Class of 2019 St. Louis (MO) Lutheran North offensive tackle Jack Buford is fairly new to the college football recruiting scene, but it did not take long to receive his first Power Five offer.

Lovie Smith gave the 6-foot-2, 275-pound lineman a call Tuesday evening to break the news.

“Lovie called me when I was coming back from practice, and one of the first things he asked me was if I knew how good of a football player my father was,” Buford said. “And then said he was going to cut right to the point, and he told me that I had an official offer from the University of Illinois.”