BREAKING: Rivals250 Ga. S Jaron Willis commits to GT over FSU, Florida
Georgia Tech landed Rivals250 Lee County S Jaron Willis on Saturday afternoon.
Willis chose the chance to play Safety for the Yellow Jackets over other offers from Florida, Florida State, and several others.
The Seminoles' level of confidence had reached an all-time high last month after Willis visited for the spring game. Many were so confident that they thought it was a done deal.
Ole Miss hosted Willis for a visit recently as well. The Rebels were also unable to gain any traction in his recruitment
JacketsOnline first entered a FutureCast projecting the versatile defender to land with Georgia Tech back in March, and never looked back or second guessed the decision.
Willis broke down his decision to commit to Georgia Tech with Rivals in an exclusive interview.
IN HIS OWN WORDS
"It finally happened. I feel comfortable with my decision," said Willis. "In the end, it came down to Georgia Tech, Florida State, and Florida."
THE TIMING OF HIS DECISION: "The biggest reason for the timing of my commitment is so that I can focus on my senior year. I want to be able to buckle down, put recruitment on pause, and just fully focus in on my team. We have come so close to a State Championship. I came so close each of the last two years, and what better way would there be to end off my senior year than with a title?
ON WHAT SET GT APART: It just feels like home there. I'll be able to be close to my loved ones. I'm ready to prove everybody wrong, With Georgia Tech offering me as a nickel/strong safety type of guy, a lot of people have been saying I can't do it. They (Georgia Tech) are the only school that really believe in me to be able to compete at that position.I'm ready to prove a lot of people wrong, and show them that I can do this, I can do that. This is not just a four-year decision. This is a 40-year decision.They are giving me the best opportunity there.
ON HIS FIT INTO THE DEFENSE AS A SAFETY: "I think I will fit in really well. I'm so versatile, and have the ability to do a lot of different things to help the defense. I can come off of the edge as a nickel, I can get pressure on the quarterback from there, cover man-to-man downfield, make plays in the flats, and just be a true nickel guy.. I can even help in run support. The nature of the game right now is, "who can guard the Kyle Pitts type?" and I feel like I can do that."
ON HIS RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE GT STAFF: "Oh man, (laughs) it is all of them. My best ones are with Coach Burton, Coach Thacker who is going to be my defensive coordinator, and of course Coach Choice and Coach Collins. I have a really strong relationship with Coach Collins. They have been saying for months that they believe in having bigger safety guys like myself. If you check Coach Collins' history and do some research even back to when he was at Temple, he plays with bigger safeties that are around 215-220. It is one thing to show me, but there's evidence of it too. You've got Juanyeh Thomas and Tariq Carpenter out there right now, two bigger natural safeties. They are flying around the ball, and we know I can do that as well.
RELATIONSHIPS WITH PLAYERS ON THE TEAM: "Juanyeh, Tariq, and I, we have grown pretty close. Me and Juanyeh talk all the time. With him it hasn't even really felt like he was recruiting me, just talking to me about life. With him it was more of a big brother role throughout the process more than anything else. Juanyeh's brother will be on an official visit the same weekend as me, so if me and him connect like me and Juanyeh have, I feel like that could play a big role.”