re: 2018 Football Recruiting Thread -- Final OP Update Edition

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Q&A with Jordyn Peters

Q: If you could give a junior one piece of advice about the recruiting process, what would it be?

A: “Talk to the players. As far as coaching-wise, they’re going to get you where you need to be. Coaches, they can tell you whatever, recruiting-wise. They’re not bad guys, they’re just trying to recruit you. That’s their job. They want to get you in there and tell you what you want to hear. But you need to talk to the players. The players are going to tell you how it is and how a coach is going to coach and what your chances are. You need to look at how many seniors or juniors they have for your playing time and all that. When you go on a visit, go talk to the players and ask them, ‘How is Coach? How do y’all do this in practice? Do you like it here?’ Things like that. And see if you like those guys. Because you don’t want to come into a team where you don’t feel comfortable with a team.”

Q: What school came in second? What could they have done better?

A: “I think it would’ve been between Ole Miss and Virginia Tech. Knowing how Ole Miss got that (bowl) sanction, I probably would’ve picked Virginia Tech, even though it was only a year. I still probably would’ve picked Virginia Tech second and Ole Miss third. …I went up to Tech, and it felt like an SEC school. Because I went up and visited Duke and Georgia Tech before I went up to Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech compared to those other schools. It was just a whole different feeling. It was like the SEC. They just have a beautiful campus up there. I bonded with those coaches, too — Coach Wiggins and Coach Scott and Coach Bud. I bonded with those guys that day I visited them. I had a really good feeling. … They were graduating their seniors, too, so I had a good feeling. Virginia Tech defense, they’ve got that reputation.”

Q: Anything they could’ve done better to get you?

A: “Not really. It wasn’t anybody’s fault. I probably would’ve picked Auburn anyway. But communication toward the end, it was a little flared up with them. I didn’t talk to them as much as I talked to Auburn. But I knew they were recruiting other people. It wasn’t a big deal. It wasn’t like I didn’t talk to them. It just wasn’t as much as coaches from Auburn.”

Q: What was the most creative thing a school or coach did to get your attention?

A: “When I got my third or fourth offer from Louisville. I was up there on a junior day visit. Before we got to touring the campus, the coach came up to me and said, ‘I’ve got something for you later. I’ve got something to tell you.’ At that moment, I was like, ‘OK, I’ve probably got an offer.’ He still waited and once we got back, we were going to look at the stadium next. We were in the front and everybody else was behind us, so it was like I was leading the crew. We were walking down from their locker room to the middle of it, and right when we walked out, this music just started playing. It was like, well, not Beethoven, but like…[makes sharp violin noises] Real dramatic music. They started showing this highlight video, and it made me catch chills how it happened. And that’s when he grabbed me and said, ‘We’d like to offer you to come play at the University of Louisville.’ It was like, boom, all of that was for me. All that music, that’s how it felt. I mean, it was for everybody at the junior day, but for me to be out in front like that. It just felt real special.”

Q: What was the biggest rumor about your recruitment that wasn’t true?

A: “No. I can’t think of one. Nah.”

Q: What is the funniest thing any head coach said to you during the entire recruiting process?

A: “Coach Malzahn would say some funny things. He knew my sister and my cousin and my granddad were Alabama fans. So he would joke all the time, like, ‘We’re going to end up flipping them, or they can’t get any tickets.’ That’d be funny. That’s the funniest thing said. …The funniest conversation I had was with Coach Freeze. It wasn’t like a funny conversation. We were talking about other schools I’ve been to and stuff, and he was talking about Ole Miss. But the whole time we were sitting there, he was eating a popsicle. He’s just sitting there the whole time with it. He’d take a lick, then he’d smack his lips and ask a question. I’m just sitting there like trying to answer his questions, but I’m just looking at this popsicle. I was like, that looks good. I want one. But they didn’t get me one.”

Q: What was the biggest secret you kept during the recruiting process?

A: “I told a couple of coaches that I wasn’t going farther than like five hours. That knocked down a lot of schools. The only one I probably would’ve taken the chance on was Virginia Tech. So I told a couple of them, I’m not going farther than five hours. That’s my cap. Close enough to come home on the weekend if I need to, but far away where my mom’s not going to be up there every weekend or something like that.”

Q: What was your biggest regret of the recruiting process?

A: “I probably committed a little too early. I would’ve liked to take a couple more visits and stuff. I feel like after I committed, some of those schools fell back. They felt like I wasn’t going to flip, and I wasn’t. I felt like I could’ve committed too early. I could’ve gotten in a couple more visits. I was just worried, and my mom and my dad and my coach were telling me that I needed to commit. Just for insurance policy, in case I got hurt or something. I understood that. And I took plenty of visits. I would’ve liked to take a couple more visits to a couple more schools, but it was no big deal. I wanted to get up and visit Michigan. I would’ve taken another visit to Virginia Tech. I don’t know why, but I always wanted to visit Missouri, too.”

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