Connecticut football star Joel Budd went from 380 to 315 pounds and the offers followed: Mike Anthony

ENFIELD – Joel Budd received his first major college football scholarship offer in the summer of 2024. He was 15 years old, standing 6 feet, 8 inches tall, weighing 380 pounds.

“I just had to look myself in the mirror,” Budd said, recalling his reaction to getting that call from a member of the Syracuse coaching staff. “I got the offer and I was like, ‘If this is something I want to do, I have to get my body right.’ That was my biggest goal, to get my body right.”

Budd, a junior left tackle at Enfield High and one of the best prospects in Connecticut, figured early on that, based on size alone, numerous college football opportunities would begin to pile up even before he was entering the stretch run of his high school experience.

He was right. There are offers now from Syracuse, Wake Forest, UConn and UMass. Many other power conference schools – Penn State, UCLA and Tennessee among them – are recruiting him with piqued interest. Odds are that, a few months from now, there will be more offers and more interest and, at a rapid rate, the need to take a very adult approach into a very adult world, even at 17.

Budd started building that foundation two years ago by chiseling his own. He is still 6-8 but a manageable 315 pounds, possessing not just the size, but a mobility and know-how more in line with the profile of a top prospect. He bench presses his body weight and deadlifts 600 pounds. He wears a size 18 shoe. He dunks a basketball with ease during pick-up games, and spends his springs playing attack on the Enfield lacrosse team.

Once a massive kid who dabbled in football, taking up the sport in 7th grade, he’s now an increasingly refined football player who happens to have started as a massive kid. It’s the sort of combination that will likely allow him to choose a college campus on the East Coast, West Coast or anywhere in between.

“I’ve known Joel’s family since I was a kid,” Enfield coach James Lyver said. “His uncle and I played high school football together. There are a lot of connections that cross over and, of course, everyone has said since Joel was a little guy – I’m talking 7 or 8 years old – that he’s this big, physical kid. And he’s just continued to grow and work hard and he’s got himself now in a position where, college coaches after his freshman and sophomore year, they’re calling and asking a lot of questions. Joel is a special blend of the hard work, the commitment and dedication – and those natural gifts you just can’t teach.”

Making the most of being recruited by top national programs means maturing – perhaps at rates unfair to a kid – as that process gains momentum. Budd in July hired an agency, 77NineNine out of Florida, to represent him. His mother, Megan, and Lyver carry a lot of the organization and conversations in connecting with interested colleges.

This is big business now, of course. Schools have lined up and will continue to and, soon enough, with official visits next year and discussions about contracts and NIL/revenue-sharing payments to follow, Budd will find himself in the desirable but draining position of making a life-shaping decision. Some nights, he lays in bed and tries to wrap his mind around it all – Where will I be in two years? – but, mostly, he’s going about teenage life in the healthiest way possible: making the most of, and enjoying, every day.

It’s gotten him to this point. He’s a charismatic, likable kid with a bear trap-like handshake. He likes to fish and play golf and hang around with his buddies, all of this interspersed with the type of diligent work that will allow him to maximize his size and talent.

“And not even just physically, but mentally and emotionally,” Lyver said of the necessary growth under the recruiting spotlight. “You’re 14, 15 years old and talking about, ‘You have a chance to do this, a chance to do that.’ Fourteen year olds want to go to the fair, hang out with their buddies, ride bikes, play video games. I think it speeds up the maturity process and you’re talking about a lot of things that most 14- and 15-year olds aren’t. There’s that vision of, ‘I have a gift and I’m really going to commit to this.’”

Budd grew up in Enfield but moved to Somers when he was in fourth grade. He started playing organized football in middle school – first in Simsbury, then in Springfield, Mass., as an eighth grader.

“That’s when I fell in love with it,” he said. “That’s when I realized that I was above the average payer and could really be something.”

Budd’s mother lives in Somers and his father, also Joel, lives in Enfield. He spent his freshman year at Somers High and played with the Somers-Stafford co-op team. He moved back to Enfield to live with his grandparents before his sophomore year. He was named an all-state player after both seasons. After sitting out two games while nursing a right foot injury, he made his season debut in Enfield’s home loss to Glastonbury on Sept. 24. He also plays defensive tackle for the Eagles, but he’s being recruited as a left tackle.

“The pillar of an entire offense,” Lyver said. “You want to run behind your 320-pound offensive lineman. You call pass plays knowing the protection is going to be firm and solid on that side of the line. I think the recruiting element is going to explode after this season.”

The world has shrunk as its means of communication have grown. Film of Budd is everywhere, in the hands of any college coach who could want it. His mother runs his social media accounts, where he is contacted directly. Lyver takes a lot of calls from coaches who, with a clear understanding for his physical gifts, are starting to get more specific in their questioning. How is he in the classroom? How does he conduct himself in practices? How does he approach workouts away from the field?

It is in these areas where Budd has grown in ways that match. Asked what’s next in his development, he had the best answer. It had nothing to do with football.

“This is a challenging year, academically,” he said.

He wants to do well in school.

Of course, he wants to do well on the field, too.

“He is drenched in sweat every single workout, because he has a goal,” Lyver said. “He’s hungry to improve.”

Life has changed.

Life will change some more.

“It’s all new for me and my mom,” Budd said. “I’ve got coaches texting, calling, so it’s a little stressful. But I’ve worked hard for this so I have to enjoy it, take it in.”

Doctors have told Budd that his growth plates have shut down. He was 6-8 in 8th grade, he’s 6-8 today and he’ll be 6-8 forever. He’ll likely regain some weight, all muscle, over the next two years of high school and well into his college experience.

This year is all about building on the gains he has made in areas of strength, flexibility and speed. Next year will be about yet another step on those fronts, and seeing campuses – seeing the country, really – before ultimately choosing a college program to join. He’s glad to already have local offers and interest that will give him a variety of options.

It started because he stood out on films and in camps, such as the one he attended at Syracuse in 2024. The next day, he received that call from the Syracuse coach, received the offer and “Looked in the mirror.”

“That’s where it really kicked in like, ‘I’m going to do this, I’m going to focus on this, I’m going to work really hard,’” Budd said. “Looking at myself from 8th grade or freshman year to now, it’s just a crazy difference. All that face fat is gone. My body has toned up a lot.”

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This article originally published at Connecticut football star Joel Budd went from 380 to 315 pounds and the offers followed: Mike Anthony.