Indiana freshman longsnapper Sean Wracher met with the media for the first time Wednesday afternoon to talk about the recruiting process for a specialist, why he chose IU and more.
Watch his full comments in the embedded media player above, with a complete transcript available below.
With Dan Godsil graduating and moving on to the NFL (and the opportunity that presented itself as a result), how much did that influence you ultimately choosing IU?
"Yeah, out of all my options, I had a few places where they were graduating a senior. Indiana kind of stuck out to me because the level of education was very high, and being able to have a chance to play right away was obviously appealing."
How tough is it to get noticed as a specialist? A lot of the recruiting networks focus on skill positions plus offensive and defensive line. How did you get your name out there and go about that with the recruiting process?
"My sophomore year, I started going to Kohl's Camps. I went to Kohl's, Rubio, Hammer Kicking and Kornblue. Went through their camp process, went through their showcase process and it's very similar to what a skill player would go through for 247 or Rivals. I started, I think I was ranked 39th in the country, and the way the numbers work, the top maybe like 50 will get preferred walk-on offers, and 4-5 guys each would get a scholarship. Just kind of worked my way up through those rankings, working with those guys through their camps and ultimately ended up with a few opportunities. Indiana was just the best one for me."
Did Godsil's development play into your decision as well?
"My top two ended up being between here and Syracuse, and I was talking to (head coach) Dino Babers about Syracuse, his biggest thing was he sent 3-4 snappers to the NFL, and obviously that was appealing to me. But when I saw what Coach Inge and Coach Allen did with Dan, took him up through their program, got him ready for the NFL, it was appealing to me that I could have an opportunity to start right away and get my path going with this program in order to move on to the next level."
How competitive are those camps, especially when so few kids get scholarships?
"It varies, but Kohl's and Rubio both have one of their biggest camps of the year and those are both, I would assume 500 kids, but the rankings are I think 200-250 snappers, so it's a good amount."
How's the transition gone? Anything surprised you, or is it just like you remember it from your visits?
"So coming up on a month here, the first two-ish weeks were kind of hard for me. Transitioning from high school football to college football, obviously it's a big step up. But now that I'm getting into the flow of things, I just find it easier waking up early every day and I kind of find myself in more of a routine. I think it's going pretty well, especially with classes, finding a good balance between football and school is going really well."
What's the hardest part of a longsnapper's job?
"I'd say mental game. You're doing the same thing over and over again, in high-pressure situations. You've just got to have the mentality that you've done this a thousand times and it's just another snap. What separates a good guy from a not-so-good guy is the ability to keep the same and keep the same consistency all the time."
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