OL recruit Tyrone McDuffie grateful for opportunity from CU Buffs
Jul. 4—In the spring, Tyrone McDuffie knew where he wanted to play college football.
One more visit in June solidified the decision.
A 6-foot-3, 303-pound offensive lineman from Parkland High School in El Paso, Texas, McDuffie verbally committed to Colorado's coaches for the 2023 class in the spring, but didn't make that announcement public until June 27 following a visit to Boulder.
"I just wanted to visit the school one last time and just make sure that the decision that I made supported me and it was the right decision," he said.
Now that he's verbally committed, he couldn't be more excited about his future.
"The coaching staff, the culture," he said of what stood out to him about CU. "I'm getting greeted by current players, former players and not just the head coach and the offensive coaching staff, but the defensive coaching staff. It was just a great family culture there."
Rated a three-star recruit by 247Sports.com, McDuffie plays left tackle at Parkland, but is projected as a guard or center at CU. Overall, he has 10 scholarship offers, including from New Mexico, UTEP and UTSA. CU is the only Power 5 school to offer him.
"It is exciting," he said. "At the end of the day, you only need one and Colorado happened to be that one school. There's a school out there who believes in my athletic ability to play football over there, that I'm capable of doing other things that other great player have done."
McDuffie made his announcement live on KTSM TV in El Paso and said he did so because of his pride in his hometown.
"Just being able to showcase El Paso athletes and El Paso, Texas," he said. "It means so much for me to be from the 915 and represent El Paso. Not a lot of athletes make it from here. To showcase El Paso means a lot."
One El Paso athlete who did make it was Steven Montez, a CU quarterback from 2015-19. Montez, who spent last season with the Detroit Lions, is CU's all-time leading passer.
"I watched him play when I was a kid," McDuffie said. "He's a great kid, great family culture. He comes from a great group of people."
Montez wasn't heavily recruited out of high school, either. McDuffie hopes to follow Montez's example and prove himself at CU.
"I could be from the Dallas metroplex area and having 28 Division I offers, but I think it really is hard to get noticed in El Paso," McDuffie said. "That's why I respect the schools who offered me because it takes some guts to come out here to west Texas and recruit some kids. We do have some talent in El Paso."
CU actually noticed McDuffie last year and offered him a scholarship in the fall. When the Buffs made a change with its offensive line coaches, McDuffie got a bit worried, but new line coach Kyle DeVan has been impressed with him.
"Of course there was some nerves and some doubts about it, but they still felt the same way about me," McDuffie said. "Coach DeVan came in and he actually called me around February and talked. He said he loves my film and he still believes I can be a Colorado Buffalo."
McDuffie can't wait to join the herd. He hasn't decided whether he will graduate early or arrive in the summer of 2023, but he's eager to prove himself when he gets to campus.
"At the end of the day, if they believe in me, that's going to push me and motivate me to do more work over there," he said.
Note
On Monday, CU lost one commit. Naquil Betrand, a tackle from Philadelphia, committed to CU on March 22. At the time, he had just two Power 5 offers. Since then, he's added eight Power 5 offers. On Monday, he announced his top six, and CU wasn't included. His list includes Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, Penn State, Syracuse and Texas A&M.
