Wide Receiver Coach Joker Phillips' Experience Familiarizes 2022 Receiver After Offer

Benedictine (VA) wide receiver Leon Haughton talks about his Maryland offer and training during COVID-19

Maryland dipped into Virginia to offered Benedictine (VA) wide receiver Leon Haughton back in early June to serve as the latest offer in a growing offer list. The 6-foot-4, 198-pound wideout heard the news directly from Maryland’s position coach.

“I found out about my Maryland offer from Coach Phillips, the receiver coach at UMD. My head coach at my school connected Coach Phillips and I, then that’s when I have received the news,” Haughton told All Terrapins. “I know a good bit about Maryland. The main things are about Coach Phillips. He was a former head coach at Kentucky, coached at multiple universities such as Ohio State, Cincinnati, Notre Dame.”

The familiarity gives Maryland a foothold as they hope to go consecutive classes landing a wide receiver out of Virginia, but Haughton was unable to make any trips last season to provide intrigue moving forward. As the Terps join Boston College, Nebraska, Penn State, Virginia and Virginia Tech in the early stages, Haughton feels the difference in his game going into his junior season now slated for the spring.

“COVID has not affected my offseason work one bit. I go on daily 2-mile runs, I go to the football field four times a week with a couple of teammates of mine, I watch film Monday- Sunday, and I get some work in the weight room a few times a week as well. If anything, COVID-19 has pushed me to work harder in the offseason because my whole thought process is ‘whenever we are allowed to play again, I am already going to be prepared, so why not get a jumpstart now?’

Haughton showed off the big play ability as the big-bodied wideout emerged as a consistent target in the offense. Posting 600 yards and seven touchdowns on 30 catches as a sophomore, Haughton feels the development in his game.

“The biggest improvement that I have noticed in my game is that I have become more comfortable in the receiver position. I have started to play like a smaller receiver. What I mean by that is I have learned how to get “uncomfortably low” when breaking down to make a cut while running my routes which is a big thing especially for a big receiver like me. One of the biggest areas that I have wanted to improve in was knowing how to use my whole 6’4 body to my advantage especially against a smaller (defensive back) and I feel like I have accomplished that goal of mine and I feel as if that will be very evident in this upcoming season.”

The drive that he carries into the offseason stems from the former electric wide receiver of his childhood team. “As far as skill and work ethic goes, I try to model my game after Antonio Brown. A big reason for this is because I am from Pittsburgh, so I grew up watching him. The main reason I say this is because I’m sure that we all know that Antonio is a work horse. Whenever he was in the league, we all could tell that he really worked for this because he shows it on the field. He always outworks the man next to him. So, I feel that if I work towards that non-stop work mentality, one day, I will be as great as him.”