Coach | 2024 TE Carter Nelson A "Freak Athlete"

When Jessi Owen says Carter Nelson‍ is a freak athlete, the Ainsworth High School head coach has the numbers to back it up.

“He's about 6-5, 215,” Owen says of the 2024 Nebraska tight end/athlete prospect.

“He high-jumped 7 feet, ran an 11.4 100-meter dash, pole vaulted over 13 feet and threw the discus like 175. He's a freak athlete. He ran a 4.5 40.”

College football programs have taken notice.

Nelson’s current offer sheet includes schools like Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas State, Penn State, Duke, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

“For our high school team, he literally plays almost every position for us,” Owen explains. “We move him around.

“Obviously he's listed as a tight end, but he can help out in a lot of different ways. Then character-wise, he's a great leader for us and has been a captain since he was a sophomore. The type of energy he has. He just loves to have fun and loves to play football.”

Ainsworth plays 8-man football and Nelson is all over the field.

“Defensively, he's a middle linebacker for us,” says Owen. “He'll play at safety every now and again and we put him at d-end as well.

“Offensively, if you look at his stats this year, he's played quarterback, running back receiver and tight end. He had over 500 receiving yards, over 500 rushing yards and over 500 passing yards.”

Some schools have talked about recruiting him as an athlete, but most are projecting him at tight end.

On Saturday night, he’ll be in South Bend to see Notre Dame play Clemson.

“I know Notre Dame's been in contact with him and they let him know that he could come out and gave him a couple weekends to come and this is the one that he decided,” his coach says.

“Notre Dame's one of those Blue Blood programs, obviously. I think if Notre Dame invites you, it's something that you've got to do, especially being a Nebraska kid. Notre Dame's Midwest and we know Notre Dame and people follow them around here.

“I think it's going to open his eyes a little bit on a different area. He hasn't been to South Bend before and Notre Dame's a little bit of a different program. It might be an eye-opening experience for him.”

He’s already taken gameday visits to Nebraska, Iowa State, Oklahoma and Kansas State this fall.

Nelson doesn’t have any sort of timeline for making a decision or cutting down his list, according to Owen.

“It's still up in the air at this point. He's still just enjoying the process and looking to make the best decision for himself.”

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