Tight End U? Three-star TE Spencer Shannon thoroughly impressed by Utah's unique offense following visit

As Utah’s spring camp continues and begins to wind down over the next two weeks, the Utes also hosted a number of high school juniors to come and visit the program this past weekend. While a solid number of soon-to-be seniors toured their facilities and watched the team scrimmage at Rice Eccles, several impressive recruits made their way to Salt Lake City, including the highly talented and sought after three-star tight end from Santa Ana, CA, Spencer Shannon.

Huge thank you to @Utah_Football @UtahCoachWhitt @FWhittinghamJr for a great visit and Junior Day!
Go Utes! pic.twitter.com/rbS8ORAwUt
— Spencer Shannon 🤘🏼 (@Spencer1722) April 9, 2022

Standing 6-foot-7 and weighing 245 pounds, Shannon is an impressive athlete with a plethora of potential. Not only does his size allow him to be a dominant force in the run game, but he is just barely beginning to unlock his potential in the passing game. Ultimately, with his current three-star status, if Shannon can become a more dominant force and primary offensive weapon during his senior year, he very well may be looking at a four-star upgrade before he hits the college level.

In addition to an offer from Utah, Shannon has 15 total offers from schools such as Tennessee, Washington, Washington State, UCLA, Cal, Louisville and Utah State among others.

Receiving an official offer from the University of Utah on February 2, Shannon feels incredibly honored to have attracted the attention of the reigning Pac-12 Champions.

“It means the world,” Shannon said. “I am so grateful for the offer. The whole coaching staff over there is amazing, so to know how good of people they are and to think that I am a good enough person to offer, it’s an amazing thing.”

“I think that program holds itself to a really high standard,” Shannon continued. “I don't think they’ve even scratched the surface of what they’re going to end up doing. This coaching staff, the people they surround themselves with and the players, they’re all just top athletes and coaches so it’s only up from here.”

Speaking of their recent success, Utah’s Pac-12 Championship and Rose Bowl appearance have continued to leave lasting impressions on some of the nation's top recruits. While many of the current players were incredibly frustrated with the overall outcome, the way Utah competed has certainly put the program on the map and has intrigued players like Shannon.

Additionally, as demonstrated by Utah throughout their 2021 season, the program likes to run a 13-man personnel which features three tight ends as part of the offensive grouping. As a tight end himself, Shannon has been very impressed with that type of scheme and the players who make it work.

“When they were running 13-personnel and having tight ends run all over the place, you don’t see that from anybody else…it's really enticing, especially with all the knowledge that coach Whitt has, what he is incorporating in that offense and coach Ludwig who really understands the offense and has a great playbook with an NFL pro-style offense. It’s really intriguing because it's going to help translate to the next level,” Shannon explained.

“They’re [Brant Kuithe and Dalton Kincaid] outstanding players,” Shannon continued. “I got to see the scrimmage on Saturday and I got to watch Kincaid run around, catch some balls, and score a touchdown. He is just a stud athlete, hard worker, super cool and really down to earth. I got to meet [Cameron] Rising briefly…the detail, ball he throws and how he puts it in elite spots and right where it needs to be for the tight ends and wide receivers to go up and make a play. He’s a really smart quarterback and it shows in his performances.”

But what stands out the most about the tight end room to Shannon is their overall physicality. As an elite blocker himself, he was able to recognize the emphasis that Utah has on blocking and how beneficial that can be to the offense, something he would thrive in.

“We were watching highlights and Dalton [Kincaid] could have easily run out of bounds on one play but they’re all taught to just run through the person and they ended up getting an extra five or ten yards out of it. I think that's the overall mentality of the program, is just to go out, attack, and be more physical than the opponent,” Shannon explained.

While it still may be some time before Shannon makes his decision, the dominant tight end was very impressed with Utah and mentioned that their offer is certainly top five, maybe even top three on his long list of offers.

“They’re in my top because of what they do with tight ends and how they’ve shown they can develop them for the NFL. Its a great staff, they believe in their players, they believe in what they have and it just shows by what they do on the field,” Shannon said.

As a member of the class of 2023, Shannon hopes to make his decision before his senior season begins this fall. After that, he plans to focus on becoming more of a receiving threat and taking his game to the next level before transitioning to college.

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