and marketing your players. If you really believe in a kid and what he does inside the walls of the classroom and his character and then obviously, his play on the field, then you really want to be persistent.”
Notre Dame recruiting coordinator Tony Alford is expected to drop in on Gibbons soon. The Irish haven’t shown a ton of interest in Gibbons to this point, but if they do, they’ll definitely be under strong consideration.
