‘What’s a first down?’: Meet Tobi Haastrup, the accidental superstar and coveted recruit

Tobi Haastrup had no idea what to do.

The 17-year-old had never lined up in a defensive stance before. He wasn’t sure what it meant to jump offsides and had never heard of a tackle for loss. Come to think of it, he didn’t exactly know what downs were, either, or how they worked. But here he was, working out last summer with the Mayde Creek High football team in Houston.

“Everything was new to me,” said Haastrup, born and raised in England.

But who needs to know the rules when you are 6 feet 4 and 235 pounds and run a 10.7-second 100-meter dash?

Mayde Creek defensive line coach Dechristeon Wilson, also the school’s assistant track coach, urged Haastrup to try football heading into his senior year. At best, Haastrup would take to the sport. At worst, he’d leave high school with no regrets.

“Little did I know,” Haastrup said.

On Aug. 30, he played in his first-ever football game and finished with five sacks and about three offsides penalties.

Within a week, more than a dozen FBS schools, including Ole Miss, LSU, Tennessee and Texas A&M, reached out with scholarship offers.

Three months later, Haastrup is up to 23 offers and is one of the most coveted uncommitted Class of 2025 prospects leading up to the early signing period next month. The accidental superstar who never attended a summer camp or took an official visit before this fall is ranked No. 279 nationally in the 247Sports Composite.

With official visits to Boston College, Missouri, Vanderbilt, Florida State, Texas Tech and, most recently, USC already in the books, Haastrup has two final stops on what has become a hectic college tour. He will be at Michigan this week and Oregon next week ahead of a Dec. 2 decision and Dec. 4 signing.

And to think, three months ago, he knew nothing of the Big Ten or SEC.

“It’s overwhelming at times,” he said. “But I thank God each and every day for the experiences.”

Haastrup was born in England and spent the first nine years of his life in Southeast London, where he didn’t follow American football in any capacity.

The family moved to the Sacramento, Calif., area in 2016 and then, three years later, relocated to Houston, where Tobi, the youngest of three children, started to come into his own as a sprinter and shot-putter.

But he never thought much about football. That changed this past summer.

Mike Arogbonlo was hired as Mayde Creek’s head coach in May after a stint as the quarterbacks coach at Texas powerhouse Duncanville High. A few of his new assistant coaches wasted little time in filling him in on priority No. 1.

“The first thing I was told by the coaching staff was (how big it would be) if I could get this kid to come out that looks great, is fast — he’s a great athlete,” Arogbonlo said of Haastrup. “I said, ‘OK.’ And I went and found him, and we started talking.”

Haastrup and Arogbonlo hit it off quickly, bonding over their families’ Nigerian roots. There was an innocence to Haastrup that Arogbonlo appreciated, having spent time around arrogant five-stars at his previous stops. More than anything, Haastrup was willing to learn and had no problem acknowledging what he didn’t know.

“It just kind of takes you back to the basics,” Arogbonlo said. “There were a lot of questions that he had: ‘What’s a first down? Where’s the down marker? What’s a defensive end, and what’s the difference between a defensive end and an outside linebacker?’ He didn’t know any of those things. But he’s been like a sponge, just soaking in whatever he can.”

Wilson realized the Mayde Creek coaches needed to simplify the game for Haastrup as much as possible. He decided to relate football to track whenever he could. Exploding out of a D-lineman’s stance was just like springing out of track blocks. The same speed Haastrup used in races would be what got him to the quarterback, too. The only difference was Haastrup would need to learn to run around a curve instead of down a straightaway, which Wilson prepared him for with various figure-eight drills in practice. The duo worked on ghost moves, bull rushing and other basic pass-rushing techniques, with Wilson letting Haastrup pick his favorites come game time.

“With him, it was like, ‘Oh, I’ve gotta take it back — way back,’” Wilson said. “Like I’m teaching younger and younger kids. Like I’m teaching my nephew or someone. But I love that because it was like a blank canvas.”

When the season rolled around, Haastrup’s biggest issue was lining up offsides. He’d be so focused on his pass-rush technique that he forgot the basics and kept picking up 5-yard penalties.

“All I knew was, ‘Get down and just see ball, get ball,’” he said.

But as time progressed, Haastrup started to get more comfortable. By midseason, he settled in and didn’t need to look to the sideline as much for guidance. Through film study, he was able to pick up how opposing offensive linemen set their feet and eventually developed countermoves he could utilize.

Mayde Creek went just 5-5 this season, but Haastrup finished with 20 tackles for loss and nine sacks, playing at the Class 6A level of Texas high school football.

“A couple of (colleges) were weary,” Arogbonlo said. “They wanted to see him play two or three games (before offering).

“The main question was always, ‘Is he 6-3 or 6-4?’ And I would tell coaches, ‘I don’t care what he is. He’s a 10.7 100-meter runner at 240 pounds. This is a no-miss (prospect) because at worst he’s playing special teams.’”

Arogbonlo said he fields a call or two from a college coach every day about Haastrup, who is starting to get a feel for which programs are historically the most successful and which conferences are the most competitive. Wilson, the school’s recruiting coordinator, has helped guide Haastrup through the process, encouraging him to trust his instincts.

Haastrup’s coaches believe his decision will go down to the wire.

Academics are important to Haastrup, who eventually wants to attend medical school and become an orthopedic surgeon. His 19-year-old sister is studying neuroscience at Texas A&M.

Development will be a major part of the decision, too.

“Because I’m still so new to the sport,” he said, “it’s definitely going to be one of the most important decisions I make in my life.”

In a college football world in which prospects are often first identified in eighth or ninth grade, Haastrup’s story is rare.

“Football can take you places you never thought you would go,” Wilson said.

In Haastrup’s case, he’s just getting started.

“(Whoever gets him), they’re getting a kid with a lot of upside,” Arogbonlo said. “I suspect with more time, with nutrition, with the training table on the next level, with the coaching staffs, I just expect a huge growth. I really believe he’s a Sunday player. That’s the kind of kid I think he is.

“If God could make a football player, he made Tobi.”

(Photo courtesy of Jimmie Aggison / The Houston Defender)