Tayden Lorenzen was in Oxford, Ohio, last week on an unofficial visit to Miami (Ohio) and … was looking to find something wrong with the football program.
Sure, Miami — his lone offer to date — is among the top schools in the MAC, and it was evident to Lorenzen that students at the university enjoyed their time there.
But there had to be a catch, right? No football program can have everything.
Joined by his mother and stepfather, Lorenzen searched for red flags. Anything the RedHawks might have done wrong. Something they should be doing better.
But he came up with nothing.
So, 20 minutes later, at a gas station on his way home, the Class of 2027 tight end prospect called the Miami coaching staff and committed. Ever since, he’s felt all of the support coming his way, especially in his home state of Kentucky.
“This is what I want,” Lorenzen said of playing college football. “And it’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
Lorenzen, who plays at Highlands High in Fort Thomas, just south of Cincinnati, is the son of the late Jared Lorenzen, who also played at Highlands before starring at quarterback for Kentucky in the early 2000s and then winning a Super Bowl ring with the 2007 New York Giants as Eli Manning’s backup.
“The Hefty Lefty” — who was listed at 6-foot-4 and 260 pounds at Kentucky — produced some of college football’s most entertaining highlights from the quarterback position.
Jared Lorenzen was a one of a kind quarterback pic.twitter.com/rZ7pzpGzsb
— New Heights (@newheightshow) November 18, 2025
He died in 2019 after battling an infection, as well as kidney and heart problems.
But the people in his life have made sure to cheer on Tayden, a 6-foot-2 1/2, 230-pound tight end who is told all the time he looks just like his dad when he plays.
“It’s been kind of crazy,” Tayden said. “All my grandparents calling me, friends of my dad’s have been congratulating me. I’m going out to dinner with a few of his friends later this week.
“It’s more than (the) UK (community), and I think it’s more about my life. I think they just want to see me succeed no matter where I go or what I do.”
Tayden, now a junior, said Jared probably assumed that his son would end up playing college football someday, given that all Tayden ever wanted to do as a boy was head to the football field.
Miami (Ohio) first offered in May 2025, and the RedHawks appear to be a good fit to take advantage of Lorenzen’s unique skill set.
“I’ve known (head coach) Chuck Martin a long time through the years of recruiting. A great football coach,” said Bob Sphire, Lorenzen’s coach at Highlands. “Tayden is a player. He’s a baller. Whatever that statement is. He’s a gamer. And he brings a skill set that a guy like Chuck Martin will have the knowledge to know how to utilize.”
Sphire likened Lorenzen to Highlands’ version of former Penn State tight end Tyler Warren, who did a little bit of everything for the Nittany Lions. Lorenzen can line up as a fullback, play his traditional tight end role or step out wide as a receiver. Highlands also uses him at times as a Wildcat quarterback.
“More than anything, if you’re going to have any exotics, any trickeration — anything that’s kind of building off of something that’s a little bit creative, he’s always in the middle of that for us,” Sphire said. “He’s got such an unbelievable football IQ and unbelievable instincts, and I think that’s what everybody sees when they think of his dad. Because both just have this ridiculously uncanny knack for being two steps ahead of everybody on what’s going to happen. It’s almost like they have some foreshadowing ability.”
That was on display in a second-round playoff game last fall. Lorenzen, playing linebacker, told a teammate ahead of a particular play that when — not if — he came down with an interception in the end zone, he wanted his (much speedier) teammate to get to the opposite side of the field so Lorenzen could lateral him the ball. Moments later, that exact sequence played out. Lorenzen came down with the pick, ran to the 25-yard line and tossed the ball to his teammate, who raced 75 yards for a touchdown.
Sphire said it gives him chills to watch the community root for Tayden. There are times, the coach said, when he’ll field calls from people who loved Jared and want to check on his son.
“I get things like that all the time,” Sphire said. “The Cris Collinsworths of the world, the Eli Mannings and Peyton Mannings of the world. They check on him. It’s an amazing impact his dad has. But I will say this: Tayden’s his own guy. Miami of Ohio recruited Tayden because he’s Tayden Lorenzen. Not because he’s Jared’s son. And Tayden respected that.”
Hal Mumme, who recruited Jared to Kentucky and coached him for one season, joked that if Jared were still alive, he’d be the most nervous parent in the stands.
But Mumme had no doubt Jared would have had a ton of fun, too.
“I’ve been following (Tayden) for about a year, trying to keep up, and I was just happy that he did (commit),” Mumme said. “It makes you proud for Jared and the whole family.
“If Tayden has half the athletic ability his father had, he’s gonna do really well.”
