Hayden Bradley should be hard to miss. He’s 6’4, 222, with a nearly 81-inch wingspan. He’s a star TE for Buford, a powerhouse in the state of Georgia. He’s a dual sport athlete with a legitimate background as a pitcher. But for some reason, Bradley continues to be unranked by the recruiting services despite 20+ offers from teams like Florida, Michigan, Penn State and Oregon.
Miami isn’t making the same mistake as the websites. Bradley is squarely on their radar, and the feeling is mutual – Bradley’s only scheduled official visit right now is a June 7th trip to Miami. He spoke to CanesInSight about his recruiting process and game:
On his athletic background: I played baseball my whole life. I was a left-handed pitcher and played outfield. Baseball was really my first love. As I started to mature, I realized I had a future in football. I started to really lock in on that. So I dropped baseball last year. That was a pretty tough decision to make. But it turned out to be the right decision.
On his playmaking ability: When I was on the baseball field, I played outfield and I was always diving for the easiest ball. Just trying to make them look harder. I was always wanting that moment. Some people don't want to be in that moment, but I live for that moment. I think it's awesome. I want to be that guy with the game on the line. When I strap up that football helmet, that's my mentality. The game’s on the line, I want the ball.
On Mario Cristobal’s visit to Buford: It's awesome. That shows a lot to me. Him taking time out of his recruiting process and come check out Buford and get to talk one-on-one with my dad, that was huge for me. Relationships are definitely a big part of my recruiting process. That stuck with me a lot.
On his unofficial visit to Miami: Miami is known as Tight End University. I was definitely looking forward to getting in there, watching film, seeing how they utilize their tight ends. When I got in there, it was just how I thought it was gonna be. They actually run [the same] offense that Buford runs. As soon as I sat down, he turned on the film, I was able to identify the MIKE and, make the call. They loved that and they said they'd never seen that before. That's one thing about Buford, they have you prepared.
On his impressions of Coral Gables: It was beautiful. The weather was awesome. I was able to wear shorts and t-shirt at night. Right now [in Buford], it's 28 degrees at night. It felt awesome. The campus is absolutely beautiful. They're doing a lot of construction on the campus right now. They're getting brand new apartments for the team. They'll have a seven-story football facility. I think they said up to $1 billion. That's going to be huge. That's something I'm definitely looking forward to. The city of Miami, it's absolutely amazing. The restaurants there, the food portions, that was big on me.
On his team mentality: It's not about you. It's "we over me." That's our motto [at Buford]. As a tight end, you might want the ball. You want the ball five out of ten times, but you might get it zero out of ten times. But you could have been the reason that they scored with that key block.
On what he brings to a team: A true leader. I like to be loud. I like to talk. I like to help people get through stuff. Asking how somebody's day was. You never know what somebody could be going through.
