Tag: jacoby mathews

Florida coaches to meet with 4-star safety before his trip to LSU

Co-defensive coordinator Patrick Toney and cornerbacks coach Corey Raymond visited Jacoby Mathews on Friday morning before his trip to Baton Rouge.

The Gators continue to make four-star Ponchatoula (Louisiana) safety Jacoby Mathews a top priority. He was on campus this past weekend for an official visit, his first trip to Florida, and the coaching staff wanted to get one more pitch in before he heads to Baton Rouge to take his final official visit before national signing day.

0According to 247Sports’ Blake Alderman, co-defensive coordinator Patrick Toney and cornerbacks coach Corey Raymond went to visit Mathews on Friday morning before he leaves for LSU later in the day.

Mathews, the No. 38 player in the 2022 recruiting class and No. 2 safety per the 247Sports Composite, had positive things to say about his trip to UF this past weekend. He said that the coaches, many of whom previously coached in Louisiana, made a good impression on him and he could get behind the way the staff wants to use him.

The 6-foot-2-inch, 193-pound prospect is set to announce his decision on national signing day, when he will choose between Florida, LSU and Texas A&M. However, he took his official visit to College Station back in June, and the Gators and Tigers are widely considered to have the best shot at him.

UF will hope the impression made with the two visits will be enough to fend off a push from LSU to keep Mathews in-state.

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Recruiting Trends: Ponchatoula safety Jacoby Mathews trending to LSU

Perhaps some good news coming LSU’s way

One of the top two remaining players on the 2022 recruiting board is Ponchatoula safety, Jacoby Mathews. The former Tigers commit has stayed in communication with the team despite the staff turnover. Brian Kelly and Kerry Cooks are trying to nail down the five-star safety.

The Tigers have one safety on the books for the 2022 recruiting class with Jordan Allen of Lafayette Christian Academy. Allen played with current LSU Tigers nickel cornerback Sage Ryan. Allen could be moved over to cornerback if the team feels he would be a bigger asset to the defense. Allen plays cornerback but most recruiting services have him as a safety.

The top safety on the board is Mathews. Some recruiting analysts believed he could land at Texas A&M or Florida. Gators head coach Billy Napier has been swiping a good amount of Louisiana talent. They secured Jennings running back Trevor Etienne and have been in hot pursuit of TreVonte’ Citizen and Mathews. The Gators also added another top safety to their 2022 class with Kamari Wilson of the IMG Academy.

With all that said, it appears that Mathews is trending the Tigers way according to On3.

What On3 Says…

In fact, the On3 RPM says LSU now has a 75.5% chance of landing Mathews, who ranks as the No. 19 overall player in the final On300 for the Class of 2022. Mathews also ranks as the No. 1 player in Louisiana, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

And it’s those expert predictions that have shifted things in LSU’s direction for Jacoby Mathews. There have been three predictions in January that have pushed LSU’s chances from 56% to where things stand now.

To the experts, it’s become crystal clear that Brian Kelly’s new staff in Baton Rouge has done a great job of recruiting Mathews.

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Let’s hope this holds true and the Tigers can add a five-star defender to their 2022 roster. If Major Burns has injury issues again in 2022, it could be Mathews asked to step up into a bigger role if the staff feels he is ready for it. More playmakers on the backend of the defense wouldn’t be a bad thing.

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Comment below on how you feel about the Tigers’ chances of landing Mathews in the 2022 class.

Five remaining 2022 prospects that LSU needs to land

LSU needs to make one final push for these five recruits

Brian Kelly currently has 13 signees in his initial recruiting class with LSU. He has also added another 11 through the transfer portal with more likely to come if he has his way.

The high school recruiting class is led by offensive tackle Will Campbell and quarterback Walker Howard. The team is still looking for a running back commit, with TreVonte Citizen being the target out of Lake Charles. Defensively they have Harold Perkins and Jacoby Mathews in their crosshairs.

With the class winding down next week with the final signing period, there are five recruiting battles the Tigers need to win.

Each one of these recruiting battles is coming down to SEC showdowns between the LSU Tigers squaring off with Auburn, Alabama, and Florida.

LSU to make one final push as they host TreVonte’ Citizen this weekend

LSU set to host running back target.

It is coming down to the wire for a pair of 2022 recruiting targets for the LSU Tigers. This weekend Brian Kelly and the staff have their top remaining target coming to town for a visit. Lake Charles running back TreVonte’ Citizen has been busy with visits.

