Mallard Creek’s most wanted: Trent Simpson a major recruiting target at LB

Last weekend, Mallard Creek High School football star Trent Simpson pulled out his cellphone and posted his final five college choices on social media.

Simpson, 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, listed Auburn, Georgia, Miami, North Carolina and Tennessee.

“Somebody,” Mallard Creek coach Mike Palmieri said, “will get a special, special talent.”

Here’s how special: Simpson is the No. 2-ranked recruit in North Carolina. 247Sports, a national recruiting site, ranks Simpson as the No. 33 college football prospect and the third best outside linebacker recruit in the country.

The site also does what it calls “Crystal Ball” predictions, using information it’s obtained from a variety of sources to project where a recruit might go to college. It gives Simpson an 86 percent chance to playing for Mack Brown at North Carolina.

“One school I’m close with now is North Carolina for sure,” Simpson said. “They were my first offer a year ago. We talk almost every night. Auburn, we do that also.”

Simpson said what he’s looking for in a college is a place with great coaching and great academics and a great pedigree, a place that’s sent many guys to the NFL. He’s also looking for what he calls “a family feel.”

“That’s a big piece,” he said. “I’m trying to find a family, the school that’s going to get me to the next level, to the pros. I want that school that will help me get that degree I’m looking for, too, in television, broadcasting, communications.”

Simpson began his career at Mallard Creek as a 170-pound running back, who worked feverishly with Mavericks strength coach Donald Littlejohn to transform his body, lifting weights five days a week.

Last year, Palmieri talked to a bulked-up Simpson about switching to linebacker as his primary position. Palmieri felt that would enlongate Simpson’s career and make him more recruitable.

Simpson has won conference track meets and can run 100-meters in a tad over 11 seconds. And as a big linebacker with running-back speed, colleges became very interested.

As a junior, Simpson racked up more than 10 Power 5 offers. He was named to the I-MECK all-conference and the Observer’s All-Mecklenburg County team. Simpson had 74 tackles, 28 of which were for losses. He had eight sacks and six pass deflections.

“Speed allows you to get over top of the play and read linemen better so they can’t get hands on you,” Simpson said. “With my length, being tall and being able to use my speed, I can get (to ball carriers and quarterbacks) better.”

Palmieri said that Simpson is a rare blend of speed, size — and extreme football IQ.

“He’s a really, really smart kid on the football field,” said Palmieri, whose team began spring practice Monday. “He can play multiple positions. We have him at running back and linebacker this year. He can play receiver. That’s what separates him from a whole lot from a lot of kids. He can play a lot of positions and play them well.”

Palmieri thinks Simpson has a chance to be among the best players he’s coached — and Palmieri has had dozens of high major Division I stars and pros come out of his program, including former North Carolina quarterback Marquise Williams, Arizona Cardinals offensive lineman DJ Humphries and former N.C. State running back Jaylen Samuels, now with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“He just wants to get better,” Palmieri said. “He kind of never wants to take a day off. We have to slow him down. He just has a will and passion to get better. He’s one of the most physical kids we’ve had, super strong and tough on the field. We’ve had some great players here, but he’s right up there at the top of them.”

Simpson, who said he fell in love with the game from a young age, said he appreciates the recruiting attention and the great comments from his coach. He said he’s just happy his work hard is paying off.

“It was like a process,” he said. “When I got here, I knew this was the school that could get me all the (college) looks. (There have been) a lot of players come through here that went high Division I and played in the pros. I knew this was the place to be coming out of middle school, and when I was in ninth grade and (college coaches) came to look at (players), I knew I had a chance to get to level, too.”

This story was originally published May 7, 2019 at 5:47 PM with the headline "Mallard Creek’s most wanted: Trent Simpson a major recruiting target at LB."