Bronson Massie waited a long time for Monday.

Lufkin's junior defensive end and occasional outside linebacker announced Louisiana Tech became the first football program to offer him a scholarship opportunity.

It's been a long road for a proactive Massie (6-3, 202). He attended the 2014 ETSN.fm Football Recruiting Combine and multiple school-specific college last summer and surged into the new year with more private camps geared toward advancing to collegiate ranks.

Massie served on Lufkin's defensive line last season and helped guide the team to a 6-5 record with an appearance in the Class 5A Division I bi-district round.

Louisiana Tech has been active in East Texas. It has standing offers out for four of the region's nine players with at least one FBS invitation and pulled in Tyler Lee linebacker Brandon Durman as part of its recent signing class.

Aside from Massie, the Bulldogs have reached out to Mineola twin offensive tackles Austin Anderson and Riley Anderson as well as Nacogdoches safety Brandon Jones. It also identified former Nacogdoches safety Corey Lane, who transferred to San Angelo Central after the fall semester.

The program, led by Skip Holtz, finished the 2014 season with a win against Illinois in the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl for a 9-5 overall record. The Bulldogs went undefeated in Conference USA play prior to a three-point loss to Marshall in the league championship game.

Holtz rose to national prominence as the head coach at East Carolina University and laid the foundation for continued success beyond his departure for the vacant South Florida job. He joined Louisiana Tech in December of 2012, just a few days after being let go at South Florida.

Louisiana Tech is in a very minor transition period on the defensive side of the ball. It lost defensive coordinator Manny Diaz at the end of the season to Mississippi State and replaced him in-house with safeties coach Blake Baker.

Massie stands out among the area's defensive front players with a nice mix of size, speed and general athleticism. He's quick and has a series of moves after the snap to confuse and peel off offensive linemen. The prospect ran a laser-timed 4.86 40-yard dash time in last year's ETSN.fm Football Combine and made multiple highlight reel plays in pursuit of the ball carrier from both the defensive end and outside linebacker spots during the season.

In addition to roles in the defensive front, Massie was one of the team's bullets on kickoffs. He guarded against the middle running lane.

Massie, like all 2016 college football prospects, will become eligible to sign with any program that offers him on Feb. 3, 2016.

2016 East Texas Football Players With Division I FBS Offers

  • Austin Anderson, OL, Mineola, 6-4, 289 – offers from Arkansas State, Cincinnati, Houston, Illinois, Louisiana Tech, Missouri, North Texas, Northwestern, Southern Miss, Texas State, Texas Tech, Tulsa (12)
  • Riley Anderson, OL, Mineola, 6-5, 287 – offers from Arkansas State, Cincinnati, Houston, Illinois, Louisiana Tech, Missouri, North Texas, Northwestern, Southern Miss, Texas State, Texas Tech, Tulsa (12)
  • Demarco Boyd, RB/LB, Gilmer, 6-0, 215 — committed to Texas; additional offers from Baylor, Florida State, Texas A&M (4)
  • Zach Hall, ATH, Tyler Lee, 5-11, 170 – offer from Texas Tech (1)
  • Travon Fuller, CB, Athens, 6-0, 160 — committed to Texas A&M (1)
  • Brandon Jones, S, Nacogdoches, 6-0, 190 — offers from Alabama, Arizona State,  Arkansas, Baylor, Florida State, Georgia, Houston, Kentucky, Louisiana Tech, Louisville, LSU, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Penn State, Purdue, SMU, Stanford, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tulsa, USC, Washington State (34)
  • Braylon Jones, DT, John Tyler, 6-3, 285 – offers from Air Force, Army, Houston, Navy (4)
  • Bronson Massie, DE/LB, 6-3, 202 – offer from Louisiana Tech (1)
  • Kendrick Rogers, WR, Frankston, 6-4, 185 — offer from North Texas, SMU (2)

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