Maryland had been tracking Loyola Blakefield (MD) tight end AJ Szymanski long before he received his offer from tight ends coach Mike Miller, which led to his commitment roughly one month later. The 6-foot-5, 245-pound tight end flashed as a versatile tight end who can fill in as a receiving threat in a room currently littered with young talent. According to head coach Anthony Zehyoue, the Terps found exactly that as Miller’s touch on the trail set the stage for a sensible decision.
“We talk about this all the time that relationships are the key to life really,” Zehyoue said. “One of the things that really stood out were the coaches at Maryland, particularly the tight ends coach Mike Miller and offensive line coach [Brian] Braswell and head coach Mike Locksley as well, they’ve just done an excellent job having genuine and authentic relationships with him whether it was at our school.” After Miller and offensive line coach Brian Braswell trekked through his school during the evaluation period, AJ showed mutual interest as AJ and younger brother, 2024 offensive tackle Trevor Szymanski, took in a spring practice in College Park. That allowed the two sides to continue to build on a mutual connection. “It was just genuine, it wasn’t a sales pitch. I know a lot of recruiting is sales, you’ve got to sell guys on their school but I think what they did a really nice job of was making a genuine connection with him and kind of harping on the fact that he was an in-state kid and in a state that this is the major program in the state in a major conference so I think it was great for him to recognize that.”
Recruiting style is an aspect that Zehyoue is very familiar with. Zehyoue ended his four-year career at LSU as a national champion to end the 2007 season before becoming a teacher at Catholic High School in Baton Rouge. After joining the Loyola Blakefield staff as an assistant coach first, Zehyoue became the head coach heading into the 2017 season where he’s watched AJ Szymanski blossom into a future Terp. But according to Zehyoue, preparing to become a college prospect wasn’t the mission that drove Szymanski through his four-year career.
“Some kids set a lot of goals and that’s great. AJ’s goals are more work-related goals, weight room goals, agility goals. He’s never set goals like ‘I want to commit to Maryland one day.’ It’s goals like I need to get stronger from last season to this season, I need to get off blocks consistently and I think those goals as a coach are really cool to see play out in real time.”
Szymanski flashes as a receiving tight end and after watching the impact that both Chigoziem Okonkwo and Corey Dyches have flashed in Maryland’s offense through the years, that will give the Maryland native a chance to flourish in time.
“He’s got a unique skillset. He has really soft hands from a catching aspect but usually guys who have really soft hands don’t always necessarily want to block as consistently, but he takes great pride in his blocking and I think the measure of a great game for him is how physical he plays from a blocking component,” Zehyoue told Inside the Black and Gold. The versatility that Szymanski plays with whether at tight end or split wide is a product of the strength of his game.
“He puts a lot of work in route running. He’s a tall kid, 6-foot-6, so I think guys that are 5-11, 6-foot, 6-foot-1, gravity is usually on their side for a taller guy like him he’s got to really work on the finer points of getting to the top of your routes. The inside moves, outside moves, kind of having a feel for where defenders are coming and where you might get hit or where you have an opportunity to get open. I think those skills kind of require a little more attention to detail and a little more practice for a taller guy like him and I think that’s been a really rewarding part for him. Is to see the work he’s put in on route running and then have that really manifest itself on the field.”
Szymanski is eligible to enroll early but is currently planning to stay at Loyola Blakefield for his full senior year before stepping foot in College Park. Naturally, nearly every high school prospect will need time in the weight room before making the leap in college football, but the speed of the game is a theme that Zehyoue has preached to Szymanski between now and enrolling.
“One of the things I’ve told him and that goes for each level you go up, you just really need to recognize the speed of everything gets faster. In high school, how open you are is how open you are in college or sustaining a block longer than you would be in college. learning how to use your body, learning how to use your defenders’ weight against them and for him it’s just recognizing the speed of play and therefore kind of using his own time and energy how to make himself a faster player. How to continue working on footwork, foot speed and I think strength, size, he has and I think he’s flashing that all together. Maryland has a great weight room, he loves lifting. He’s like 245 now going into his senior year. I can only imagine when he’s in their program and their weight room and their cafeteria what he looks like in a couple of years. I’m very big on development so it’s really cool to see a scrawny 6-foot-3 kid, 6-foot-4 kid come in as a 180 something pound walk out the door at 6-foot-6, 250.”