Click for Erik Glueck Highlights
Coaching staffs are always looking for a player with strong leadership skills to man the middle of their defense and this year, Bellarmine Prep (Tacoma, Wa.) LB Erik Glueck is one that embodies that description perfectly. Now that he’s the “old man” on the Lions’ defense, he’s ready to take the reigns and help show the way for his younger teammates.
“It’s kinda weird to think that I am the old guy on the team now,” the senior-to-be told Northwest Elite Index after a recent scrimmage. “The first two years when I was on varsity, I always had older guys to look up to and to show me what needed to be done, but now the younger guys are looking to me to be that guy.
“It’s cool because I’ve learned a lot about leadership from my parents, but also the guys who were ahead of me and here when I got on varsity, so now it’s my chance to show the next leaders on our team how we do things once I am gone.”
As a junior last season, while helping lead Bellarmine Prep to a 8-4 record, Glueck posted 141 tackles, three sacks and an interception, using his natural football instincts as well as his quickness and physicality to be a stalwart from his middle linebacker spot.
“I feel like I can do whatever they need me to do, but I definitely have some stuff I am working on to help me get better,” Glueck noted. “I’m working a lot on my speed right now. I think my speed on the field is better than it is on the track, so you know how that goes, but I think I’m pretty fast; I just want to get faster.
“I am also working a lot on my lateral quickness while getting blocked or getting pressure from the side by someone else. I feel like I’m pretty good in that area too, but you can always get better.”
On the recruiting front, Glueck already has two offers and plenty more schools are showing him a lot of attention.
“I’ve got offers right now from Ohio and Cornell and I’ve been hearing from schools like Stanford, Yale, Air Force, Princeton, OSU, WSU, Harvard, Columbia, and Army,” Glueck said.
Glueck has been hard at work this month with his team, taking part in spring practices, but he’s also found time to go to the Stanford Camp and Washington Camp that were held last weekend and he will be at the Rough Diamonds Camp at Interlake High School in Bellevue this coming Sunday as well.
As far as visits to other schools, Glueck said he’s hoping to make an East Coast swing to check out the Ivy League programs he is being courted by, but at this point he’s unsure of when that will happen.
