Tag: Jahlil Florence

What can the Oklahoma Sooners expect from new cornerbacks and co-defensive coordinator Jay Valai?

Now official, what can the Oklahoma Sooners expect to get from new cornerbacks coach and co-defensive coordinator Jay Valai?

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With one final hire following the final game of the year in which the Georgia Bulldogs beat the Alabam Crimson Tide to become national champions, the Oklahoma Sooners have filled all of their major on-field coaching positions. It took them a bit of time but Brent Venables has his first full staff of coaches as he looks to guide Oklahoma for the long haul.

The final piece was finding a cornerbacks coach and the Oklahoma Sooners officially named Jay Valai cornerbacks coach and co-defensive coordinator. Initially reported back on Jan. 3, the Sooners bring in the former Alabama Crimson Tide assistant with ties to the state of Texas.

Valai will be coaching the cornerbacks and will be the passing game coordinator on defense for the Sooners. Valai takes over for Roy Manning, who now coaches outside linebackers at USC.

The Valai hiring brings a true cornerback with collegiate and NFL experience to lead the unit in Norman. Valai played his high school ball in the Midcities area of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and was a former All-Big Ten defensive back at Wisconsin. He’s coached at both the collegiate and NFL levels since joining the profession in 2016.

With his success at the collegiate and NFL level, he brings a similar dynamic that running backs coach DeMarco Murray brings to the table. A former player turned coach, who can tell his recruits and players what it takes to get to the NFL level. For the Sooners’ his presence could mean some major strides and changes being made to a talented but smaller unit and a unit with a few guys who just scratched the surface of how talented and productive they can be at a major program.

Now that he’s officially hired, he’ll be entering a room that recently lost one of its more talented youngsters to the transfer portal in Latrell McCutchin. McCutchin is someone Valai knows well since he was part of the Texas staff that recruited the former Sooner out of high school. Woodi Washington, DJ Graham, Joshua Eaton, Jaden Davis, Billy Bowman, and Justin Broiles remain, providing the Sooners with some talent and experience for Valai to work with.

On the 2022 recruiting trail, Gentry Williams should be priority number one. Williams has remained steadfast with his commitment to Oklahoma waiting to see who the next cornerbacks coach would be. Valai has to secure that commitment before he worries about any other potential 2022 recruits. Elsewhere, four-star CB Jahlil Florence had Oklahoma in his sights for a visit but due to personal reasons no longer plans to take visits anywhere. Can Valai make up lost ground there or will Florence ultimately stay with Oregon where he was previously committed?

Valai has some work to do to bring in some more bodies to the Sooners’ cornerback room via the transfer portal and the 2022 recruiting class.

Before the official announcement of his hire, we compiled a list of some defensive backs that the Sooners should target via the transfer portal.

On top of the names listed there, with Valai on board, the Sooners can also look to the transfer portal for immediate 2022 help from someone like Louisville transfer Kani Walker, a freshmen cornerback who just announced an offer from Oklahoma.

 

Once he wraps up the grind to secure more players for the 2022 roster, Valai’s biggest obstacle is getting his new room bought in. Again, the Sooners have talent but maximizing this talent and turning them into a unit to be feared was something the previous coach simply couldn’t do.

All told, the Sooners have a lot of questions that need to be answered for this position group and its new position coach heading into 2022. Between transfer decisions, recruiting decisions, and getting settled in, the Sooners new cornerbacks coach has his work cut out for him. He’ll be pushed and stressed early and often. Only time will tell how he adapts.

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Gators make top 5 for this four-star defensive back

Florida needs to make up some ground on this recruit despite landing in his top five.

Four-star defensive back Jahlil Florence has cut his list of schools down to five and it includes the Florida Gators.

The California recruit announced on Twitter that he’d be focusing on Florida, Miami, Oklahoma, Oregon and USC moving forward. He plans to commit on National Signing Day but only has a visit set up with Miami so far, according to 247Sports.

The Ducks earned Florence’s commitment back in August, but he backed off that pledge in December after Mario Cristobal went to Miami. The Trojans already hosted him before the dead period, putting Florida and Oklahoma at the back of the pack.

Although there’s some ground for Billy Napier and his staff to makeup, Florence could easily be a Gator come February. He’s available on Jan. 21 and Jan. 28 for a visit, and Florida should be pushing to get him to the Swamp.

Miami may have Cristobal but they don’t have a defensive backs coach yet, and Oregon’s just got picked up by Colorado. Florida has Corey Raymond, who helped land five-star Kamari Wilson in the early signing period.

Florence is No. 72 nationally on 247Sports’ rankings and he’s the No. 11 corner available for 2022. ESPN, Rivals and On3 have him rated as a four-star recruit as well.

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4-star CB and former Oregon commit Jahlil Florence lists Ducks in top-5

4-star CB Jahlil Florence de-committed from the Ducks after Mario Cristobal left, but he included Oregon in his top-5 again ahead of signing day.

