Edwards a Versatile Athlete

Holliston, Mass., athlete Matt Edwards gave his verbal pledge to play for Connecticut a week ago after attending a one day camp in Storrs and his versatility on the football field could allow him to play many different roles for the Huskies. We caught up with Edwards recently to get his thoughts on the program and why he ultimately chose to become a part of the family.

Matt Edwards probably projects best to the safety position at the collegiate level, but this versatile athlete returns kickoffs and plays strong safety, outside linebacker, running back and wide receiver for Holliston High School. At 6-foot-1, 195 pounds, the Connecticut staff simply recruited Edwards as an athlete, however he definitely has an opinion on where he will eventually end up on the Husky depth chart.

“They recruited me as an athlete and said their top choices for me to play are running back, wide receiver or strong safety, but I see myself ending up at strong safety when all is said and done,” Edwards explained. “I have good speed and have consistently run in the 4.5 range in the 40-yard dash and definitely have a nose for the ball on defense. Wide receiver is a position that I have played at Holliston, but I have not had a ton of experience there, so I am still getting familiar with the position.”

While getting familiar with the position Edwards did have roughly 500 yards receiving and four touchdowns last season, but also added 1000 yards and 12 touchdowns coming out of the backfield as well. He was also a force on defense and special teams, grabbing six interceptions last season and returning three kickoffs for touchdown on his way to first-team All-League honors. A relatively unknown commodity to the recruiting world before his commitment, we spoke to Edwards about how he came to his decision to commit to Connecticut.

“Well, I attended a one-day camp at Connecticut and after the camp Head Coach Randy Edsall asked me to give him a call that night when I got home,” Edwards said. “When I called him back he and the coaching staff told me that I had earned an offer at camp that day, so I went to Boston College camp that week and took the time to think about what I wanted to do. When the week was up I knew that Connecticut was where I wanted to be, so I called Coach Edsall back and let him know I wanted to be a Husky.”

“There were a lot of reasons why I picked Connecticut, but academics were paramount in my decision as they have a very good business program which is what my major will be in college,” Edwards added. “I saw them as a perfect fit because of the quality academics and also because they are close to home and an up and coming program that is really going places. I had also seen the facilities a number of times and thought they were phenomenal, especially the indoor field. I just knew I would be comfortable there and pulled the trigger. Finally, I had a very good relationship with my recruiter Coach (Mike) Foley and just think he is an awesome guy, so after spending time with him on many occasions everything just fit into place.”

Edwards says he will spend time trying to add weight over the next year while maintaining his speed so that he can bulk up a bit to play the safety position. While adding the weight is definitely priority he did stress that it would only be good weight and understood that the Connecticut staff would have him on a program next year that would maximize what he could get out of his 6-foot-1, 195-pound frame. As for the position he will end up playing, no one quite knows obviously, however it sounds like defense is where this young man would like to eventually land.