Recap: Looking Back at Landon Tengwall's Recruitment
Penn State has never been known as a school that pursues players before they're even in high school. That makes Landon Tengwall an exception.
Originally beginning his high school career at Archbishop Spalding in Laurel, Md., Tengwall started hearing from former offensive line coach Matt Limegrover before he even enrolled. In fact, it was so long ago that one of his main recruiters nowadays at Penn State, tight ends coach Tyler Bowen, was originally recruiting him to Maryland when this recruitment started.
His first interaction with Penn State's staff came back in June. 2017, when he won top performer honors at the LionStrong Big Man Challenge. Tengwall then attended Penn State's 35-6 win over Rutgers at Beaver Stadium that November. By his third visit, which came for a junior day in Feb. 2018, James Franklin was ready to offer a scholarship offer.
"Overall, this trip was great," Tengwall said in his first interview with Blue white Illustrated. "Getting to hear Coach Franklin tell me that I received an offer from Penn State was one of the best experiences of my life.”
At the time, Maryland, Toledo, Virginia and Virginia Tech had also seen enough to offer. Boston College, LSU, Miami, North Carolina, Ohio State and Michigan would all follow by the end of spring practice.
Tengwall also made the decision that spring to transfer schools, which is how he ended up at Good Counsel in Olney. Playing in one of the nation's most competitive high school conferences only helped him gain more exposure. In fact, the school that went on to challenge Penn State the most, Notre Dame, offered him a scholarship that August, just a few weeks into preseason practice against his new teammates. Florida, Texas A&M and many others followed.
But it wasn't an easy start to life at his new school, as the Falcons won just six games that first season before losing to DeMatha in the playoffs. That may have been a disappointment, but recruiting was anything but. By then, he was calling up some of the nation's top head coaches just to chat. Despite that, Penn State remained a favorite, especially after he attended his first White Out game against Ohio State in Sept. 2018.
"That was incredible. I'm still speechless," Tengwall said the following day. "Their fans are some of the best in the country. They were loud the entire game. That was an incredible experience."
By the spring of 2019, three schools - Penn State, Michigan and Notre Dame - were beginning to standout. Tengwall wouldn't officially announce those schools as his top three until September, but off the record, he made it clear. The Irish hosted him for the first time in March and left a lasting impression. Michigan hosted him the year prior for spring practice, and would get him on campus again in October for the game against the Fishing Irish. The Wolverines upset Notre Dame that evening, 45-14. In the end, Tengwall never made it back to either of those two schools.
He did, however, lead Good Counsel to a Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) championship in 2019. After defeating five-star QB Caleb Williams and Gonzaga, 44-14, in the semifinals, the Falcons then upset St. John's College High in the championship game, 16-14.
"That was one of the best days of life," Tengwall said in the days after. "Winning the WCAC with my guys, that's an honor. It's so hard to win our conference. Every team is so good. It means a lot to me."
Tengwall hopes to repeat that this year, which is why is wanted to get his recruitment out of the way. If all went to plan, he was expected to return to Penn State this upcoming weekend to watch a spring practice. Notre Dame would've received two more visits, beginning with an unofficial visit last weekend, March 28-29. He was also going to take an official visit to South Bend, April 4-5. Originally, the plan was to announce a commitment around April 14.
But with recruiting shutdown for the foreseeable future, and Penn State clearly at the top of his list, Tengwall understood that it wasn't worth the wait. In addition to ending all the stress that comes with this process, he'll now be able to help the Nittany Lion coaching staff expand its Class of 2021.
With just three commitments currently, the staff has roughly 18 scholarships still available. There's plenty of work to do, and Tengwall's personality makes his an instant leader in this class.
"I'm really excited to start recruiting, especially DMV guys," Tengwall said. "If I can get guys from the DMV, this class will be special."
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