Missouri tight end transfer Messiah Swinson commits to ASU
An official visit this past weekend to Tempe Messiah Swinson was a genuine Déjà vu experience. The tight end did officially visit Tempe in September of 2017 and ultimately committed to Missouri. Thus, when he decided to transfer out of that program and the Sun Devil came calling, that previous experience certainly played a role in the Long Island (NY) Lutheran standout’s decision.
“I just thought it was the best fit,” Swinson said, “it was going to fit my style of play, and I like this offense and the way that they target their tight end. It was the best fit for me and my future. And also, leaving ASU with an ASU degree is a really, really good look. So all those factors just played a part.
“I was just playing everything by ear being patient. I didn’t go into that visit thinking I was gonna commit. I could tell during the time I was there that it was the best option for my family and me. So, just saw like, so like it was just the best option. So I ended up committing on Saturday night.”
And even though the 6-7 250-pound tight end experience some four years ago was in some senses different than the trip he had last weekend, it obviously did nothing but aid him in his decision.
“This visit was completely different (than four years ago),” Swinson commented. “Just everything about it. Of course, the main thing was the previous coaching staff not being there anymore. And with the new coaching staff, a lot of things have changed; a lot of things are different. It’s a different environment, a different type of energy in the building. It’s really just a completely different program all around from what I’ve seen from my last visit.
“On this visit, what was different was the priority the coaches put my visit and my recruitment. Last time, I just didn’t feel like there was as much of a priority put on me and my recruitment. This time I felt like the culture of the team and the culture of players and the coaches was a lot better and was a lot more positive. The players had nothing but good things to say about the coaching staff. Sometimes, when you visit somewhere, the coaches tell you one thing, but the players may say something different. What I liked about this visit was that everything that the coaches said aligned with what the players were saying too. That was cool for me to hear from the players because they’re gonna, shoot you straight, and tell you what it is. They know everything that the coaching staff and everything they told me wasn’t fluff, and it wasn’t BS.
“The whole thing with the transfer portal is, you don’t know what’s gonna happen. You wait day by day for calls; you wait for texts, you wait for different coaches to reach out to you. So whomever really puts the most emphasis on recruiting you or priority on you, you know they really want you. You know they can really use the following year.”
Swinson said that head coach Herm Edwards and defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce were the first ASU coaches to reach out. The tight end was planning to actually visit Colorado State this past weekend, but once their head coach was fired, and since he was familiar with Arizona State, he changed his plans and visited Tempe.
“They (ASU coaches) were telling me that they really liked my film from the last couple of years at Mizzou, and they really my style of play. They called me immediately and tried to get me on a visit. They called me Thursday morning, and Thursday afternoon, the Colorado State coach got fired, so I decided to take the official visit to Arizona State. It wasn’t like I was talking to them all week. It was just a 1-2 thing.
“They talked to me about the opportunity to get on the field early; with Curtis (Hodges) leaving, there’s an opportunity to get on the field and get some production early. They talked about their pass game, and how they’ve used their tight ends at Arizona State, and how he (Edwards) likes to use tight ends throughout his history of coaching. That’s the biggest thing that he emphasized, was just being able to be able to come in and play and make an immediate impact. That was the biggest thing that we talked about all weekend. Watching film, I saw that Curtis had a decent amount of targets this year and receptions. Those numbers were completely different compared to Mizzou. Of course, having Jayden Daniels back is a big, big plus, and a big upside, just because of the quarterback that he is and the experience that he has.”
Swinson said that Oklahoma State, Virginia, and Utah were schools that contacted him as of late. The tight end has two years of eligibility left and is scheduled to arrive in Tempe in January. He joins high prospect Jacob Newell and junior college transfer Bryce Pierre as the third tight end to commit to ASU in the 2022 recruiting cycle and is the eighth pledge overall for the Sun Devils.
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