It will be a homecoming season for new Carleton Ravens football recruit Ryan MacPherson.
Born and raised in Ottawa, the 18-year-old freshman joins the team in its second season, and said he’s ready to help the Ravens build a legacy.
MacPherson, an offensive lineman, returns home after a season abroad in the United States playing for IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., a prep school that recruited him for its inaugural football season.
Playing under head coach Chris Weinke, a former national champion and Heisman Trophy winner with Florida State University in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, as well as offensive line coach Mike Gruttadauria, who won a Super Bowl ring with the St. Louis Rams, MacPherson said he was able to learn the skill of perseverance.
“I had to balance my busy football schedule with my academic schedule. I learned to overcome obstacles I was faced with that would impede my progress on the field and off the field,” he said. “A lot of that mostly was just adapting to new surroundings. I was living on my own so I was kind of getting used to new surroundings, a new team.”
Carleton will be a little more familiar for MacPherson, a former member of the Orleans Bengals and Cumberland Panthers from his junior football days in the Ottawa area.
“Coming home, I’ll be surrounded by things I grew up with,” he said. “It will be a little different going to university so it will be a whole new environment for me. I’ll still be living in Ottawa so it won’t be too different. I feel that spending that year in Florida, I’ll be a little more prepared for all of this.”
Like his time at IMG in its inaugural season, MacPherson joins a Ravens squad that is still fresh, coming off an 0-8 season in its return from 15 years of inactivity.
He said the team’s potential for growth was something he wanted to be part of.
“I know they’re a young team and it was a rough season,” he said. “They’re growing, they’re getting better. I want to become part of the tradition.”
Ravens coach Steve Sumarah said MacPherson was originally on the team’s radar for 2015, thinking he would take an extra season to develop before transitioning to the university level.
“When [MacPherson] had a chance to come back in April for his break, we had to get him on campus,” Sumarah said. “Sure enough, he said ‘This is where I want to be.’”
Sumarah said MacPherson’s biggest asset—standing at six foot four and 310 pounds—is his versatility. Being able to play centre, guard, or tackle, the coach said he expects his newest recruit to be a regular in the team’s lineup this season—a rarity for a first-year player on other, older university teams.
MacPherson said he anticipates a challenge adapting to the university level.
“Unlike high school, the players there will be a lot bigger, have a better understanding of the game, and be more sound to what they do,” he said. “I’m not afraid to go into contact. I will happily move people around so we can become successful and score.”
Sumarah said MacPherson is up for the challenge, adding the high-level coaching he’s received over the last few years has helped him develop.
“Physically, that’s always the big thing that keeps guys off the field and he’s physically ready,” Sumarah said. “The bottom line is, [MacPherson] is somebody we think is good enough to come in and contribute and play.”
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