He was injured. And under recruited. Now this linebacker is a sought-after college star

Carter Glassmyer had a different experience this time around.

Two years ago, he faced a frustrating recruiting situation. A broken leg ended his senior football season prematurely and put his future in limbo. Scholarship offers were taken off the table. Only a few opportunities were left.

But after a dominant redshirt freshman season at St. Francis University this fall, Glassmyer became a hot commodity in the transfer portal. The Central York grad received six scholarship offers in the span of three weeks before committing to the University of Richmond — one of the top Division I FCS programs in the country — earlier this month.

It would be easy for him to be bitter about what he went through a few years ago or to revel in the attention he's gotten now. But the always-measured Glassmyer doesn't look at it that way.

"Ultimately I ended up where I did for a reason," he said. "I really appreciated everything I went through, and it was a good stepping stone, but wanted to go somewhere I could be the best player I could be."

That attitude has helped make Glassmyer the player he is, but it also shapes his goals moving forward. He racked up 90 tackles, 2.5 sacks and caused two turnovers his first season of college football. He named an FCS Freshman All-American and was a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award — given annually to the best freshman at the FCS level in the country.

He knows there are people who think his transfer was just about capitalizing on that success. Or some that are wondering why he didn't land at a bigger FBS school. He doesn't look at it that way. He doesn't want to talk about success when his team had a losing record last year. He was more worried about finding a school where he could continue to get better.

As he put it, he's a 19-year-old with "so much room to grow and improve as a player."

"We fully expected him to be this good," Central York head coach Gerry Yonchiuk said. "He just has unbelievable instincts. As much as you'd like to say you can teach those things, he's just off the charts there, and that makes him so special."

'He was so mad:' Coming back from a devastating injury

Glassmyer described St. Francis as a place that's purely for football.

Located in Cambria County in west central Pennsylvania, St. Francis is not flush with massive NIL opportunities or gleaming facilities, according to Glassmyer. The school's selling point was simple: Get on the field and play at a high-level quickly.

That was fine for him.

After all, he was simply looking for an opportunity in February 2022.

He was having a dominant season for Central York that previous fall — averaging 16 tackles per game — until Week 9 against Dallastown. His foot got caught in the turf and two players crashed into his leg. He had broken his fibula.

He had received two Division I FCS offers the week of the game but eventually stopped hearing from those schools. He watched from a scooter as the Panthers' undefeated season ended in a three-point loss to Wilson in the District 3 Class 6A semifinals.

"He was so mad that night," Yonchiuk said of the injury. "He tried to run off the field with a compound fracture. He's that tough. Staying healthy is part of the game, but we felt we had a really legitimate shot at a back-to-back district championship with him in the lineup."

More on Glassmyer: Despite gruesome injury, Central York linebacker finds Division I opportunity

A dominant freshman season

Glassmyer doesn't boast much, but he's adamant he worked "extremely hard" after the injury. He was rehabbing with Central York's training staff less than a week after having tightrope surgery. He made it his goal to be healthy for that May's Big 33 Classic and played in the game.

He received a late offer from St. Francis and a preferred walk-on spot from Old Dominion — opting to take the scholarship from the FCS school with a reputation for recruiting York County players.

Glassmyer took a redshirt season to get fully healthy and felt slightly unsure of himself heading into this fall. He had played well in camp but surely game speed at the college level would be an adjustment.

He made eight tackles on opening day against FBS Western Michigan and ended up leading his conference in tackles.

"I just felt like I belonged on the field that day," he said. "That was when I was comfortable and knew I could play at this level. You always have your doubts, but I knew I could be successful."

He faced adversity: And he could've left. But this York football star will be a West Point grad

A straight-up 'baller' with more potential

While he just wanted an opportunity out of high school, Glassmyer was looking for more this offseason.

He appreciated what St. Francis gave him but wanted to find a school with more resources. A number of YAIAA players have started their careers at St. Francis but transferred in recent years. The Red Flash finished 4-6 this season.

"It's not the most glamorous place but the coaches there did so much for me," Glassmyer said. "I talked about (entering the portal) with them for two weeks and decided this was the best opportunity to develop physically."

He picked up offers from Murray State, Albany, New Hampshire, Wofford, and Stony Brook before deciding on Richmond. The Spiders went 9-4, won their conference and reached the second round of the FCS playoffs this past fall.

It's possible he would have received opportunities from bigger schools if not for his size. The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Glassmyer said a few FBS coaches told him he wasn't quite big or tall enough. His goal is to bulk up to 230 pounds next season.

But Yonchiuk thinks his former player has Power Five potential and could have those opportunities as a graduate transfer in a few years. He said Glassmyer and Beau Pribula used to have heated competitions in practice because the Penn State quarterback recognized the linebacker as his equal.

"Some people get caught up in the measurements but either you're a baller or you're not," Yonchiuk said. "And this kid can just ball-out."

Having just arrived on Richmond's campus, Glassmyer isn't thinking about any future stops right now. He's knows he won't be handed playing time next season. He's working to earn his finance degree and hopes to coach in the future.

A few years ago he wanted a chance like this. Now he wants to make the most of it.

"There's a lot of risk, and you're betting on yourself (when transferring)," he said. "I've always had to work to achieve something. I'm not the kind of guy who's going to talk about my accolades. I'm going to talk about what I can do to be better."

Matt Allibone is a sports reporter for GameTimePA. He can be reached at 717-881-8221, mallibone@ydr.com or on X at @bad2theallibone. 

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Central York's Carter Glassmyer transfers from St. Francis to Richmond