Want to attack every day with the latest UGA football recruiting info? That’s what the Intel brings at least four days a week. This play sheet offers up a report on the chance that Georgia will have in the long run with 5-star WR Jadon Haselwood.
A lot of folks don’t like stories that begin with an ending. Or the even the middle. My wife was not a fan of “Pulp Fiction” on the big screen even though most regard that film as a classic.
This post will proceed along those lines. The recap of a recent conversation with 5-star WR Jadon Haselwood flows better by sharing the last thing he said.
The 5-star was actually the one who asked the question. He asked his interviewer to scan the field.
Haselwood wanted to make sure the reporter saw the coaches who came out to watch Cedar Grove’s GHSA Class 3A playoff game at Buck Godfrey Stadium on Friday night.
“Do you see who is at this game tonight?” Haselwood said. “Do you see? Look around. That should tell it all.”
That view showed Miami receivers coach Ron Dugans. There was also not one by two FSU assistants. Seminoles receivers coach David Kelly was there. He was joined by running backs coach Donte’ Pimpleton. Georgia, the school he was once committed to, had already visited him that week.
That exchange came about a minute after asking the nation’s No. 1 receiver prospect (on the 247Sports composite rankings) if he knew what he was looking for with his college decision.
That was discussed. So were what he viewed as the priorities he will abide by to help make his college decision.
Haselwood and his Saints had just finished off an unbeaten Pierce County team.
He didn’t make any big catches, but delivered one impressive hit, a highlight punt return and also drew a flag for another hit on a Pierce County receiver.
“We have a great team here,” Haselwood said. “We have great backs and other great receivers and a great line. By looking at the film, we were thinking they were going to play Cover 3 all day. But they chose to double me. At the end of the day here, it is not just me. That [double coverage attention] opened up the run game.”
What of the recent in-home visit to Jadon Haselwood?
Some feel that Haselwood will take this long look around this group of suitors and decide that his best fit was the school he de-committed from.
Haselwood has shared a vivid memory of him being nothing but a pure fan running outside his house in the cold after Georgia was set to win The Rose Bowl last year.
That still comes to mind in this recruiting story. There is a clear connection to the school there.
He feels the atmosphere at Sanford Stadium is electric. It is one of the best in college football.
The Bulldogs will have the quarterbacks to get him the ball, the line to give him time to race downfield and the backs needed to keep defenses from bracketing him with safeties over the top.
But Georgia did not have an assistant coach there for his game against Pierce County. The Bulldogs had already used their visit that week for an in-home with Haselwood.
The Bulldogs were the only school that got an in-home visit last week. That was made by longtime recruiter James Coley and receivers coach Cortez Hankton.
“Coley and Hankton and I are going to hit it off well every time,” he said in his response to what that visit was like.
Terry Godwin has one game left at Georgia. Riley Ridley and Mecole Hardman could go pro after their junior years. Hasewlood cares little about depth charts and clear lanes to playing time.
Those new possibilities at UGA might mean something to some elite recruits. But they will not matter much to him.
“I really don’t think about that,” Haselwood said. “I just want opportunities. If I get my chance to show that I am better than somebody and I don’t win it, then that’s on me. All I want is a fair shot at those opportunities. I want the chance of whether I play or not to be all on me.”
Haselwood said he would like to wear No. 2 in college. That number is conveniently coming open this year for the Bulldogs with the graduation of senior Jayson Stanley.
“It would be either No. 2 or No. 11,” Hasewlood said on the topic of what jersey he would like to wear.
The 5-star recruit will play for the Class 3A state title next week. It is on a Tuesday. He will likely be practicing this weekend.
That means that UGA will get the final visit and the last official visit prior to his decision.
The last things that Georgia can say there will have to matter, too. Those are usually the things that stay fresh in a prospect’s mind in the 11th hour as they sort through their final decision.
What are the college priorities for Jadon Haselwood?
Hasewlood had his thoughts on that one. Location did not seem to be big to him.
“No, it is not where I would play,” he said. “You have got to step out of your comfort zone. For sure. The main thing for me is what I said earlier. Just opportunities.”
He has said that a drawback for UGA is the fact the team does not throw often enough. He wants to see the ball in the air.
What works in the program’s favor with 5-star OLs and RBs is a matter to overcome with select elite receivers who want the ball. 5-star receiver commitment Dominick Blaylock is a firm commitment to the Bulldogs and feels that the Pro-Style offense meshes well with his skills.
Are there any drawbacks or “cons” for Florida State?
“Florida State runs the same offense I am running right now at Cedar Grove,” Haselwood said. “The transition wouldn’t be bad at all. Coach Kelly sat me down and he compared my plays to theirs. They were basically the same thing.”
That was a shrewd move by Kelly. The former Dunwoody High coach (of a generation ago) has been an assistant coach at Georgia, LSU, Georgia Tech, Stanford, Duke and UCF.
He spent two seasons in the Canadian Football League. Kelly was a player personnel director at South Florida in 2016 and then joined back up with Willie Taggart as the director of recruiting operations at Oregon in 2017.
He came back to the field for Taggart’s first staff at FSU this season.
The Cedar Grove star took his fourth official visit to FSU late last month. Haselwood pointed out that the program has increased its appeal to him of late.
The decision grows closer for Jadon Haselwood
That opportunity seems to have grown on him. But it is more than just showing him a lot of attention with coaches manning the sidelines for a state semifinal playoff game.
He said his decision won’t be swayed by which schools show him the most love.
“This is going to be what I want,” Haselwood said. “This is a decision I have to make for me and what’s best for my future. Those opportunities.”
Does he know what that is right now?
“I do,” he said. “But everybody is going to have to wait on it.”
Haselwood still plans to sign during the early period. He will share that decision on NBC from the All-American Bowl in Texas on Jan. 5.
He will then enroll early at the school of his choice.
“We’re going to try to keep that all on the low,” he said.
He will be a major Bulldog target until his process is over.
Georgia threw the ball 39 times against Alabama. Jake Fromm found three touchdowns and 301 yards against one of Nick Saban’s most complete teams.
But the leading receiver was a tight end. The second-leading receiver was RB D’Andre Swift. That’s both in catches and yards. Ridley also tied Swift with his four catches against Alabama.
Georgia’s top four receivers had 48, 37, 24 and 21 yards. That’s why elite talents at the receiver spot like Blayock and Haselwood will be essential for future clashes against a team like Alabama.
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