3-star tight end Matthew Klopfenstein commits to Baylor

Scottsdale (Ariz.) Horizon three-star tight end Matthew Klopfenstein has known where he’s wanted to play college football at Baylor for weeks. But it wasn’t until Monday that he officially decided to make the decision.

He announced the news Wednesday, telling On3’s Chad Simmons that he chose the Bears over Arizona, Arizona State, Washington and Wisconsin.

“The decision was not hard,” Klopfenstein said. “I knew I wanted to be a Bear, and I was so ready to make that decision.”

He is the No. 718 overall recruit in the 2023 cycle, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Klopfenstein visited the school in March and left “knowing” he wanted to play for the school. But he didn’t want to make a rash decision.

“As soon as I got on campus, I loved it,” Klopfenstein said. “It felt just like home, I could see myself playing there.”

He added that the staff was a main reason for his commitment. Offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Jeff Grimes.

“As soon as I told Coach Grimes at Baylor that I wanted to become a Bear, he was overjoyed and thrilled and was so excited,” Klopfenstein said.

Matthew Klopfenstein joins growing Baylor recruiting class

The Bears, which entered Thursday with the 16th-ranked class in the 2023 On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking, now has eight commits in the 2023 cycle.

The class is led by Cypress (Texas) Cy Ranch four-star linebacker Christian Brathwaite, Temple (Texas) Lake Belton three-star safety Javeon Wilcox and Dripping Springs (Texas) three-star quarterback Austin Novosad.

Matthew Klopfenstein also joins Pflugerville (Texas) Weiss three-star wide receiver Micah Gifford and Houston Stratford three-star tight end Hawkins Polley as the pass catches in the class.