He recently came off another visit to Auburn, which remains one of the biggest threats to LSU for Citizen’s pledge. Citizen and his family will be in Baton Rouge. Associate head coach and running backs coach Frank Wilson is trying to reel him in. On3 believes that LSU is still firmly in the running but the loss of Kevin Faulk on staff has put them a bit behind.

Frank Wilson is key for LSU. Citizen is big on relationships and when Kevin Faulk was not retained by Kelly, that hurt LSU. It is far from over though. LSU is the in-state school, his family will spend this weekend in Baton Rouge, and the Tigers will work hard to swing the momentum. Citizen is set to take an unofficial visit to Florida and an official visit to Miami next week.

The other target is Ponchatoula safety Jacoby Mathews, who will visit Florida. Both Citizen and Mathews are being heavily recruited by new Gators head coach Billy Napier. Napier hired former LSU defensive backs coach Corey Raymond, who has a strong relationship with Mathews. Both players could be playing elsewhere in 2022 due to their relationships with previous LSU assistants.

It could be a tough sell for the new staff but I wouldn’t count them out just yet with a couple of weeks left in the 2022 cycle.

Florida DC Patrick Toney to visit top Gators target

Jacoby Mathews was originally scheduled to visit Gainesville this weekend, but he pushed his trip back to next weekend.

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The Gators are gearing up for one of the biggest recruiting weekends they’ve had in a while. Ten players are set to visit this weekend, but that number was originally supposed to be 11. On Thursday night, four-star Ponchatoula, Louisiana safety Jacoby Mathews decided to push his visit back to the weekend of Jan. 21.

Instead of Mathews visiting the Swamp, defensive coordinator Patrick Toney traveled to Louisiana to see him on Friday morning, instead. It’s the first day of the contact period after the end of the dead period following early signing day.

Mathews, the No. 36 overall recruit in the country per the 247Sports Composite, has never visited Gainesville, but he’s been a top target for the new staff since they arrived. The one-time LSU commit previously told 247Sports that his relationships with coach Billy Napier, who spent the last four years coaching in Louisiana, and cornerbacks coach Corey Raymond, who initially recruited him to Baton Rouge, make him feel comfortable.

“I love it because, even though they went there (Florida), they still stuck to us,” Mathews said. “They stuck to recruiting us. When Coach Napier left ULL, the day after he hit me up. Coach C-Ray hit me up the day after he left LSU. I just knew they wanted me still and I can trust them too. They just let me know every time we got on the phone that I have a bright chance to start and how they are making beautiful changes so I can come in and ball for the better. I know for a fact I can trust those guys. Both Louisiana guys trying to get me out of Louisiana.”

The Gators are in a good position for Mathews, who plans to announce his decision on national signing day on Feb. 2.

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Pair of decommits lead list of LSU high priority targets

Priority No. 1 and No. 2 over the next few weeks.

We are less than a month away from the final signing period for the 2022 recruiting class. The LSU Tigers currently find themselves as the No. 17 team according to On3’s team rankings.

Of their initial signees, the LSU Tigers are missing a running back and have one safety committed to the class. We start at the top with Brian Kelly’s top targets, or at least who we view at the top.

Jacoby Mathews, Four-Star Safety (Ponchatoula)

Michael DeMocker/Daily Advertiser-USA TODAY Sports

Mathews was expected to make his commitment during the All-American game but opted to wait as he still has official visits set. Many believe that he will still end up as an LSU Tiger. Adding Frank Wilson to the staff definitely helps with keeping in-state talent in the Boot. It doesn’t hurt when one of the guys recruiting him to Georgia is set to join the Tigers staff as well.

LSU is in need of a playmaker at the safety position. It was really evident as of late. While Jay Ward did provide some top plays, Todd Harris Jr’s ability was lacking. Not to mention he was injured for a good part of the season. The team opted to move Sage Ryan to nickel and they were without Major Burns as well.

Mathews could have a real chance to contribute early in the Matt House defense and the team could use his ability to create opportunities for the offense. LSU is viewed as the favorite at this point but one shouldn’t rule out another push by the Florida Gators and Texas A&M Aggies.

TreVonte’ Citizen, Four-Star Running Back (Lake Charles)

Barbara Gauntt/Clarion Ledger via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Speaking of Florida, the other hot target is running back TreVonte’ Citizen. He decommitted from LSU following the regular-season finale and the Gators have been in hot pursuit along with the Auburn Tigers. Despite already landing Trevor Etienne, Citizen is on their list. LSU on the other hand is still lacking a running back commit for the 2022 class.

