GREG REID – FLORIDA STATE
Greg Reid, the four-star cornerback from Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Ga., was committed to Florida for most of 2008. However, just after the Under Armour All-America game in early January, Reid announced he would be taking other official visits.
“I never really got to look at other schools, so that’s why I opened it up,” said the 5-foot-9, 175 pounder. And speaking of the UA game, Reid said, "It helped me out a lot. A lot of coaches saw what I could do."
Scout.com’s No. 15 cornerback ended up taking January official visits to Florida State (Jan. 9), Florida (Jan. 16), Alabama (Jan. 23) and Georgia (Jan. 30) and was glad he did.
“The whole official visit thing was new to me,” he said. “I heard people talk about them, but I really had no idea what to expect. Man, they were fun. It’s great. I loved getting to go into the stadium and the locker rooms and talk to the all the coaches. It’s a great experience.”
Although he admits that every visit was pretty similar, he still enjoyed them all. “They really all kind of do the same thing,” Reid said. “But it’s still fun. There’s not much different that they can do, but hanging out with the coaches and players is fun.”
Unfortunately for the Florida, Reid’s official visit to Gainesville didn’t help the Gators’ cause. “It was hard because that’s where I was supposed to go,” he said. “But after the visit I knew it would be a mistake. And I knew it wasn't the right place for me, playing time-wise"
It didn’t help the Gator cause that Reid loved his visit to Florida State. “It was a great visit,” Reid said. “I had really connected with the players and I like how it’s a spiritual place. We got to talk to the school chaplain and that really stood out for me and my mom.”
Another thing the ‘Noles had going for them was offensive coordinator Jimbo Fishers’ recruiting approach. “They didn’t call me all the time like some of the other schools,” he said. “I liked talking with coach Fisher but I would only really hear from them maybe once a week and it wasn’t like they were constantly pressuring me or anything. But when we talked it was always about something and not just the same thing over and over.”
But pressure is something that Reid admits he started feeling in January. “It was a little stressful,” he said. “My whole thing was about information and I was just trying to get all the information about each school that I could. Recruiting was fun, but it got to be a bit much last month.”
Which is why he was so relieved when he actually inked with Florida State. “That was definitely a relief,” he said. “It was great to finally be done.”
Reid says that both Alabama and Georgia were high on his list. “I was definitely close to choosing Alabama,” Reid said. “I liked Alabama a lot. It’s a football town. It’s all about football over there and it’s a winning program.
“Georgia was fun too but I was never one of those guys that followed the in-state school,” he said.
So what ultimately tipped things in Florida State’s favor? “The distance,” he said. “Florida State is only about an hour away and I wanted to be near my family. That support is important to me. That was really the biggest factor at the end.”
Of course that wasn’t the only thing he liked about the ‘Noles. “I love their attitude,” he said. “They really want to win and get things back to how they used to be in the 90’s. It’s gonna take some time but they can do it. They are real serious about getting things back to normal and are really focusing on players who can make a difference.
“Florida State is rebuilding, but things are getting better,” Reid said. “I’m not gonna say that we’re gonna go out and win it all next year, but you have to have faith. It’ll be a good first step next season. Then our goal will be to win the ACC and then the national championship. It has to start somewhere and I’m glad they think I can be part of that.
"When I took my visit up there, I knew they wanted to win. I knew they wanted to bring FSU back."
And what does Reid think about coach Bobby Bowden’s future with the Seminoles? “It would be great to go out there and win for him,” he said. “But coach Fisher (set to replace coach Bowden when he retires) is a great coach too and at least you know things are stable there. There really shouldn’t be any surprises.”
“The key to the recruiting process is staying humble and ask a lot of questions,” said the versatile Reid, who was also named to SuperPrep magazine’s Elite 50 team. “I don’t even remember all the questions I asked but I was looking at everything. I wasn’t just checking out my own depth chart. I wanted to know what quarterback they had and how deep the team was and who was coming in. All that stuff is important if you care about winning.”
Gone from the Seminoles are starting CB Tony Carter and part-time starter Michael Ray Garvin, which may open up time for Reid. But Reid's best shot at earning early playing time may come on special teams, where he could line up as a return man. "I hope I get a lot of punt returns and kick returns," he said. "I'm going to try my hardest. I want to play."
WILLIAM CAMPBELL – MICHIGAN
William Campbell committed to Michigan early on. Very early on – as in June before his junior season of high school.
So it shouldn’t have come as too big of a shock when the Detroit Cass Tech five-star defensive tackle had some second thoughts along the way. Those second thoughts indeed took hold and Campbell opened up his recruitment during his senior year at Cass Tech.
In fact, just a few weeks before he signed, he was not even including the Wolverines on his list of finalists. "I'm really looking to get away from here," Campbell said. "I liked my other visits and I'm thinking of seeing something new. I'm thinking about leaving Michigan."
