Tag: North Carolina football

4-star WR JJ Jones includes Georgia football in top-five

Saturday, 2021 4-star receiver JJ Jones took to Twitter to announce his list of top-5 schools and Georgia football made the cut.

Saturday, 2021 4-star wide receiver JJ Jones announced his top-5 schools on Twitter.

North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Mississippi State and Georgia made the cut for the Myrtle Beach High School prospect.

247Sports has Jones ranked as the No. 2 player in South Carolina and No. 49 receiver overall in the 2021 recruiting class.

Per the composite rankings, he is ranked as the nation’s No. 414 overall player.

In 2019, as a junior, Jones caught 45 passes for 707 yards and 15 touchdowns while being named to the All-Region team and 3rd-team All State.

Right now, 247 has South Carolina as the favorite to land the home-state prospect.

Jones holds 35 scholarship offers from across the country.

A look at Georgia QB Jamie Newman’s high school recruitment, highlights

Looking at Wake Forest transfer QB Jamie Newman, now with Georgia football, as a high school prospect and some of his best highlights

We know that Wake Forest transfer quarterback Jamie Newman is one of the highest-graded quarterbacks returning in 2020, but what was Newman like as a high school prospect before playing for Wake and later transferring to Georgia?

Newman was a 3-star prospect at Graham High School in Graham, North Carolina and was ranked as the No. 17 dual-threat quarterback in the 2015 recruiting class, according to 247Sports.

Newman recorded a 4.7 40 in high school and held offers from NC State, Vanderbilt, West Virginia, North Carolina and Wake Forest, among six others.

Although Newman took unofficial visits to Duke, Wake Forrest, North Carolina, Vanderbilt and East Carolina, his college decision really came down between Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, NC State and West Virginia. And ultimately signed with Wake Forest in Feburary of 2016.

See some of our favorite highlights from Newman’s high school days here:

 

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Georgia football makes big jump in 2021 national recruiting rankings

Georgia football made a big jump in the recruiting rankings following a commitment from 4-star DE Elijah Jeudy.

After a commitment by 4-star defensive end Elijah Juedy on Sunday, Georgia moved from No. 14 to No. 7 in the 2021 national recruiting rankings according to 247Sports.

That makes seven total commits in the 2021 Bulldog recruiting class:

5-star QB Brock Vandagriff

4-star OT Micah Morris

4-star ATH David Daniel

4-star RB Lovasea Carroll

4-star SDE Jonathan Jefferson

4-star WDE Elijah Jeudy

3-star DT Marlin Dean

Ohio State currently leads the 2021 recruiting class rankings followed by North Carolina, Clemson, Florida, USC and Notre Dame.

Report: UNC expected to hire longtime Georgia football assistant coach

UNC is expected to hire a former Georgia football assistant coach.

Per a report from Bruce Feldman of the Athletic, the North Carolina Tar Heels are expected to hire former Georgia tight end coach John Lilly to the same position in Chapel Hill.

Lilly, who spent eight seasons in Athens as the Dawgs’ tight ends coach and offensive special teams’ coordinator, left UGA in 2015.

In 2016, Lilly was the tight ends coach for the Los Angeles Rams. After taking 2017 off, Lilly joined Jeremy Pruitt’s staff in Knoxville as Tennessee’s Executive Assistant to Head Coach.

Most recently, Lilly spent the 2019 football season as the tight ends coach for the Cleveland Browns and was not retained when the franchise fired Freddie Kitchens.

Lilly will take over at UNC for Tim Brewster, who left to become the tight ends coach at Florida.

Assistant coaches live a bit of a nomadic life, and for Lilly to have eight years in the Classic City was a treat for DawgNation.

During his time with the Bulldogs, Lilly was part of several record-setting seasons: 72 touchdowns in 2012, 484.14 yards per game in 2013 and 41.3 points per game in 2014. All were the best marks in school history. He served as the Bulldogs’ interim offensive coordinator during the 37-14 win over Louisville in the 2014 Belk Bowl and the 24-17 victory over Penn State in the 2016 Tax Slayer Bowl. Both Louisville and Penn State had top 15 nationally-ranked defenses.

He coached star tight ends Arthur Lynch, an All-SEC First Team honoree and fifth-round NFL draft pick; Orson Charles, a fourth-round selection by the Cincinnati Bengals; and Aron White, the Most Outstanding Offensive Player at the 2009 Independence Bowl. He guided Georgia’s punt unit, which included Ray Guy Award winner Drew Butler.

Lilly brings a wealth of knowledge to Carolina and may possibly be a secret weapon for Heels. He is highly respected and has a knack for exploiting a defensive team’s weakness.

UNC grad transfer TE Carl Tucker visiting Alabama

Alabama is expected to return all of its tight ends from 2019 while also adding three-star Cade Clark in the 2020 cycle. But the Tide is still looking to add depth and talent at the position as the offseason continues. One player who could fit into …

Alabama is expected to return all of its tight ends from 2019 while also adding three-star Cade Clark in the 2020 cycle. But the Tide is still looking to add depth and talent at the position as the offseason continues.

One player who could fit into those plans is North Carolina graduate transfer Carl Tucker, who is reportedly visiting Tuscaloosa this weekend.

The 6-foot-2, 248-pound tight end would be an intriguing addition to the Alabama roster. Tucker is a veteran guy who received a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA due to injuries.

So far in his career, Tucker has turned 36 receptions into 549 yards and four scores, including his best season in 2018 when he caught 16 passes for 265 yards and two touchdowns.

That season helped Tucker land on the Pro Football Focus All-ACC First-Team:

With Alabama returning players such as Miller Forristall, Jahleel Billingsley and Major Tennison at tight end, many fans may be wondering the significance of potentially adding Tucker.

The issue with a lot of the Crimson Tide’s current crop of tight ends is completeness, as none of the guys listed above have proven to be consistent, effective blockers. That’s why the team was forced to try offensive linemen such as Chris Owens and Kendall Randolph out at that position.

The coaching staff is looking for a player who can be an effective blocker (both in run blocking and pass protection) while also being a threat as a receiver.

Tucker could potentially be that guy, should the relationship between he and the Alabama coaching staff continue past this weekend. It should also be noted that Florida State and other schools are still in the mix.

Tucker was a three-star prospect coming out of William Amos Hough High School in Cornelius (N.C.) back in 2015. According to the 247Sports composite rankings, he was the No. 571 overall player, No. 43 athlete and No. 19 player in the state.

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