3-star defender Nathan Tilmon’s roller coaster journey before committing to Utah

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 parents, ‘We should go see Utah, we should go,’” Tilmon said. “So we went, they played Colorado and we loved it.”

Tilmon didn’t know how much the trip would impact his recruiting process.

It all started before his junior season, when Utah scouting director Mason Yellico first contacted Tilmon.

The two men stayed in touch as Utah’s coaching staff entered the recruiting process. But Tilmon credits Yellico with facilitating his unofficial visit to Utah, a visit from which he left with an offer from the Utes.

“He (Yellico) was the one who got me on the field for that game,” Tilmon said. “I went there and was offered to play on my unofficial visit last year. So Mason was the one who put it all together.”

For Tilmon, the decision about his playing future was still not so easy.

The 6-foot-1, 185-pound safety committed to SMU on Feb. 3, a program that offered him a contract just two weeks before Utah. But as the offseason wore on and he took official visits to SMU and Utah, his plans began to change and he began leaning 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: TCU, Texas and Utah.

Tilmon’s official visit to Utah was a success for both parties because he was able to see the true nature of the coaching staff. It was this aspect of the visit that helped convince him to join the Utah team.

“It was great hospitality. I felt all the love from the coaches there,” Tilmon said. “That’s really what drew me here. I felt all the love. It was like a family there. I’ll be able to thrive and fit in perfectly there.”

But even with a high-profile official visit, Tilmon was torn. It wasn’t an easy choice and his decision “came down to the wire,” he said. But after choosing Utah, he never wavered, saying he was “glad I chose Utah.”

Defensive coordinator and safeties coach Morgan Scalley played the biggest role in recruiting Tilmon to Utah, he said. Scalley’s resume, coupled with his 17 years with the program, was compelling enough for Tilmon to trust him and commit to the Utes.

Tilmon saw Scalley develop several players who went on to play in the NFL, including Jaylon Johnson, Eric Rowe and Marcus Williams.

“He’s one of the best coaches to ever send safeties to the league — Safety U. at Utah,” Tilmon said. “And he’s been there a while, so I know I’m going to have him as my coach when I get there.”

Tilmon committed to Utah on Aug. 10, giving the Utes their 18th commitment for their 2025 recruiting class. He also became the Utes’ third commitment from the state of Texas, joining three-star cornerback Jason Stokes Jr. and three-star safety Shelton Fuller.

Stokes was on an official visit to Utah at the same time as Tilmon, so the two were able to interact and talk about what they saw during 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 as a person. And he hopes they appreciate him the way he appreciated Utah.

“They’re going to get a great, fun, caring guy,” he said. “I’m one of the best people to spend time with, you can ask any of my buddies, my coaches, any of them. I’m being honest. As a player, they’re going to get a fast, physical, just a dog in safety, a player that’s going to go out there and become something.”