Orlando Pace’s son, Landon Pace, lands first scholarship offer

Landon Pace earned second-team freshman All-America honors this past season from MaxPreps. Now, he’s starting to earn attention from college recruiters.

Landon Pace — a 6-foot-3, 200-pound tight end/linebacker from St. Louis (Mo.) St. Louis University High School — shared on social media he had picked up an offer from West Virginia on Wednesday.

“I am blessed to receive this,” Pace told On3. “Very excited to see what this program has to offer.”

If that last name sounds familiar, Landon Pace is the youngest son of NFL and college football Hall of Famer Orlando Pace.

While Landon Pace earned the All-America honors for his play at linebacker, SLUH recruiting coordinator Adam Cruz said he could play on either side in college.

“Honestly, chances are equal between tight end and linebacker,” Cruz said. “I’d probably give the edge to tight end because that’s what he’s played for us up on varsity and has more experience as. He’s a nasty blocker.

“I coach him on JV basketball right now. It extends to the basketball court, let me tell you.”

Pace’s father was a star at Ohio State and played 11 years with the St. Louis Rams and then also played with the Chicago Bears. College recruiters are very aware of the youngest in the Pace family. Now that one school has extended an offer, more are expected to flow in quickly.

That’s especially true when schools have a chance to see the film from his freshman season at SLUH.

Landon Pace has brother at Ohio State

After completing his prep career at Mary Institute & St Louis Country Day School, Landon Pace’s older brother, Jalen Pace, walked on to the football team at Ohio State this past March.

Jalen Pace had a couple of opportunities to play college football elsewhere, including scholarship opportunities at Division II schools like Dayton and Lindenwood University. But the lifelong Ohio State fan told Lettermen Row he just couldn’t pass up the chance to follow in his father’s legacy. His budding relationship with coaches in Columbus helped him feel comfortable in the decision.

“He has a great opportunity to live out one of his dreams of being a Buckeye and putting on the Scarlet and Gray,” Orlando Pace told Lettermen Row. “I know he’s excited, and we’re all excited for him.”

SLU loaded with talent

Landon Pace isn’t the only major recruit at SLUH, which is traditionally one of the top programs in the Show-Me State. Pace’s teammate, Ryan Wingo, is ranked as the No. 6 recruit in the 2024 class, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Class of 2023 tight end Zach Ortwerth has also blown up the past few weeks at SLUH. The  6-foot-5, 220-pounder has added offers from Purdue, Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Iowa, Indiana and Nebraska since Jan. 24.