DEL CITY — Nearly four years ago, River Warren knew there was nothing to lose if he sent the direct message.

Warren, a budding passer entering high school at Bishop McGuinness, was on the hunt for a quarterback guru and private coach. He kept coming back to Danny Hernandez, a fast-rising coach in California who had worked with Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young and others.

“I’m just going to shoot my shot,” Warren thought.

So, Warren found Hernandez’s Twitter page and typed a message.

He hit send.

After some time, the two connected. And Warren’s trajectory to achieve his goal to play college football changed.

“He’s kind of a hidden gem,” Hernandez said.

Throughout the past three seasons, Warren has developed into one of the top passers in the state. He started two seasons at McGuinness. After moving to Del City in March, the expectations are sky high for the 6-foot-3, 195-pound senior.

“I think he’s going to be very special,” Del City coach Robert Jones said. “With the athletes that we have, the command he has in the huddle and then film-wise he’s a film rat — like, he understands coverage, he understands schemes, he understands how we’re trying to attack people.

“We haven’t had that at that position. For me, that’s amazing. He’s everything he’s cracked up to be.”

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Warren is No. 22 on The Oklahoman’s Super 30 rankings for the 2024 recruiting class. He holds nearly 10 Division I scholarship offers, including Arkansas State, Eastern Michigan and Toledo.

He’s also recently had discussions and visits with multiple Power Five programs. Perhaps, an opportunity emerges at that level in the future.

“There’s definitely pressure to commit,” Warren said about being a quarterback recruit. “But talking to my dad and my coach, I just gotta do what’s best for me. I can’t worry about anybody else.

“If there’s an opportunity it’s first-come, first-serve and I don’t feel like it’s the right opportunity for me, I’m not going to sweat it.”

A year ago, Warren led McGuinness to the Class 5A state semifinals. As a sophomore, he helped the Irish make the quarterfinals.

Warren had intended to remain at the Catholic private school for his final season. But he plans to graduate in December and enroll at his college choice in January to get a jump start on his career at the next level.

Warren said McGuinness does not allow students to graduate early. He had hoped that rule would be changed. Instead, it was not, his family moved to Del City and he joined the Eagles.

“I had a lot of friends over there and the coaches were great over there,” Warren said. “It was like a breakup. It’s been tough. But it’s been great over here.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to play college football and put myself in the best position. I felt that graduating early was what I needed to do, so I had to move on.”

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Warren has immersed himself into becoming the best quarterback and leader possible.

He visits Hernandez at least once a month. Hernandez, who works with a few other quarterbacks in the Oklahoma City metro, also visits as much as he can. They FaceTime. They text.

“He’s so far from his ceiling,” Hernandez said. “There might be some other guys that are ranked higher than him and different things like that … but I look at River and I say as good as he is and how he’s been able to produce at a high level at the high school level, there’s still some things when you start talking about projecting at the next level that he needs to work on and he has and he’s gotten so much better at those things.”

Warren’s athleticism has improved. His arm strength has increased. He’s bulked up since working with Hernandez. And the experience of passing alongside some of the top recruits in the country in California has rubbed off on Warren.

But he’s also grown as a leader.

Hernandez attended a spring practice and witnessed Warren take charge of the offense despite being one of the new guys in the huddle.

“He’s had a huge impact,” Warren said of Hernandez. “He doesn’t only teach me stuff on the field, but just how to communicate. Simple stuff you don’t think you need to learn. How to communicate. And just how to lead. He’s probably one of the best leaders I’ve been around and he’s taught me a lot on how to lead.”

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Even Jones has noticed in a short amount of time.

Del City’s players gravitate to Warren. The Eagles have several newcomers with big talent. But they also now have their commander.

“You can tell he’s trying to be more of a leader,” Jones said. “He’s trying to communicate. He’s actually working on it. He’s gotten better and he’s grabbed the locker room.”

The next step is bringing Del City to a new level while also securing his college football future.

It’s all part of the dream.

“Even in middle school and elementary, I thought I was going to play college football,” Warren said. “I had a good self belief in myself.”

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The Oklahoman’s 2024 Super 30

• Name: River Warren

• School: Del City

• Super 30 ranking: No. 22

• Ht.: 6-foot-3 | Wt.: 195 pounds

• Position: Quarterback

• Recruited by: Arkansas State, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Florida Atlantic, Marshall, Old Dominion and Toledo

About the series

The Oklahoman’s Super 30 feature series will spotlight each high school football player on the Super 30 recruit rankings for the 2024 class. The series continued Monday with No. 22, Del City’s River Warren. See No. 21 on the list on Tuesday. Here are the last five players featured.

• No. 26: Darreyl Thomas, OL/DL, Del City

• No. 25: Sam McCormick, OLB/WR, Bixby

• No. 24: Issac Covington, DB/RB, Tulsa Union

• No. 23: Brody Duffel, OL, Bixby

• No. 22: River Warren, QB, Del City

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma HS football: River Warren, Del City recruiting profile