Recruiting: Three-star LB Edward Warinner commits to Michigan State
Edward Warinner has family ties to Michigan State.
That includes his father, Ed, who is now offensive line coach and run-game coordinator at Minnesota.
Yet the younger Warinner said Wednesday that his dad was one of his biggest supporters of becoming the Spartans’ fifth commitment for their 2018 football recruiting class.
“It’s gonna be fun when he has to scheme against me,” Warinner said with a chuckle on 92.1-FM in Lansing.
Warinner, a three-star linebacker from Olentangy Liberty High, became MSU’s third commitment from Ohio and fifth overall for 2018. He joins a recruiting class that already includes four-star athlete Xavier Henderson and four-star tight end Trenton Gillison, both from Pickerington (Ohio) Central, three-star quarterback Theo Day from Dearborn Divine Child and three-star cornerback Christian Jackson from Marietta (Ga.) Lassiter.
“Our background’s in Ohio. We understand the football that’s played there, and they play a high level of football,” Dantonio said on the Big Ten spring football teleconference Wednesday. “And Michigan State has always been a place where we’ve gotten a lot of players from Ohio. … It’s a very important recruiting area for us.”
The elder Warinner was roommates with Mark Dantonio early in their coaching careers at Akron before going on to serve as linebackers coach for MSU under George Perles and defensive coordinator Nick Saban from 1985-86. He was an assistant coach at Ohio State from 2012 until last season, the past two as offensive coordinator, before joining P.J. Fleck’s new staff with the Gophers.
It was in East Lansing where Ed and Mary Beth Warinner, an MSU alum, met while she worked in the football office.
“My mom is a Spartan, and a lot of the family on her side of the family are Spartan grads,” Edward Warinner said. “So they are all happy and excited. And honestly, my dad was the most supportive of anybody. My dad knew that MSU was a great fit, and he wants what’s best for me.”
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The 6-foot-2, 222-pound Warinner is rated the No. 44 inside linebacker and the No. 45 player in Ohio for his class by 247sports.com's composite rankings. He reportedly had offers from Rutgers, Central Michigan, West Virginia, Central Florida and a number of FBS schools in Ohio but not the Buckeyes.
“You feel a certain love from the MSU coaches,” he said. “I looked at all my options, and I loved the people at Michigan State. … They are definitely people that I want to be around for the next four or five years.”
Warinner felt he was “set and sold on MSU” and does not plan to take any more visits, adding that he feels relieved to have the decision made before the end of his junior year. He said Dantonio and co-defensive coordinator Mike Tressel have said he likely will play either middle or weak-side outside linebacker in college.
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They’ll be getting a football-savvy mind when Warinner arrives.
“My dad’s been coached at a lot of really good programs, he’s coached a lot of good players and guys who start and contribute in the NFL,” Warinner said. “I’ve been around football my whole life, and I know that football is as intense of a game as you can play. It requires a lot of focus, a lot of preparation, a lot of toughness and a lot of skill. You have to be sharp. … I definitely have a clear picture of what I think about when I think about football and how I play.”
Contact Chris Solari:csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@chrissolari.