Sean Foster Talks Football, Upcoming Iowa State Visit, and Newfound Arkansas Recruiting Interest

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @HogManInLA

Much of football is size, speed, and strength and that is exactly what offensive lineman Sean Foster is in a nutshell. But if a player has the winning physical combination but does not come to the field with heart, passion, knowledge, or a skillset, all of that potential is wasted. This is not a problem for the Carmel Catholic High School standout.

Foster, a towering 6’8”, 295 pounds, is all that a high school coach and, now, all that a college coach wants in an offensive lineman. The Mundelein area native is a road grader on running plays coming to the point of attack with an attitude routinely overpowering the opposition. Easy for Foster to win a lot of these battles just on superior size alone but he comes to the party ready for a fight finishing off his target play after play wearing down the opposition at either tackle spot.

Over the last two seasons, Foster has been honored All-Conference in consecutive years and topped his senior season off as an All-American playing in the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl starting for the West squad. In practices prepping for the nationally televised event, Foster did more than hold his own against West squad defenders but also helped pave a way for Manvel High School running back D’Vaughn Pennamon to rush for a game-high 124 yards on just 15 carries.

College coaches like what they see in Foster with the Illinois talent in the neighborhood of 20 offers from teams like Boston College, Cal, Duke, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, N.C. State, Northern Illinois, Rutgers, Virginia Tech, Toledo, Syracuse, Indiana, Nevada, and Buffalo. Purdue hosted Foster on an official on Dec. 11 and Iowa State was supposed to host Foster on Jan. 22 but that visit has been bumped up to Jan 15, possibly in the anticipation of a big push from a lot of schools seeking to bring Foster on campus as National Signing Day nears. One of those teams in the rumor mill swirl of budding interest is the Arkansas Razorbacks.

In a Recruiting News Guru exclusive interview, I caught up with Foster to talk about his senior season, his upcoming visit to Iowa State, and his possible interest in the Razorbacks.

Interview

Sean, you performed well at the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl, are you getting back into the routine at home after spending time in Southern California?

“Yes, everything is back to normal here.”

Being an All-American, you obviously do a lot of things well on the gridiron. In your opinion, what are some of the things you do well as an offensive tackle?

“Some of my key strengths at tackle are my get off speed, which is extremely fast, and my point of contact is very strong. I think I have good footwork. I feel strong with my fire off. If I need to work on something that would be my pass blocking.”

You’re a physical presence on the field, what is your bench and squat max?

“My bench is 325 and my squat is 345.”

Those are great numbers for your age and your size.

“Thank you.”

Looking back on your senior season, were you happy with your individual level of play for the Corsairs?

“Yeah, I was extremely happy. I got a lot of awards this year that backs it up. I was an All-USA Today All-American selection, an Illinois All-State first team selection, All-Area, All-Conference, all of these awards that are pretty cool. I would not be able to accomplish all of this without my teammates.”

You have a lot of great offers on the table. Which schools are pushing hard for you right now trying to get your verbal commitment before NSD?

“Some of the schools pushing hard right now – I have a lot of schools that are contacting me and coming hard. The schools from the start that have been contacting me like Purdue and Iowa State are pushing hard. Syracuse is pushing for a visit. I took an official to Purdue and I’m taking one to Iowa State this weekend.”

When you take the Iowa State visit, what will you be looking for once on campus as part of your personal evaluation of the program?

“What I’m going to be looking at when I’m at Iowa State is their interaction with my family. I’m interested in learning about their school history. Another key thing is the academic and football part.”

How did your visit to Purdue go?

“The Purdue visit went very well.”

It is my understanding that Arkansas might be in the mix for you coming up when the dead period is over.

“That’s what the fans are thinking. I got 100 mentions from their fans yesterday. Their fans are wanting me to get an offer. That would be a pretty big offer. My dad played with Coach B. (Bret Bielema) in college (Iowa).”

Have any of the Arkansas coaches reached out to you yet?

“No, not yet. With the new O-line coach (Kurt Anderson) just hired, I think it is just one of those things that may take a little time. I understand he’s getting ready and he’s coming to Illinois. It would be huge for me to hear from Arkansas.”

Would you be open to an official visit to Arkansas if the opportunity presented itself?

“Arkansas might be one that we would for sure think about as a family. My family has to talk about it first then we make the decision.”

You’ve mentioned the importance of family a couple of times when talking about recruiting. What are some of the key things your family is interested in when breaking down various college football programs?

“Some of the key things important to my family is how a school puts their players through their academic program. They are also interested in seeing my major rating at a school and what is the student to teach ratio? Does the school help the football players (with their class work)? Do they get tutored no matter what? We want to be comfortable with the school and their program before deciding on the football program.”

Excellent answer. Does distance from home play a factor in the final decision?

“No, not at all. We’ve talked about this a lot. Distance is not a problem. Because our family is so close, not matter how far apart we’ll be there for each other.”

You mentioned the Arkansas fan base earlier reaching out to you on Twitter. What other fan bases are showing you the recruiting “love?”

“I’m getting a lot of fans reaching out from Iowa State. A lot of people from Arkansas. People from UCF (Central Florida), they just offered me. A whole bunch of people really. Purdue people, all kinds of different people.”

I’m assuming, because of all the interest from the colleges that everything is taken care of in the classroom. Do you have a SAT or ACT score you don’t mind sharing?

“I got a 25 on my ACT.”

Excellent. Qualified. Sean, thanks for your time today and good luck out on the recruiting trail and with your visit to Iowa State.

“Thank you.”

Photo credit: recruitingnewsguru.com; No. 78 Sean Foster at the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl.