DL Tyler Parker Talks Miami Offer, Viral Stardom
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Santa Margarita Catholic (Calif.) High School 2025 defensive lineman Tyler Parker is not like most 14-year-olds.
For starters, most kids at Parker's age aren't already six feet tall and weighing almost 300 pounds.
"I have always been bigger than my competition. I've always played up since I was a youth kid," Parker told All Hurricanes on Wednesday. "I never played at my weight class or with my age, I was always either playing two or three years above ... I'm always ready to compete and I'm never scared to back down from anyone."
A photo of Parker flexing after a workout started circulating on social media earlier this month, and the defensive lineman has started to receive more attention from college football programs because of it, including the Miami Hurricanes.
"It for surely has," Parker said regarding if his virality has affected his recruitment. "The University of Miami is the first school to really give out an offer since that, which I'm really blessed, and I've kind of been looking forward to a lot of those because a lot of big-time schools started to recruit me."
The Hurricanes are the second Power Five program to offer Parker, with Arizona being the first.
Parker received knowledge of his offer from the Hurricanes through his high school head coach, Anthony Rouzier.
"[Rouzier] didn't even know it was going to be a offer, so it was a really true blessing and it didn't feel real, especially because I know Miami is a very well-known place with defensive tackles like Warren Sapp [and] Vince Wilfork, a lot of big-time, legendary, Hall of Fame defensive tackles."
Parker has also received interest from schools such as Ole Miss, Michigan and Oklahoma.
The rising sophomore will look to impress at Santa Margarita in what will be his first season of high school varsity football. He was ineligible to play last season due to his age, as he was only 13 years old.
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