Erik Olsen has a Blossoming Relationship with the new Colorado Staff
Erik Olsen has been playing second fiddle to his teammate during his high school career.
Terrance Ferguson is a 2021 four-star tight end from his high school that has been garnering attention from schools all over the country.
Heritage (Littleton, Colo.) has two elite tight ends. Which has mostly been a blessing for Olsen because he says eyes have been on him who otherwise wouldn't have.
"Without Terrance being on the team, I can't say that a lot of college coaches would have come through after my sophomore season because although I thought I played all right, it wasn't anything division one coach would kind of see and talk to me about," Olsen said.
And suddenly the big 6-foot-5, 230-pounder has seen his own recruitment blow up.
"So the recruiting process sort of started after my sophomore season and I went on a few visits over that summer, and nothing came from it," Olsen said, implying he wasn't able to get any offers. "But I went to a few camps and definitely learned a few things. But then after my junior season, things really started to pop off and things got like pretty crazy but like a good crazy, people were throwing me offers left and right and it was great and I was so happy."
He now holds 16 power conference options and that list has been constantly growing.
Just last week, Colorado reached out with an offer.
"I'm also starting to talk to the CU a lot more," Olsen said. "Which is good."
There was definitely some interest with the last staff but it wasn't near the attention the new staff has been giving him. Tight ends coach Taylor Embree reached out a day or two after he was hired.
"We were definitely in touch but it was weird with the old staff," Olsen said. "It seemed like they wanted to offer but for some reason, they couldn’t… obviously that has changed with the new staff."
Olsen put Colorado in his top ten that he released on Sunday and said he has been in constant contact with the new staff.
"Yeah, with the new staff, I feel like I know them a lot better," Olsen said. "Everybody besides (offensive coordinator Darrin Chiaverini) left that I was familiar with. Just in the month and a half, or maybe it has been two months that they've been there, I've been able to really start growing relationship with the new staff."
The big tight end has had lots of conversations with Embree and he likes what he has heard so far.
"(Embree) is a really cool dude, for sure," Olsen said. "It's nice that he's young, and obviously coached in the league, and he can teach me a lot of things. And we sat down and watched film (over FaceTime). And he talked to me about how he thinks I could fit in their offense, and it was just really fun to learn more about him and his coaching."
He also has had conversations with head coach Karl Dorrell and Chiaverini.
Olsen wants to get back to Boulder, where he has already visited many times with the previous staff.
Some of the other schools in the mix include Iowa State, Arizona State, Nebraska, Stanford and Washington.