Nebraska earns commitment from former five-star long snapper Marco Ortiz
Nebraska football added long snapper Marco Ortiz on Sunday afternoon. The graduate transfer from Florida announced his decision on Twitter.
Ortiz was rated as a five-star recruit by Rubio Long Snapping (RLS) and the No. 6 overall player at the position in the 2018 class. The special teams standout entered the transfer portal on Oct. 26 of this year.
“He got in the portal early,” Chris Rubio, owner and president of RLS, said. “Being a top kid, you’re going to get some notice because he’s already been proven. It’s not like he’s coming from a lower-tier school or as a non-starter. This is a proven starter at Florida.”
Rubio told HuskerOnline that Ortiz received a scholarship offer.
Rubio called Ortiz an “absolute stud” with an NFL frame at 6-foot-5, 230-pounds.
“He’s long, he’s lean and he has room to put on more weight if he wants to,” Rubio said. “He’s obviously been proven at Florida. He runs like the wind and no matter what he does, he’s smooth.”
The pipeline from RLS to Lincoln has been strong. Rubio has sent long snappers Nebraska’s way for the last decade. Gabe Miller, Jordan Ober, Chase Urbach and current Husker Cameron Piper are all RLS guys.
Oritz has a solid football pedigree. His father played college football at the University of Texas-Arlington and his twin brother, Antonio, was the long snapper with TCU and has spent time with the Chicago Bears. He won two state championships at Benedictine high school during his freshman and sophomore seasons.
Five years ago, Antonio and Marco Ortiz arrived at a RLS camp. One thought went through Rubio’s head when the identical twins walked through his door.
“I go, ‘Oh God, please be long snappers,’ because they were big, tall monsters,” Rubio said. “They came out just to see what they could do. I remember calling their mother that night and I go, ‘These kids are going to get scholarships,’.”
The Ortiz family couldn’t believe it. Rubio said they went to his camp initially almost as a joke. They were just trying to get something going. The Rubio and Ortiz relationship grew from there.
“They were extremely raw right at the start, but they were very coachable,” Rubio said. “You could just say, ‘I need you to do this, that or this,” and in like two seconds they could figure it out, which is very rare. They’re the kind of kid you would let date your daughter.”
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Marco Ortiz: Rubio Long Snapping Profile
Ortiz began his career at Florida as a walk-on in 2018. As a redshirt freshman in 2019, he made his collegiate debut against Vanderbilt and appeared in another contest in 2020.
The following season, Ortiz had a breakthrough. He claimed the starting long snapper job and appeared in all 13 games with the Gators. Ortiz did not muff a snap in that time and his work earned a scholarship partway through the 2021 campaign.
Ortiz suffered a major setback in his fifth college season. An arm injury during Florida’s season opening dual with Utah held him out for the remainder of the year.
Ortiz joins a well-stocked room for his final year of college football. Pieper, a ROS product, handled long snapping duties for field goals last season. Cade Mueller is in that position group as a junior and red shirt freshman Camden Witucki is on the roster as well.
New Nebraska special teams coordinator Ed Foley could be targeting Ortiz to replace Brady Weas who snapped punts for the Huskers last season.
“He’s just a no brainer,” Rubio said. “You’re not going to have issues with this kid on or off the field.”
