Andrew Armstrong already knew Bowling Green’s coaching staff. He already committed to it once. And after head coach Dino Babers moved to Syracuse and took six assistants with him, Armstrong eventually chose Babers’ staff again.

But it was tight ends coach Reno Ferri, who was previously at Towson, not Bowling Green, that helped swing Armstrong even more toward SU. Ferri, like Armstrong, played at Cardinal Mooney (Ohio) High School and was teammates with Chris Amill, the current defensive coordinator there.

“The connection’s real strong,” Armstrong said. “It’s just great to have another Cardinal Mooney figure up there that understands where I come from and the great football we play in Youngstown, Ohio.”

Armstrong took an official visit to Syracuse this past weekend, announced his commitment to SU on Wednesday morning and received an in-home visit from defensive coordinator Brian Ward on Wednesday evening. Armstrong originally chose BGSU in June, but decommitted on Dec. 10 after the coaching changes. Syracuse emerged as a strong contender given his relationship with the staff and his visit sealed the deal.

“I definitely wanted to go visit Syracuse first (after decommitting) and get to experience that,” Amrstrong said, “and I just fell in love with it from the start.”

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Armstrong is ranked with two stars according to Scout.com. He played strong safety and tight end in high school and has been recruited to play any of the three linebacker positions in Ward’s Tampa 2 defense. Armstrong also had offers — from Cincinnati, Indiana, Wake Forest and Vanderbilt — that he said presented better opportunities, which is why he left Bowling Green. Armstrong didn’t have an offer from Syracuse until he decommitted from Bowling Green.

“It’s kind of taboo to go back and recruit guys that you recruited,” Babers said on Dec. 7. “If they decommit, that’s one thing, but if they’re committed to Bowling Green, I can tell you, I will not go after them.”

SU’s coaches told Amstrong they’d like him to put on 20-25 pounds to get up to 235 and while he has the ability to play any of three linebacker spots, he said he’d most likely be an inside linebacker. His ability to cover, either players out of the backfield or running streaks down the middle, impressed the Orange’s staff, despite having limited experience at linebacker.

At Cardinal Mooney, Armstrong didn’t play a Tampa-2 system, but said his experience as a safety will help him in a linebacker position that often drops into zone coverage.

Armstrong is the 13th member of Syracuse’s 2016 recruiting class and the eighth to commit under Babers, but he’s the first one that was previously committed to Bowling Green.

“Three months ago I was set in stone on going to Bowling Green and playing football there,” Armstrong said, “but it’s just crazy how things change throughout this process.”

Published on January 21, 2016 at 8:32 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds