Leitten one to watch moving forward

A new to remember moving into the spring evaluation period next month in the Midstate is Patrick Leitten.

The 6-foot-8, 250-pound offensive lineman from Ravenwood High School continues to pick up significant interest from major schools, most notably Tennessee, who has hosted him twice in the past month, including last week for a spring practice.

“They have a lot of energy. They like to do things big and that’s the attitude you need to have,” Leitten said of the Vols’ spring practice. “The coaches have a lot of attitude and passion and they have a lot of fun doing it.”

Leitten kept a close eye on offensive line coach Don Mahoney during the practice and liked what he observed.

“On the field he’s intense. He puts a lot of passion and energy into it.” Leitten said. “He really loves what they do and that’s important to me. It’s just cool to watch and see what it’s like behind the scenes.”

Currently, Leitten has offers from Vanderbilt and Wyoming but more could be on the way. Tennessee has told him they want to continue to build the relationship with him as he continues to get bigger and stronger.

“They just said keep coming back and seeing them. They want me to come to camp and I will try and camp there and should be able to,” Leitten said. “Coach Mahoney said something about schools taking it too fast these days and I think that’s true and I like that. I want to be happy wherever I go and I like that they are building that relationship so I don’t rethink a decision.”

The Vols aren’t the only other team that could be close to pulling the trigger as Duke has been chasing Leitten as well and he visited there recently.

“I visited a practice this past week and got to spend the whole day with the coaches and around the program. I really liked it,” Leitten said. “Academics are very important to me and that would be a wonderful place. The players love what they do and they take care of the players and they make sure it’s going smoothly and they are happy where they are.”

But, no matter who comes in the picture moving forward, the Vols offer a few connections for Leitten that no one else can have.

“I just feel at home when I’m there. The coaches act like they want me there and that appeals to me,” Leitten said. “The coaches are real and that helps me feel at home. An offer would be really special from them. Plus, both of my brothers are there even though they would be gone by the time I got there.”