The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
North’s big Baer keeps grinding
The novel coronavirus has put a damper on the whirlwind recruitment of North offensive lineman Ryan Baer, but it hasn’t slowed down his work ethic.
The 6-foot-6, 315-pounder, who recently finished his sophomore year at North, has been working as hard as ever in his family’s weight room.
So when the recruiting picks back up — whenever restrictions on college visits are eased — Baer vows to be ready to as to show potential suitors that he is literally and figuratively the “next big thing” for their college football program.
“I’ve been working out with my Uncle Ray,” said Baer of Ray Sullivan, who is also the strength coach at Kirtland. “My cousins, Mason and Gage, and my brothers, Nick and Kyle, too. We’ve had some pretty intense workouts. Very fast-paced, non-stop. I’ll be ready.”
Baer’s list of college offers is impressive, considering he hasn’t even begun his junior year of high school yet. The likes of Minnesota, Pitt, Kentucky, Iowa State, Akron, Kent State, Bowling Green, Toledo, Rutgers and Cincinnati have already extended full athletic scholarships to the massive offensive tackle who is a road-grader of a blocker.
Baer had camps at Ohio State (June 6) and Notre Dame (June 12) called off because of the coronavirus.
“I was pretty disappointed about that,” Baer said of the camps being called off. “This is my time to prove myself that I can compete at the highest level.”
It seems Ohio State and Notre Dame already know that. They just wanted a first-hand look at Baer.
Baer visited South Bend, Ind., last November and took a tour of the campus and the athletic facilities. He came away impressed.
“It’s amazing there,” he said. “There’s no campus like Notre Dame. It’s got that old-fashioned design, and they also have a great
football team and coaching staff.”
Ohio State is high on Baer’s list, too, though an offer hasn’t been made. He has been in contact with Buckeyes’ line coach Greg Studrawa and another line assistant.
“They tell me to keep working how I’ve been working,” Baer said. “They want me to come down when we’re able to do that, meet and check things out.”
Until the day he’s able to resume college visits and having coaches visit him, Baer said he is going to continue his workout regimens. He bench-presses 385, squats 500 and deadlifts 500. He also straps on a shoulder harness and pulls his Uncle Ray’s F150 pickup truck along with his cousins Mason and Gage Sullivan of Kirtland.
“Sometimes Uncle Ray taps the brakes to mess with us a little bit,” Baer said with a laugh.
Eventually, Baer hopes to get back on the practice field with his North teammates. The Rangers finished 3-7 last year, but were a youthful squad.
The anchor of the team will be the Baer-led offensive line, one which also includes Toledo commit Ethan Spoth (6-4, 310), Ryan Volk (6-3, 265) and Josh Barzel 5-11, 255).
“I miss being around the guys,” Baer said. “We think our two years combined (next year’s juniors and seniors) are the team that should be able to get the job done. I think it’s going to be a great year. I’ve been working, I know my guys have been working — I can’t wait to get back out there with them.”