UVa visit an eye-opening experience for 2023 DE Mukam

Jackson Matteo started at center for the last 24 games of his five-year Virginia career. His coaching career began in 2017 as a graduate assistant working with the Wahoos’ defense.

So Matteo, just named the new head coach at Woodberry Forest School on Wednesday, has a sense of what it takes to play on the defensive line at college football’s highest level. And he believes Woodberry junior Armel Mukam has the potential to fit that mold.

"The sky’s the limit for him,” Matteo told CavsCorner during a recent conversation. “I’ve played against Power 5 guys and I’ve coached against Power 5 guys, and Armel has all of those intangibles.”

The 6-foot-4, 245-pound Mukam is still relatively new to the game—and to the United States. He just started playing football about two-and-a-half years ago in Canada. Last fall was his first season stateside at Woodberry Forest. He showed enough potential to earn offers from William & Mary and UMass.

Accompanied by Matteo, Mukam was one of the prospects to attend the new UVa coaching staff’s Junior Day. It was an eye-opening experience for the 2023 recruit, who admitted he’d never even been to a U.S. college campus before the visit.

“To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect,” he told CavsCorner. “Everything was really new to me. I expected to have a good time, and after the visit, I really enjoyed my time at UVa.”

For Matteo, the visit was a chance to check in with familiar faces like offensive line coach Garett Tujague and wide receivers coach Marques Hagans, plus his former UVa teammates now working for the program as graduate assistants or in scouting. It was also his first opportunity to meet the new arrivals at the McCue Center, most notably new head coach Tony Elliott.

“I think that it’s really hard to fake being genuine. Really hard to fake authenticity,” Matteo said. “Right when you walk in the door, you’re gonna get a feeling. And the feeling that I had throughout the entire day, I really, really am encouraged by that visit and the direction of the program.”

That atmosphere was what most resonated with Mukam as well.

“I really had a fun time. I felt like UVa was really like family,” the pass-rushing prospect explained. “The big thing at UVa was family and I really felt it when I took my visit there.”

Mukam’s position at the college level remains a matter of conjecture. One coach at Woodberry envisions Mukam’s combination of size and speed being deployed as a 3-4 outside linebacker. During his visit to UVa, new defensive assistant Chris Slade talked about the possibility of bulking Mukam up and playing inside at defensive tackle.

Matteo believes Mukam’s best fit will be with his hand in the ground coming off the edge.

“That’s where I see him, if I had to project,” Matteo explained. “He’s a true 6-4, 245, and he could stand to gain 30 pounds easily. He’s so quick, he’s so violent and he’s so smart that putting on some weight, being a 5-technique, I think that’s where they [UVa] like him and where I like him as well, actually.”

Mukam grew up playing hockey in Quebec before pivoting to the gridiron at the urging of a coach at his high school.

“When I first started playing football, to be honest, I was just big and athletic,” he recalled. “I was big and I knew how to run so my coach was telling me, ‘Just go to the quarterback,’ and that’s all I did.”

That was prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the world shut down, Mukam got into the habit of waking up early to watch YouTube videos to hone techniques and get a better grasp on the nuances of the game, then going out into his backyard to work on what he’d learned. He discovered Woodberry Forest on social media while searching for a school in the United States where he could better his chances of earning a Division I football scholarship.

He was still a raw talent when he arrived in Virginia, Matteo conceded, but Mukam has overcome that lack of experience through a combination of natural physical gifts and a relentless work ethic. The junior finished his first year at Woodberry with 41 tackles, including six sacks, capped by a big game in ‘The Game’ — a pair of sacks and a forced fumble in the Tigers’ win over Episcopal.

“Usually I feel like at the high school level, teaching effort is such a hard thing to do. Either you want to do it or you don’t,” Matteo said. “Armel doesn’t have a 75 percent switch. It’s either fully on, or he’s not on the field.”

Matteo has already shared film with former UVa coaching colleagues from Bronco Mendenhall's staff who are now scattered at other Power 5 schools around the country. Mukam plans to visit Virginia Tech later this month, then UMass during spring break and William & Mary for a spring practice.

Saturday’s visit to UVa set a high bar, Mukam admitted. It also served as further fuel for the Canadian import who is motivated by the idea of inspiring his younger siblings by becoming the first member of his family to attend college in the United State.

By 6:30 am Sunday, the morning after their long day in Charlottesville, Mukam was texting Matteo to let his coach know he was in the weight room doing 300-pound box squats.

“I was just fired up because of the Junior Day,” Mukam explains. “All of these coaches are showing the love and it feels good. And when you’re starting to get attention, you’re not taking your foot off the gas. You’ve got to keep pushing.”

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