But between that Dec. 28 statement and his announcement at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, Campbell figured out that playing football less than an hour from home at a traditional football and academic powerhouse didn’t sound like such a bad idea.
“It was a good school, a good football program and a good education,” said Scout.com’s No. 6 defensive tackle. “Plus it was close to home. That wasn’t everything, but it’s good.”
Campbell, also named to SuperPrep mag’s Elite 50 team (No. 22), will eat up tons of space with his 6-foot-5, 317-pound frame. Despite growing up in the shadow of the Big House, he wasn’t a kid who grew up dreaming of wearing the maize and blue some day.
“I didn’t really watch football,” he said.
That changed this past fall. Although Campbell was looking around, he still attended six Michigan games in Ann Arbor, and finally bought into the multi-faceted recruiting pitch made by head coach Rich Rodriguez and his staff.
“If you don’t make it in football, you’ll always have a Michigan degree,” Campbell said.
When Campbell decommitted from the Wolverines for a few months, dozens of schools were more than happy to give him another look. And he returned their interest, at least for the time being.
“LSU, Miami, Florida and Alabama,” replied Campbell when asked about Michigan’s competition. “I would probably say Miami was second, LSU, then Florida and Alabama. I loved getting out and going to South Beach," he said.
The lure of the Southeastern Conference, home to the last three national champions, was strong. But so was the pull of staying within driving distance of Detroit.
“I want to play against the best,” Campbell said. “(But) it was just the distance factor.”
Kyle Koehne committed to Florida during his official visit to Gainesville |
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KYLE KOEHNE – FLORIDA
Kyle Koehne is quick to point out that he is not a dirty player. The SuperPrep All-America offensive lineman will tell you that he is quick off the ball, is good at staying lower than the man across the line of scrimmage and then gets to the second level. That's when he really goes to work.
"I'm a quick head-hunter," the Florida signee said. "I go for the kill shot."
The 6-foot-6, 290-pounder from Indianapolis Cathedral High already had 10 offers before his senior season and picked the Gators over Boston College during his official visit to the Gainesville campus.
He had already visited the Eagles campus on Sept. 6 and was in attendance for Florida’s matchup with LSU on Oct. 11. "It was basically how much I liked Florida," Koehne said of his commitment to the Gators during his trip. "It was pretty crazy, definitely."
Koehne was recruited by Gators offensive line coach Steve Addazio, who has since been promoted to offensive coordinator. "I like all the coaches a lot," Koehne said.
Koehne knows he's going into a program that has been a recruiting juggernaut recently. "I'm definitely going to have to come ready to play," he said.
And while watching the Gators win the Glass Trophy over Oklahoma, Koehne found himself in slight disbelief, watching a program he will be suiting up for soon. "It was kind of hard to believe," he said, "I was actually going to the school."
MORGAN NEWTON – KENTUCKY
Quarterback Morgan Newton grew up in the heart of Big Ten country, not SEC country.
But the standout quarterback from Carmel, Ind., just outside of Indianapolis, knows good football when he sees it.
Newton, who led his high school team to three consecutive state championship game appearances in his state’s largest enrollment class, including a state championship as a junior, signed with Kentucky. Scout.com’s No. 6 signal caller had a largely drama-less recruiting cycle, committing to the Wildcats in late August and never wavering.
“It was a situation where we knew we didn’t want to commit and decommit and switch out of situations,” said Newton, speaking for himself and his family, whom he leaned on heavily for advice and moral support during the process.
“Lately the SEC has been pretty powerful in football," he said. "If you look at the last couple years, the SEC has taken away a lot of national championships. We want to be in the highest level of competition, and we felt like the SEC is where that is.”
In choosing to head to Lexington, about a three-hour drive from his home in Indy’s northern suburbs, Newton surprised even himself – at least the childhood version of himself.
“I was born in 1991, and when I was growing up I always wanted to play for Notre Dame or Florida State,” Newton said. “Those were the schools you looked up to back then – and they had great academics. You felt like those were great places. But you go through the recruiting process and things change. Certain schools recruit you and you learn to look at those schools that can expose your skill set.”
For Newton, that skill set is large. As a senior, he rushed for 1,664 yards and 26 touchdowns. He also threw for 1,938 yards and 22 touchdowns.
Who could blame Kentucky fans for looking at Newton and already having visions of former star quarterback and current New York Giant Andre Woodson, who threw for 40 touchdowns and led an upset of eventual national champion Florida his senior season?
Newton was pretty much sold on Kentucky all the way, but still considered some other schools in the early-going of his recruiting process.
“Personally I was down to Kentucky and Florida,” he said. “Clemson and South Carolina were still there, too.”