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How Gavin Locklear positioned NC State inside three-star TE Gavin Mueller’s top eight

2019_WP_Icon512x512by:The Wolfpacker•03/05/25•

TheWolfpacker

Gavin Mueller
2026 TE Gavin Mueller. (Michael Miller/Blue & Gold)

By Noah Fleischman

Gavin Mueller didn’t play football during his freshman or sophomore year of high school. Instead, he was focused on basketball. But when he was presented with an opportunity to attend a football camp going into his junior year, Mueller decided to give it a whirl. 

And, well, he was successful. 

Mueller only ran a few routes on air in front of college coaches, but it was enough to generate his first two scholarship offers from Akron and Marshall. That led him to believe football was something worth pursuing again after he thought he moved on from the sport in middle school. 

Now, the South Elgin (Ill.) High tight end has emerged as a three-star recruit following just one season of high school football. Mueller has become a coveted prospect in the midwest, recently cutting his list to eight schools: Arkansas, Colorado, NC State, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Purdue, Texas A&M and Wisconsin. 

How did NC State enter the fray? Tight ends coach Gavin Locklear’s persistence. 

The Wolfpack’s youngest full-time assistant on staff visited Mueller’s high school in January, which ended with a scholarship offer to NC State. His main goal while he was in front of the nation’s No. 18 tight end was to get him on campus for the Pack’s junior day event on Feb. 1, which he was successful in doing.

When Mueller, who stands at 6-foot-6, 231 pounds, made his first trip to Raleigh, Locklear wanted to leave a good first impression. He showed Muller around the facilities before taking him down to where the Wolfpack’s current crop of tight ends was working out. That small, yet impactful detail seems to have gone a long way since. 

“The tight ends were running routes and [Locklear] took me down,” Mueller recently told TheWolfpacker.com. “I got to meet them. It was a great bunch of guys. Justin [Joly] is obviously having a great bunch of success. He followed me on Instagram. … For him to take time to talk to me and my mom, it shows the character they build there.”

Locklear has maintained a consistent presence within Mueller’s recruitment. The two text every day and their competitive nature comes through — no matter how early it is. Mueller, who lifts at 4:30 a.m. before school, constantly has a message waiting for him when he wakes up. It’s usually Locklear checking in on him, sometimes pushing the tight end to go harder in the weight room that morning. 

For example, a recent text from Locklear said his best set of pushups was 72 in a row. Mueller’s text back? “I’m going to do 73 right now.”

“We’re literally the same person,” Mueller said of Locklear. “We click very well. … It’s nice talking to someone with a similar mindset as you.”

Mueller will be back at NC State on Friday to watch the Wolfpack in spring practice. He hasn’t set an official visit with the Pack yet, but if his trip to Raleigh goes well, one is likely to follow. 

“I need to check a couple more boxes,” Mueller said of his upcoming trip to NC State. “I want to see a couple more things on campus, see the rest of the facilities, where the players live. And the biggest goal is to see practice, see how Gavin coaches and how the system works.”

Mueller is looking for three things in a school: a good football atmosphere, a good education and an opportunity to continue to build his Catholic faith. 

In the meantime, he’s not concerned about how far away — or close to home — a future college destination is. If it’s the right fit, he’s willing to travel as far as needed. 

“I want to get a little warmer, but at the same time, I’m not opposed to staying home,” Mueller said. “That’s not really a worry for me.”

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