Want to attack every day with the latest Georgia football recruiting info? That’s what the Intel will bring at least five days a week. Our menu on Tuesday night centers on another North Carolina connection with elite rising junior DE Jacolbe Cowan.
Tray Scott calls Jacolbe Cowan “Colbe Colb” sometimes when they chat. That’s likely a good thing because that’s the same thing Cowan’s mother calls him sometimes.
Cowan and Scott go back a ways. Like back in the days before the Avengers had ever met Black Panther. The most accurate time stamp would be spring 2015.
That was when Cowan — already a middle school talent in full bloom — was attending camps and events at North Carolina while Scott was still the defensive line coach there.
That was in the spring of his seventh-grade year — well before 247Sports ranked him the No. 3 strongside defensive end in the Class of 2020.
“Back then, he treated me the same as he does now,” said Cowan, who attends Charlotte (N.C.) Providence Day School. “He approached me like any other coach would approach a player now even if they were in the 10th grade, the seventh grade on a senior about to graduate. He has never changed and always been the same energetic guy. Like I said, we started building a relationship then and we are still continuing to build that relationship.”
Scott was able to position Georgia as the first school to offer Cowan a scholarship. He’s known him as long as any coach or recruiter that is currently in contact at this time.
“We speak all the time,” Cowan said. “Just working on a relationship with him and then staying in touch there as much as all the NCAA rules will permit, that. Because they can’t really contact me. He comes to school and watches me work out. Yeah, I have a great relationship with Coach Scott.”
He offered up an across-the-board excellent review of Scott’s prowess as a position coach, teacher and recruiter.
“Coach Scott does a great job of getting to know the family as well and not just the recruit,” Cowan said. “He tells me all the time that he wants to build a relationship with the Mom because at the end of the day the mom and the dad have to trust you with their sons.”
“I love how he does that and I love how he gets to know you,” Cowan added. “He’s really a great teacher with showing his players the techniques and the different ways to get to the quarterback and things like that. I just love overall how he approaches coaching and recruiting and things like that.”
The 6-foot-5, 265-pound rising junior also said he was recently measured with a 34.5-inch vertical leap at a recent camp.
“That was no training either,” Cowan said. “Just straight vertical. Just random jumping.”
The quick hits for Jacolbe Cowan
He mentions a lot of schools that are on him — as he should. 247Sports also ranks Cowan the nation’s No. 37 overall prospect for 2020.
Cowan also is considering early enrollment. But first he’s got a dizzying set of recent visits to sort through.
He went to visit Clemson in early March before embarking on a legit Big 10 tour. Those stops included Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Tennessee.
Sports Management is the current lean in terms of potential major. As for football, how have the college coaches planned to use him so far?
“Schools in the SEC like Georgia and Alabama told me that I would play my regular 5 technique in their defenses and I could move down some plays but still play my main position,” he said. “Other schools in the Big 10 and SEC have told me I would play my regular 5 technique but also heads-up with the tight end and outside the tight end most times.”
Cowan is taking a lot of visits, but don’t take that to mean an accelerated decision timeline.
“I just don’t want to cram all that stuff into my senior year,” he said. “We’re just evaluating and seeing what all my options are and which places are the best for me. But still taking my time, as well.”
He wears No. 12, but that’s not because he was a former QB. That’s in tribute to his uncle Rydell Cowan, who played cornerback at Appalachian State.
“He wore No. 12 and he had a chance at getting drafted before he had a serious knee injury coming out of college,” Jacolbe Cowan said of a pre-NFL combine injury to his uncle.
Where does UGA stand with Jacolbe Cowan after G-Day?
Cowan said he has taken three trips to Athens so far. First was a March trip last year where he picked up his UGA offer, followed by a game last season and back at G-Day last month.
He said his mother values the academics, the relationship with Scott, and the overall atmosphere and football experience at UGA.
He still lists that first trip as his favorite one to Athens.
“The fans are incredible,” he said. “Always cheering on the ‘Dawgs and just the overall buzz is there. The players you can also tell about how close-knit they are the way they play together and how they approach things. Seeing those guys and how huge they are and how hard they work is just incredible to see.”
He believes he has been to Clemson, North Carolina and South Carolina as often as he has made it down to Athens.
What does he like best about Georgia right now?
“Right now I would have to say probably the coaching staff, how well the fans are involved in their team and how close-knit the players are with each other,” he said.
He hasn’t set any leaders or top schools. That doesn’t sound like what he is looking for at this time. But he did use the phrase “high up” in terms of where he sees things right now with the Bulldogs.
“Georgia definitely will be a school that I will consider on down the road,” he said. “Being they were the first offer I have a great relationship with the coaching staff and it compares really well. It is really high up with all the other schools as well. I don’t really have any favorites. Once again, schools can’t really contact me on their own yet so I don’t know how much they really value me.”
“But I do know that Georgia is a school right now to me that is high on the list as far as comparison with everyone else.”
Cowan cites a strong relationship with the coaches at Clemson, as well.
It is the sort of approach that all the major top-notch programs should have with an elite national prospect such as Cowan at this phase of his recruiting.
Jacolbe Cowan listens like an old soul
It might seem hard to believe that a 2020 standout would craft up some ideal playlists with some classic Motown and Isley Brothers on there, but that’s the case with Cowan.
Those are his Colbe Colb jams.
“I like to switch it up when I am just vibing and chilling at home,” he said. “Just want to relax. I can throw it back to some Marvin Gaye and some Michael Jackson sometimes. It just all depends.”
Game day? That’s a different era.
“I like to listen to Future, J. Cole, NBA YoungBoy and Drake,” he said. “Those are a lot of artists that I like.”
Grades matter. He said that his current grade-point average would be right at the 3.5 mark. The Charlotte native has yet to take the ACT or SAT, but it sounds like those will be prioritized by this fall.
Want to know something else interesting? Cowan said he has a pretty strong relationship with the Hinton brothers out of Metro Atlanta. Chris Hinton Jr. is a 5-star defensive end in the class of 2019 verbally committed to Michigan.
Myles Hinton, the state’s top prospect in the class of 2020 per 247Sports, rates as the nation’s No. 2 tackle and as the No. 10 overall prospect in that cycle.
They got to know one another when Cowan and Chris played on the same AAU basketball team.
Local 2021 QB adds big Georgia offer
Brock Vandagriff. Go ahead and add that one to the list you of names will be reading about for a good long while.
The class of 2021 Prince Avenue Christian (Bogart, Ga.) quarterback picked up an offer from UGA on Tuesday. His first offer came from Miami back on April 30.
He’s already touching the 6-4 mark. Vandagriff also performed admirably at a recent Rivals camp, earning the MVP honor at that event.
Check out his latest film below. These next two weeks should be big for the Bulldogs in terms of quarterback evaluation in the 2019 and ’20 classes.
His Hudl film already lists a 4.75-second showing in the 40-yard dash, too.
Miss any Intel? The DawgNation recruiting archive will get you up to speed just as fast as former Georgia All-American LB Roquan Smith found the ball after the snap.