Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — After Nathan Tilmon's high school team, Mansfield Timberview, lost in the first round of the Texas 5A-Division 1 state playoffs last season, Tilmon and his family made their first trip to Utah.
"I told my mom and dad, 'We should go check Utah out; we should go out there,'" Tilmon said. "So we went out there, they played Colorado, and we loved it."
Little did Tilmon know how much weight that trip would carry for his recruiting process.
It all started before his junior season, when Utah's director of scouting, Mason Yellico, first reached out to Tilmon.
The two kept in contact as members of Utah's coaching staff came into the recruiting process, as well. But Tilmon credits Yellico for facilitating his unofficial visit to Utah, a visit where he left with an offer from the Utes.
"He's (Yellico) the one that got me up there for that game," Tilmon said. "I went up there and got offered on my unofficial visit last year. So Mason was the one that made it all shape."
For Tilmon, the decision about his playing future still wasn't that easy.
The 6-foot, 185-pound safety committed to SMU on Feb. 3 to a program that offered him just two weeks prior to Utah. But as the offseason progressed and he took official visits to SMU and Utah, his plans started to change and he began to lean toward Utah.
On June 23, Tilmon decommitted from SMU, just 15 days after taking an official visit to Utah, and named his top three schools of TCU, Texas and Utah.
Tilmon's official visit to Utah was a success for both parties as he saw the genuine nature of the coaching staff. It was that aspect of the visit that helped win him over to the Utah side.
"It was great hospitality. The coaches, I felt all the love out there," Tilmon said. "That's really what brought me in. I felt all the love. It felt like a family out there. I'll be able to thrive and fit in great there."
But even with a great official visit, Tilmon was conflicted. It wasn't an easy choice and his decision "came down to the wire," he said. But after picking Utah he's never wavered, saying he's "glad I chose Utah."
Defensive coordinator and safeties coach Morgan Scalley played the biggest factor in Tilmon's recruitment with Utah, he said. Scalley's resume, paired with his 17 years with the program, was convincing enough for Tilmon to trust in him and commit to the Utes.
Tilmon saw that Scalley has developed several players that have gone on to play in the NFL, including Jaylon Johnson, Eric Rowe and Marcus Williams.
"He's one of the best coaches to send safeties to the league — Safety U. at Utah," Tilmon said. "And he's been there for a moment, so I know I'm going to have him as a coach when I get there."
Tilmon made his commitment to Utah on Aug. 10, giving the Utes their 18th commitment for their 2025 recruiting class. He also became Utes their third commitment from the state of Texas as he joins three-star cornerback Jason Stokes Jr. and three-star safety Shelton Fuller.
Stokes took an official visit to Utah at the same time as Tilmon, so the two got to interact and talk about what they saw on the visit.
Now that Tilmon has been committed to the Utes for a little over a month, he hopes Utah fans can start to get to know him as a player and a person. And he hopes they buy into him just like he's bought into Utah.
"They're getting a great, fun, caring person," he said. "I'm one of the best people to be around, you can ask any of my homeboys, my coaches, any of them. I keep it real. As a player, they're getting a fast, physical — just a dog at safety, a player that's going to go there and be something."
