Monday was a good day for fast-rising Argyle, Texas defensive lineman Riley Van Poppel. The versatile 6-foot-5 recruit picked up two more offers with Cal and Vanderbilt coming aboard to join the race.

The process has had some ups and downs for Van Poppel, who says he found himself frustrated at one point when the interest and offers started to slow down. It was at that moment that Colorado decided to offer the 2023 prospect helping to raise his profile, and now the process has picked up tremendously for the Texas defensive lineman in recent weeks.

Van Poppel now holds offers from programs across the country and close to home with Nebraska, TCU, SMU, North Texas and Tulane all deciding to offer him within the last month — in addition to his two new offers Monday.

“I’ve just been enjoying it,” Van Poppel said about the recruiting process. “It gets hectic every once in a while, but it’s fun and enjoyable. It’s something I’m ready for. Now that it’s starting to pick up, I’m starting to really enjoy it. But, also, I’m not going to lose myself in the process.”

He was excited when Rice offered him to get things going, and since then he has continued to learn about the recruiting process as more schools become involved. There was a time when Van Poppel wasn’t sure what to expect, but he is beginning to get a handle on all that being recruited at a high level entails.

“I love talking the coaches,” he said. “At first you think you might talk to one coach here or there, but something I really noticed is that coaches will be in constant contact. It’s not just one coach that recruits you. That’s what I like. It’s different coaches, a handful of them. You hop on a phone call with them for five to 10 minutes and it’s just enjoyable.

“I didn’t really know this is how it would go down, but you just have random conversations. It’s not always talking about football. That’s the thing I like, and that’s something I really didn’t see. Before everything started happening, I figured you always talk about football, but really they like to get to know you outside of football. I also think that I like getting to now them outside of just their job.”

The offer from Cal came together in short order for Van Poppel. It began how most recruitments do with a follow on social media a couple weeks ago. From there it grew into conversations and ultimately led to a conversation with defensive line coach Andrew Browning. The two set up a time to talk Monday, but Van Poppel still wasn’t completely sure that the conversation would lead to an offer from the Bears.

He’s happy it did.