It had long been thought that Escambia County Blue Devil Tyler Nero would be a top prospect for the Arkansas Razorbacks, but it was not until Monday that he received a verbal offer from the SEC school that his father played for.

The offer becomes the fourth that Nero has received and first from the SEC. The defensive tackle has previously received offers from the University of South Alabama, the University of Illinois Florida State University.

Nero’s head coach Mark Heaton said that Arkansas’ interest came from seeing Nero last summer at camps.

“Tyler went to a lot of camps up there and his dad still lives in Arkansas, so he spent a lot of time up there last summer,” he said. “He called Willy Robinson, the defensive coordinator, yesterday afternoon, which is his first official SEC offer. He has a lot of interest from Alabama and Auburn, but they haven’t made any offers. This is a big deal though because after he got his first ACC offer with FSU then Clemson and Miami started calling. Hopefully, the SEC will follow suit.”

Once an offer has been given to a prospect, the interest that other schools has the chance of picking up.

Heaton said that if schools like a prospect they will make an offer because they want to get to know that prospect.

“Interest generates pretty quick,” he said. “Most schools want to actually see the kid, meet the kid and get to know them. There’s more at stake then just playing football. They have to know they are academically sound and they do that through transcript checks. They also want to know that this is the type of person they want to spend that time with. Personal relationships are developed and and it’s a process that takes a lot of time.”

“Tyler is a very humble kid,” Heaton added. “He’s not out looking for prestige when he’s looking at schools. When I’ve talked with him, his main concern is getting better for this upcoming football season, so he can be the best football player he can be for Escambia County High School and that’s humbling for a kid his age. That’s exciting on our end because it shows he cares about his teammates and this program. It’s a long process, so he’s just taking it as it comes. He’s still wide open because it’s too early to decide that. He has to look and see what the right fit is for him.”