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After former Oregon Ducks head coach Mario Cristobal took his talents to South Beach, there was a mass exodus of recruits that de-committed from the program and chose to reassess their options for the future.

4-star cornerback Jahlil Florence was one of those players.

The 6-foot-1 DB out of San Diego was originally a member of Oregon’s 2022 class but decided that he would reopen his recruitment and take some time to decide where he would go to school next season. His high school teammate, Jalil Tucker, went ahead and signed his NLI with the Ducks in the Early Signing Period after initially de-committing, but we’re still waiting to see if Florence will do the same.

Florence announced on Wednesday that his top-five schools were the Oregon Ducks, Miami Hurricanes, Oklahoma Sooners, USC Trojans, and Florida Gators.

 

Florence is currently rated as the No. 26 CB in the nation, and the No. 202 player overall.

The Ducks recently saw a win on the recruiting front when 2023 4-star CB Cole Martin committed to the Ducks, signaling that he will follow his father, Oregon’s new cornerbacks’ coach Demetrice Martin, to Eugene.

There is no word yet on when Florence will be making his decision, but with National Signing Day taking place on February 2nd, it’s something to monitor over the coming weeks.

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Report: Pair of 4 and 5-star Oregon commits confirm intention to sign with Ducks

5-star OL Kelvin Banks and 4-star CB Jahlil Florence are still locked on the Ducks, according to @andrewnemec. Always good to hear.

Just under a week ago, the college football recruiting world was turned a bit upside down after the hirings of a pair of the best coaches in the nation, with Lincoln Riley going to USC and Brian Kelly going to LSU.

The USC hire has a major impact on the Oregon Ducks, as it gives the Pac-12 an elite recruiter in one of the hot spots in the U.S. — Southern California. There is now a concern that a number of recruits who have already committed to the Ducks may take a look at the Trojans, while those who are still on the fence may be swayed in a certain direction.

According to The Oregonian‘s Andrew Nemec, that won’t be a problem for a couple of high-profile Oregon commits this year. Nemec reports that 5-star OL Kelvin Banks is still “solid” in his decision on the Ducks, while 4-star CB Jahlil Florence says the same.

As you see above, Nemec also was told by Florence that his high school teammate, fellow 4-star DB and Oregon commit Jalil Tucker, is also locked on the Ducks.

Banks’ commitment has been a topic of conversation for the Ducks over the past month, with Oregon’s highest-rated OL commit ever taking a couple of visits to Texas schools where he is from, namely the University of Texas and Texas A&M. Despite those visits, Banks was always very open about the fact that he was locked in on the Ducks, and just wanted to have the experience of some other schools.

The early signing period in college football starts on December 15th, and the Ducks will likely get a jump on the recruiting class by inking a number of players. While there may be some unease over the next couple of weeks, we can at least feel confident that some of the top guys in Oregon’s 2022 class will be staying strong in their decisions.

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QUACK: Oregon lands 4-star athlete Jalil Tucker over Florida State, Washington

The Ducks scored another massive recruit, with 4-star athlete Jalil Tucker — the nation’s No. 4 athlete — announcing his commitment to Oregon.

Let’s keep the good times rolling, shall we?

The Oregon Ducks landed another massive recruit on Friday night, getting a verbal commitment from 4-star athlete Jalil Tucker, out of Lincoln High School (San Diego, California).

Tucker is the second 4-star commitment that the Ducks have gotten this week, with wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan offering his commitment on August 16th.

Tucker is rated by 247 Sports as the nation’s No. 61 overall prospect and No. 4 athlete. His commitment to the Ducks doesn’t come as a major surprise, seeing as his fellow teammate and close friend, CB Jahlil Florence — also a 4-star prospect — committed to Oregon earlier this month.

The commitment from Tucker continues the blazing hot-streak that Oregon has been on recruiting players out of California, and it is likely to catapult them up in the nation rankings, landing them ahead of national recruiting powers like Alabama, Georgia, Texas A&M, and Florida State, who they beat out for Tucker.

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QUACK: 4-star CB Jahlil Florence commits to Ducks over Michigan, Washington

The Ducks scored another big commitment, this time adding a cornerback to their 2022 recruiting class with 4-star CB Jahlil Florence.

Score another big one for Mario Cristobal and the Oregon Ducks.

With his announcement on Thursday morning, 4-star cornerback Jahlil Florence, from San Diego, declared that he will be traveling north to Eugene in 2022, joining an already stacked recruiting class.

The 6-foot-1 CB is rated as the No. 33rd best cornerback in the country by 247Sports and the 30th best player in the state of California. He has named Oregon, Michigan, and Washington his finalists before ultimately making the decision to come to Oregon.

Before the commitment from Florence, Oregon had the No. 12 recruiting class in the nation, which was also first among Pac-12 schools. Now that they can add Florence to that list, who is the first verbal commit from a cornerback, the ranking is sure to go up once again.

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