Mitch Wilcox is tracking down his NFL dream like he would a football thrown to him in college.

"I’m just kinda one step closer to seeing thru a dream and to be in my backyard and playing football with this great competition and great guys it’s awesome", said the now former USF tight end at the East West Shrine Bowl practice this week.

Wilcox leaves USF as the best tight end in school history , holding career records in receptions, receiving yards and touchdown catches for his position,

The Tarpon Springs grad has made a name for himself in college football, now he hopes to do the same in front of NFL head coaches and scouts at this years bowl game which will be played at Tropicana Field Saturday, January 25th.

The Bulls record setting Tight End is the only USF player invited to participate in the prestigious bowl game .

"You have to stay focused kind of just dumb it down in your head but it’s high paced, high intensity, so you gotta be on your stuff".

NFL head coaches, Defensive Coordinators, and position scouts track every move, the more you can do to stand out the better chance to get on a team’s radar and Wilcox would get his chance.

The East West Shrine Bowl coaches needed a long snapper and found out Mitch was a backup at USF, so they asked the tight end if he would handle those duties as well as play tight end.

For Mitchell it means more reps on the field and more face to face meetings with pro scouts after practice, anything he can do to make his dream job become a reality.

With his mom watching from the stands, Mitchell expects to have about 45 friends and family at this weekend's game where he hopes to impress NFL teams enough so they will give him a chance to keep chasing his dream.

So the hometown kid, who made a name for himself at USF, has four quarters of college football left to play in his career. One last chance to leave an impression that could lead to a dream he’s chased his whole life.

"It’s going to be tough to say goodbye to it but I know there is bigger and better things on the way and I know there is still some football out there for me".

Wilcox is projected to be drafted this year on day three of the NFL draft, fulfilling a dream he has chased his entire life.