Buford 3-star (5.7) receiver Jordan Allen flipped his commitment from Louisville to Georgia Tech on Monday, giving the Jackets their 23rd member of the 2025 class and third wide receiver in that group.
Buford head coach Bryant Appling had great things to say about what kind of player and competitor his senior playmaker Allen is on Monday after the flip was announced. Here is a sampling of what he had to say in this edition of Coach Speak:
On how excited he is for Allen to make his commitment and have that recruiting stress off of him with Buford currently in a state playoff run...
Appling: "It's always good for our kids to figure out where they want to go and find the right fit for them. I think he's had an idea for a while about this, but like they say in recruiting, it's never done until it's done. He has just kept playing and getting better. He has really done that his whole time here at Buford. He played some for us his freshman year, then played a lot more as a sophomore and really became a guy for us last year as a junior. Then I haven't looked at the records, but I'm sure he's having a record-breaking season here at Buford as a senior. He's a great kid and a high-level football player. With the kind of player he is and what Georgia Tech is doing as a program right now, I think it's a perfect marriage for both sides."
On what he thought made Georgia Tech the right fit for Allen...
Appling: "I'd say the way Coach Key is doing it right now, the discipline and the family atmosphere that they've been showing. Obviously, I know Coach (Jess) Simpson. I worked for him a long time here at Buford. He's pretty much family to us, and I know how he does it. So I know they're getting it done right now. It's pretty much a mirror image of the programs, what they're trying to do and what we've done (at Buford) for a long time. So I don't think it's going to be any issue of (Jordan) being one of the best people in the program and one of the best, hardest workers in the program. The way they have attention to detail (at Georgia Tech) in everything, but especially what Coach (Buster) Faulkner is doing on offense, I think (Jordan) is a good fit for what they like to do. So I think it's going to be a great situation for everybody."
On what Georgia Tech fans can expect from Jordan as a player and person once he gets to campus...
Appling: "I can say he's been one of the hardest workers at all times since I've coached him. He's a quiet, humble kid, but he's as competitive as I've ever seen. He wants to have a chance to make a play on offense, on special teams...I mean honestly if we wanted to let him play safety for us, he'd do that. He played a good amount of safety for us as a sophomore, a little bit as a junior, but he became so important for us on the offensive side of the ball and returning kicks that we had to stop letting him do it. But if it comes down to it, he would go out there and do that for us too. He's just a humble kid and is not scared to do anything no matter who he's going against. He just wants to make his team and his teammates better. Every which a way he can find a way to affect a football game, he's willing to do it. He's a great kid, hard worker in the weight room, hard worker in the classroom, everybody loves him type of kid."
On how he thinks Allen's skillset translates to the college level and if he sees him making an impact early on at Georgia Tech...
Appling: "I know he can. His skillset is one of the best I've ever seen at that position. Everybody talks about the size. I've seen Tyreek Hill, I've seen all these guys that it doesn't really matter about the size of them. It's about how big their heart is, and he's got as much heart as I've ever seen. He's also got some of the best hands I've ever seen. And then obviously he's running consistently 21 or 22 miles per hour on the GPS system so he's not going to be at a disadvantage at any given time regardless of how big somebody is or how fast somebody is. His attention to detail and preparation and his no-fear attitude he has, going over the middle catching balls and running the football on reverses and stretches and things like that...he's going to make plays and it's going to be a fight for whoever he's competing with to keep him off the field."