On Saturdays, the coaches at Roxbury (N.J.) High School gather at the football office to break down film from the night before.
Oftentimes, one player will catch their eyes — and sometimes they'll even have to stifle a chuckle.
"One thing we watch for entertainment is what he does to his opponents," head coach Cosmo Lorusso said of offensive tackle Angelo Mangiro. "He'll drive his opponents so far they'll be off the screen. He's got a great motor."
Mangiro, a junior prospect on ESPNU's 150 Watch List, is projected to be an offensive guard in college. But, Lorusso said, his coaches look forward to rewinding the tape so they can see what he does on defense, too.
Two weeks ago, Mangiro --- who plays offensive tackle and defensive end/tackle for the Gaels --- recorded 18 stops as a defensive end in the conference championship.
"I'm coaching for 23 years, and he's without question the best player I've ever coached," Lorusso said.
The 6-foot-3, 290-pound junior already has fielded offers from Rutgers, Maryland, Boston College, North Carolina and N.C. State. He plans to start taking a closer look at schools when the high school season ends, but he'll be taking a deeper peek at the Nittany Lions on Saturday when he makes an unofficial visit against Indiana.
"It's a really good school, and I'm excited about it," Mangiro said. "Hopefully, I get to see Joe Paterno. I've been watching Penn State; that was my team growing up."
Teams have been eager for Mangiro to visit, but he's only attended games at Notre Dame and Rutgers this season. Colleges are so big on the junior, Larusso said, that one ACC coach --- whom Larusso declined to name --- told him, 'Hey Coach, if he came out this year, he'd be our No. 1 guy."
Mangiro has started since he was a freshman, and Larusso said he immediately knew the lineman was something special. For Mangiro, however, it took a few weeks.
"It was a little rough getting used to," he said of the transition to high school ball, "but when my first scrimmage came around, I realized I wasn't just holding my own but doing pretty well."
Then, late in his freshman year, he received recruiting questionnaires from Penn State and Maryland. That clinched it for him, he said. He was 15, and it took a while to sink in.
And Larusso was quick to point out that when it did finally hit him, it didn't hit his ego.
When Penn State assistant coach Dick Anderson approached Mangiro and told him an offer might take a while because the Lions tend to act conservatively when it comes to offering juniors, Larusso said his player just smiled.
"He goes, 'Coach, I'm in no hurry. I'm just working and concentrating. I understand,' " Laursso said. "He's pretty even-keeled."
Big target headed for State College