The team does have John Emery Jr returning in 2022 along with Tre Bradford, Corey Kiner, Armoni Goodwin, and Josh Williams. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if they don’t land a back but their depth was tested in 2021 and it could pop up again in 2022. Adding Citizen should be a top priority for Frank Wilson, who knows Lake Charles well from his time at McNeese.

Both of these prospects would help LSU immensely.

When the remaining 2022 targets for Texas will announce their commitment

Texas will soon hear about the last few targets left on their 2022 board.

Steve Sarkisian and his staff have to be pleased with their first full recruiting class at Texas. Continue reading “When the remaining 2022 targets for Texas will announce their commitment”

Where LSU’s 2022 decommitments landed

Where did the decommits land?

The 2022 recruiting class isn’t officially wrapped up for another month or so. The LSU Tigers and head coach Brian Kelly still have plenty of work to do before Feb. 2.

The original class saw plenty of movement with their prospects. One of the key targets is still on the board with Jacoby Mathews, who was pledged to the Tigers back in April. His decision is coming up.

Other big commits such as Bryce Anderson and Bryan Allen Jr decided to sign with another team after originally going with Ed Orgeron and the Bayou Bengals.

Where did the 12 decommits end up signing for the 2022 class?

With the All-American game getting close, two LSU targets on full display

Two huge targets will make their decision on Saturday.

The LSU Tigers have their eyes on the All-American game set for Jan. 2. That is where two of the top targets on the Tigers board will be on full display.

Both Harold Perkins and Jacoby Mathews are set to make their commitments and will sign in February. Perkins is the No. 1 linebacker in the country and he is fully expected to commit to Texas A&M. His top three include the Aggies, LSU, and the Texas Longhorns.

LSU has one linebacker signee in DeMario Tolan. The four-star from Florida will be one of the 2022 recruits that will enroll early. Adding Perkins to the group would give them a solid foundation to build on in the Brian Kelly era.

Mathews is a playmaking safety that is currently the No. 3 player in the state. The top two in Walker Howard and Will Campbell have already signed with LSU, Mathews could make it three for three. LSU has one safety signee in the class as Jordan Allen chose to commit to the Tigers. He was teammates with current defensive back Sage Ryan at Lafayette Christian Academy.

It isn’t likely that Kelly can land both players but if one is more probable than the other it is Jacoby Mathews. Adding him would move LSU to No. 13 in the 247Sports composite team rankings with a score of 234.8. Adding Perkins would put the Tigers at No. 10 with a score of 250.4.

It would be a huge power move by Brian Kelly if he landed Perkins at this point. Regardless, the Tigers will have their eyes on the game just 48 hours before they take the field for the Texas Bowl.

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This 4-star DB wants to visit Florida before making his decision

The Gators are back in the mix for this elite defensive back thanks to Billy Napier and his new staff.

Four-star safety Jacoby Mathews will head to Gainesville on an official visit Jan. 14 before making his final decision in February, according to Corey Bender of Gators Online.

Mathews was supposed to visit Florida back in June when Dan Mullen and company were pursuing him, but those plans never materialized. Now that Billy Napier and Corey Raymond are with the Gators, Mathews wants to see if it’s the right fit. Napier has been talking to Mathews since he was with the Ragin’ Cajuns, and that Louisiana connection may end up paying off.

“They want to win,” Mathews said to 247Sports. “They have a Louisiana staff first and the one thing that stuck out to me the most was Coach C-Ray from LSU, he and I have had that bond.”

Raymond helped Napier land five-star safety Kamari Wilson and four-star defensive back Devin Moore with limited time before the early signing period. Getting Mathews on boards well is exactly why Napier brought him on to the staff.

Florida will have some strong competition for one of the best safeties in the country. LSU’s Brian Kelly went after the in-state recruit immediately after landing the job in Baton Rouge. Mathews backed off a verbal commitment to the Tigers after falling in love with Texas A&M, but the coaching carousel has him looking at all of his options.

Mathews planned on announcing his decision at the Under Armour All-American Game on Sunday, but that doesn’t seem so likely anymore.

He’s currently the No. 4 ranked safety on the 247Sports Composite and the 36th-best player nationally. The On3 Consensus Rankings have Mathews as the top-ranked safety in the country.

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