Schools Starting to Stand out for Linebacker Robby Snelling

The Nevada linebacker has had a busy summer so far, making official visits and winning hardware on the baseball field.

With South Carolina linebacker Jaylen Sneed committing to Notre Dame Monday, the Oregon staff is in search of more linebackers to place alongside TJ Dudley in the 2022 class. 

4-star linebacker Robby Snelling is one of the Ducks' top defensive targets and the interest is mutual. He said the Ducks "set the bar up there" following his trip to Eugene and it looks like Mario Cristobal and his staff haven't eased their efforts since.

Snelling took his first official visit to Oregon in early June, and spent time with TJ Dudley, who committed to the Ducks at the end of the month. Nevada defensive lineman Sir Mells also committed to Oregon, laying the foundation for a potential Nevada-to-Oregon pipeline.

"I became pretty close with TJ when we were on the visit," Snelling said. "I was able to watch his live stream with his commitment, so that was super cool for him.

"Mells has been on me about the recruiting just as much as the coaches have been, talking about how they're building something over there and wanting me to hop on the train."

Oregon went berserk on the recruiting trail early in July, picking up elite talent from all over the country. The Ducks' recent string of commitments has snowballed into serious momentum and has Snelling's attention. 

"It just shows how good of recruiters they are and how the success that you've had in past years can keep building and get you those athletes," he told Ducks Digest.

Oregon isn't the only school in the hunt for the McQueen High School standout. Snelling also took an official visit to Arizona on June 10, a few days earlier than originally planned due to a baseball tournament on his schedule.

"The campus was great. I love the setup, and the weather is always a plus there," Snelling said of his time in Tucson. "The people that surrounded the campus were awesome, and I had a good time down there."

Arizona is in a bit of a rebuild after firing Kevin Sumlin following an 0-5 season last year. Now Jedd Fisch is at the helm after previously serving as the New England Patriots' quarterbacks coach.

Fisch made an impression on Snelling, inviting the young linebacker and the whole Wildcats team to a pool party at his house.

"He's super personable," Snelling said of Fisch. "He made sure that my parents knew that I would be taken care of there. He treats all of his players like family."

So if Oregon set the bar up there for Snelling, where does Arizona rank?

"They were very close. Oregon has all the facilities and everything like that, but with Arizona, I think with the combination of all the coaches and how they interacted with the families and how all the players interacted with the recruits, it was definitely up there with Oregon."

Snelling is also a standout pitcher on the baseball team at McQueen, and he spoke with the baseball coaches at both Oregon and Arizona on his visits. He wants to spend time playing both sports at a high level in his career.

"It's always been my plan to play college football, but baseball is probably gonna be what I want to do," he told Ducks Digest.

Snelling committed to Stanford on a baseball scholarship but decommitted once he began collecting offers to play college football. He's spent the summer playing baseball across the country, including winning MVP of the New Balance Baseball Future Stars Series in Sulphur, Louisiana. 

While in Louisiana, Snelling checked out the LSU campus and baseball facilities but couldn't speak with the football coaches due to the dead period.

The dual-sport athlete has plans to visit Nebraska, Texas, and Michigan in the fall. He told Ducks Digest that he has spoken with Oregon Linebackers Coach Ken Wilson about potentially coming to Eugene for a game at Autzen Stadium.

Snelling told Ducks Digest that Oregon, Arizona, LSU, Texas, and Michigan would be in the conversation for a final schools list, but he iterated that a final decision likely won't come until the fall.

"The schools that I'm planning on making visits to are probably going to end up being the top schools that I'm going to pick from," Snelling said. "I'm just going to sift through all of the stuff that I see from the schools that I visit, and then I'll make a little pros and cons list. Then I'll have my decision made."

*WATCH ROBBY SNELLING JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS HERE*

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