Mentor freshman ready for impact

Brenan Vernon is ready to make a name — and number — for himself. A 6-foot-5, 240-pound defensive end, Vernon recently received his first Division I college football scholarship offer when Kent State put one on the table.

College offers for players with Vernon’s size and skill set are common. Getting such offers at age 14 before taking part in your first high school football practice?

That’s not common.

After terrorizing opponents at Shore Middle School for the past two years, Vernon will take part in his first high school practice Aug. 1 when he hits the field with the rest of the Mentor football team.

He will do so as one of the top recruits in Ohio in the Class of 2023.

“He’ll be the first kid to really start from Day 1 as a freshman,” Mentor coach Steve Trivisonno said. “We’ve had some really good ones over the years, and he’s right there. He’s a special one.”

Vernon found out just how special while at Ohio State’s football camp this summer. After registering and being split into age groups, Vernon was going through drills with the other players who just finished their eighth-grade year when Ohio State assistant Greg Mattison approached him and asked what he was doing.

Apparently Mattison got a look at Vernon’s size and figured he was in the wrong age group.

“Coach Greg asked me how old I was and I said I was 14,” Vernon said. “He said, ‘Unbelievable,’ and walked away. A little while later, he came up and told me he wanted to put me in with the group of seniors.”

For the rest of the day, Vernon worked with players who already had bigtime college offers.

Shortly thereafter, Kent State assistant and Lake Catholic graduate Tom Kaufman approached him and offered him his first college scholarship — the first of what will eventually be a long list.

“I was like, ‘What are you doing, Tommy?’ “Trivisonno said of his conversation with Kaufman over offering a player not even yet in high school. “He goes, ‘C’mon Triv, look at him. This is a no-brainer.’ ”

Trivisonno couldn’t disagree. The younger brother of Mentor senior receiver Nolan Vernon — who stands all of 6-foot, 200 pounds — is a physical specimen with a skill set to match. He was so advanced physically that he even worked out once with recent Mentor graduate Noah Potter, who is now a freshman defensive end at Ohio State.

Vernon raved of Potter and how he tutored the young protege on “how to flip my hips, how to improve my hand technique, and things like that.”

Vernon said he appreciated the pointers, since he usually didn’t get challenged much at Shore. He said he sometimes only got to play a quarter or a half and that, “a lot of kids across from me only came up to my waist.”

Trivisonno said Vernon would have benefited from practicing with the high schoolers as an eighthgrader.

“There are certain kids who should be allowed to play up, and he’s one of them,” Trivisonno said. “He absolutely dominated games. Some kids like that don’t play hard, but not him. He always plays hard.”

Vernon, who turned 15 on June 10, benches 215 pounds, squats 375 and runs a 4.9 in the 40. All of those numbers will likely improve dramatically as he matures physically.

“I think if he keeps his head on straight and works hard, he’ll be another Noah Potter-type of player,” said Trivisonno. “I think he’s an Ohio State-type of kid. The sky is the limit, and the opportunity is in front of him.”

Vernon said he is excited about that opportunity. He said will continue to work hard, stay humble and continue to work on techniques he learned from his coaches and Potter at Mentor, as well as what he learned at the Ohio State camp from Mattison and defensive line coach Larry Johnson.

He said Ohio State is his favorite team, but he also likes Clemson.

“I would never have expected anything like this,” he said of being recruited at such a young age. “I don’t think of myself that way. I just show up and do my thing.”

The pressure of being an incoming freshman on such a recruiting radar is there, Vernon granted, as is the expectation of producing from Day 1 against a Mentor schedule that starts off with games against St. Edward and St. Ignatius. But Vernon said playing for the Cardinals — and getting to do so alongside his brother — has been a day he has waited for, so he is excited to get started.

“I’m beyond excited,” he said. “Maybe a little nervous. But super excited. I’ve been a ball boy, so I’ve been on the field there. But to have the pads on, to be playing for Mentor, I can’t wait.” He will do so as No. 47. “I want to create my own legacy,” he said, declining to wear the No. 97 that Potter made famous with his play. “I don’t want to pick a number from someone who already did great things. I want people to say, ‘I want to wear the same number as Brenan Vernon.’ ”

Vernon