Jason Negro, the head football coach at St. John Bosco High School, doesn't generally get involved with his players' recruiting decisions. If they ask for his input, he'll share his perspective, but otherwise he leaves that process to the kids and their families.
But with 4-star tight end Jude Wolfe, he felt he needed to make an exception last winter.
Wolfe had been committed to USC since last August and hadn't wavered off that pledge in the slightest, even as the Trojans stumbled through a 5-7 season, questions swirled around head coach Clay Helton and several assistant coaches were replaced.
When USC initially hired Kliff Kingsbury for its offensive coordinator position last December, though, Negro wondered what that meant for Wolfe and his future and felt it his responsibility to share his concerns.
"With Jude, I did go to him. When the offensive coordinator position became available and they hired Kingsbury, I was like, 'Man, I don't know if this is a good spot for you. He's an Air Raid guy, they don't run tight ends. Go take a look at his track record. If you're not careful they're going to make you No. 78 and you're going to be a tackle. You need to really go and talk to him and figure out what their plans are for a tight end,'" Negro recalled.
"And he was all in. … He was like, 'Man I really appreciate that, but the school is really important to me, this is what my dream has been for a long period of time.' And when Graham Harrell got the job, I didn't even talk to him about it at that time because he was all in. It didn't matter who it was, they could have run the Wing-T and he was going to go there. That's what he wanted to do."
Indeed, Wolfe was a beacon of stability for the Trojans during a turbulent end to the 2019 recruiting cycle. As Washington continued to try to flip him, he politely declined an in-home visit leading up to the early signing period. When friends, teammates and even family chimed in with their thoughts, he stayed resolute in his decision.
"A couple teammates obviously committed elsewhere and tried to tell me, 'You've got to come here.' But I pretty much didn't give anybody the time of day during the season [on that matter]," Wolfe said, sitting around his family's kitchen table back in late December before moving to campus. "Obviously I'd respond to a coach and say, 'No, I'm dead set.' But my teammates and other people would try to tell me to go other places, it was like, 'I know where I'm going to go.'"
While USC did lose some key commits down the stretch of that 2019 recruiting cycle, one of the strengths of their class remained that tight end spot with Wolfe and fellow 4-star commit Ethan Rae (Orange Lutheran HS). And that position is as intriguing as any for the Trojans heading into the start of preseason camp on Friday.
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Fans and media alike got a glimpse of Harrell's offensive plans during the spring, but without a healthy defense to go up against it was never clear if it was a full representation of his scheme. While Harrell and Kingsbury come from similar backgrounds as former Texas Tech quarterbacks under Air Raid guru Mike Leach, Harrell showed no hesitation in the spring of featuring the tight ends in the passing attack.
That has been a perennial hope for USC fans who have seen that position group underutilized in recent years, and while the Trojans are also deep at wide receiver and running back, there is an intriguing wealth of talent at tight end now as well.
Wolfe, who missed much of spring practice due to a back injury, is a big part of that -- literally, at 6-foot-5, 250 pounds -- and will be one of the freshmen to keep a close eye on this preseason.
"Without question, he's college-ready right now," Negro said. "I think if he continues to work on his speed, that's going to be the biggest thing between going from high school level to the college level. That's the biggest thing. … If he's able to do that I think he's going to be as college-ready as any freshman we put into the next level."
'He's such a team player'
While USC fans have been clamoring for the Trojans to throw to the tight ends more, Wolfe's own support base had the same thought the last couple years watching him emerge as a top prospect.
With St. John Bosco's depth of wide receiver talent and offensive style, Wolfe had just 14 catches for 225 yards last fall (according to MaxPreps) -- but that did include 7 touchdowns. Still, the numbers didn't align with the eye test after seeing the sure-handed, physical mismatch Wolfe presented for defenses.
Joni and Mark Wolfe are quick to credit the St. John Bosco staff for their role in their son's development and success, but they were not immune to those thoughts either.
"As a parent, even going through Bosco, it was like, 'Oh my gosh, throw him the ball. I can't do this for four years," Joni says laughing. "... We're sitting in the stands and my mom is a football fanatic and she has a mouth. The [family of linebacker and fellow USC signee Ralen Goforth is] sitting in front of us, and they're good friends. All those boys have played football, some pro, and they were all there.
"My mom is just going on and on, 'Why aren't they throwing him the ball?' She's just going crazy, and one of the brothers turned and said 'Calm down, grandma. Think of it this way. He's not going to get hit as much this way. They already know at USC he can catch the ball, we all know it, and it's all good.' She got quiet after that point."
To that point, it was true that Wolfe didn't have much more to prove to college recruiters. He ended up with more than 30 scholarship offers from across the country, including SEC and Big Ten national powers like Alabama and Ohio State.
And despite being often used more as a blocker, he did indeed flash his receiving abilities in some big moments, be it the soaring touchdown grab in the corner of the end zone in a road game at Mililani (in Hawaii) or his TD against rival Mater Dei in the final championship game loss.
"I think he's at a position where he [had] to have a dual role. It's kind of unique. If you take a look at what [Rob] Gronkowski was able to do in the playoffs for the Patriots, I think he was more vital in the run game than he was in the pass game," Negro explained. "I think Jude kind of understood once he started to explode in the preseason and then through league, people started altering coverages and trying to take that away, which allowed other guys to be successful. So I guess you just kind of take what they give you a little bit.
"He's such a team player he just really understood what we were trying to accomplish. … He's just a team player. I think that's the best way to characterize him."
Negro certainly appreciates Wolfe's abilities as a pass catcher, though. He raves about his flexibility for such a big frame, being able to adeptly go up for high passes or go down to corral low ones.
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