Maryland staying consistent after in-home with Georgia linebacker

Ahmed Ghafir
4 hours ago
2 min read

After a breakout season amassing over 120 total tackles along with 8.5 TFLs and a pair of sacks during his junior year, Milton (GA) linebacker Blaize Battaglia has cemented himself on the radar of multiple Power Four schools, but it's been Maryland setting the pace early on thanks to defensive coordinator Ted Monachino.

Battaglia, a 6-foot-1, 212-pound linebacker and son of former Louisville and NFL LB Matt Battaglia, added his first Power Four offer last week after defensive coordinator Ted Monachino extended the verbal offer while visiting his high school before the two were able to sit down for an in-home visit on Tuesday to build on the relationship.

"It was like my fourth time I met him. He came by my school last season then I was able to meet him at Maryland for the Nebraska game, he came back down a week ago then met him again [for the in-home visit]," Battaglia said.

"He talked about the benefits of Maryland, how the campus is nice and I experienced it myself, I love the campus, great campus. Good brotherhood, young team. He was saying they still performed, we talked about how some of the games they lost were very close but still a successful season with the team they had."

Battaglia added he's working to get back to College Park once spring practice kicks off in late March, though his first visit to Maryland materialized before Jones-Hill House officially opened.

"Loved the facilities, the campus. I came up to Maryland for the first time maybe five years ago so it's definitely changed."

Maryland sees Battaglia fitting in at either the MIKE or WILL as he's gotten a chance to know inside linebackers coach Zac Spavital through his junior season into the offseason. "I've really been building a relationship with Maryland and coach Spav, got a chance to talk to him when I was at Maryland. Really nice guy, straight arrowed, so is coach Monachino. That's what I'm looking for."

Georgia State, Colorado State, Cornell, Dartmouth and Brown are among the others who have offered while Clemson, Purdue, Ohio State, Virginia and Tennessee have shown interest into the spring, but Battaglia is keeping an eye on the chance to return to College Park.

"He told me they're trying to get me up for some spring practices, go on from there," he added. "Just a matter of time about getting on the field and helping out the team."

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