After decommitting from Miami back in November, 2021 4-star WR Jacolby George from Plantation High decided to rejoin Miami’s recruiting class yesterday. Afterwards, two of George’s coaches at Plantation, head coach Steve Davis and passing coordinator Roderick Branch, spoke with CIS about what the highly touted receiver is going to bring to Miami.
“Jacolby has freakishly outstanding ball skills,” Davis said. “His catch radius is well above average for a kid his age. I think his best days are ahead of him. As he gets into a college nutrition and strength program, he will only get better.”
When it comes to George’s ability to make plays on the field, Branch emphasized his overall talent and his diverse skill set.
“First off, I think Miami is getting the best receiver in South Florida in this class, in this cycle,” said Branch. “I feel like he was the top receiver in Broward County last year and I feel he is the best receiver in South Florida. He can play in and out. He's a great route runner. His hands are amazing - when it hits his hands, it’s a catch. He’s a tough kid and he has room to grow and room to develop.”
As for areas where college can help George improve his game, Davis emphasized the importance of him getting bigger and stronger; George is currently listed at 5’11” 160 pounds.
“Jacolby has a tremendous work ethic off the field and desire to be the best he can be,” Davis said. “He is very humble and knows he needs to get bigger and stronger for the college game.”
With Miami bringing in a new spread offense under offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee, Davis believes George will be able to fit right in.
“I think he will fit well, and coach (Rob) Likens has developed some very good wide receivers,” Davis said. “I think coach Lashlee is a very good coach that can use [George’s] unique skill set and get the ball in his hands in different ways.”
George chose the Hurricanes over other offers from Penn State, WVU, Georgia Tech, Pitt, and UCF among others, and both coaches agreed that Miami made a superior effort to bring George back into the fold compared to their competition.
“Coach (Eric) Hickson was the lead recruiter on Jacolby and did a tremendous job,” Davis said. “Miami, in my opinion, just flat-out out-recruited the other schools on him. They had a well-developed plan and used technology well during this pandemic to reach out to him.”
Coach Branch also went into detail on why Miami’s recruitment of George was successful.
“Miami had a plan. When coach Lashlee brought his staff in, they presented a concrete plan,” Branch said. “They had a plan and they showed us how they were going to use Jacolby. That is valuable for us."
“They sold the program. They showed that Jacolby was a priority, period. They let it be known that they wanted to have him, that they needed him, and that he was a must-have guy. Just knowing that a school wants you is a great thing. Then when you do your homework and research and find out ‘Hey, I can play here pretty fast,’ everything just lined up for Miami.”
Aside from just building a relationship with George, Branch said Miami’s coaches also made it a point to build a relationship with the Plantation coaching staff.
“Once they got here, they were on the ground running,” Branch said. “I’ve had a couple Zoom’s with coach Lashlee, coach Likens, and coach Hickson. Coach Hickson is a South Florida guy so I’ve known him for years, coach (Stephen) Field too. They just made it comfortable. They said whenever we wanted to call, come down to campus, zoom, whatever, they were available if we wanted to do that. It’s a comfort thing.”
As the head coach at Plantation, Davis echoed some of those same points.
“I always got a visit from a Miami coach at the high school,” Davis said. “They always have given invitations to our staff to come down and visit.”
As the passing coordinator for the Colonels, Branch is a firm believer in the idea that Miami moving to a spread offense is going to greatly improve their offensive recruiting, especially when it comes to landing South Florida’s best receivers.
“It’s going to be a huge difference, 90 or 95% of South Florida high schools run spread offenses,” Branch said. “Think about some of the top receivers that have been drafted - Jerry Jeudy, the Ridley boys (Calvin and Riley), (Amari) Cooper, (Jacorey) Brooks who committed to Alabama. There's a lot of kids who would have given Miami a much closer look had they been running that kind of offense. These kids are coming out of spread offenses already.”
Right now, George is the first commitment at WR for the new offensive staff at UM, but according to Branch, they are just getting started.
“These kids want the ball, let’s call it what it is,” Branch said. “If you are coming from a high school where they throw it 30 times a game to college where they are throwing it 15 times a game and it’s not very effective, that’s going to discourage you a bit. What coach Lashlee has shown me and coach Davis is that his offense is going to be fast, high-powered, flashy, and it’s going to attract South Florida kids. I think they are going to get another big commitment from a wide receiver in South Florida (in this class). I believe it’s going to happen.”
“Jacolby has freakishly outstanding ball skills,” Davis said. “His catch radius is well above average for a kid his age. I think his best days are ahead of him. As he gets into a college nutrition and strength program, he will only get better.”
When it comes to George’s ability to make plays on the field, Branch emphasized his overall talent and his diverse skill set.
“First off, I think Miami is getting the best receiver in South Florida in this class, in this cycle,” said Branch. “I feel like he was the top receiver in Broward County last year and I feel he is the best receiver in South Florida. He can play in and out. He's a great route runner. His hands are amazing - when it hits his hands, it’s a catch. He’s a tough kid and he has room to grow and room to develop.”
As for areas where college can help George improve his game, Davis emphasized the importance of him getting bigger and stronger; George is currently listed at 5’11” 160 pounds.
“Jacolby has a tremendous work ethic off the field and desire to be the best he can be,” Davis said. “He is very humble and knows he needs to get bigger and stronger for the college game.”
With Miami bringing in a new spread offense under offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee, Davis believes George will be able to fit right in.
“I think he will fit well, and coach (Rob) Likens has developed some very good wide receivers,” Davis said. “I think coach Lashlee is a very good coach that can use [George’s] unique skill set and get the ball in his hands in different ways.”
George chose the Hurricanes over other offers from Penn State, WVU, Georgia Tech, Pitt, and UCF among others, and both coaches agreed that Miami made a superior effort to bring George back into the fold compared to their competition.
“Coach (Eric) Hickson was the lead recruiter on Jacolby and did a tremendous job,” Davis said. “Miami, in my opinion, just flat-out out-recruited the other schools on him. They had a well-developed plan and used technology well during this pandemic to reach out to him.”
Coach Branch also went into detail on why Miami’s recruitment of George was successful.
“Miami had a plan. When coach Lashlee brought his staff in, they presented a concrete plan,” Branch said. “They had a plan and they showed us how they were going to use Jacolby. That is valuable for us."
“They sold the program. They showed that Jacolby was a priority, period. They let it be known that they wanted to have him, that they needed him, and that he was a must-have guy. Just knowing that a school wants you is a great thing. Then when you do your homework and research and find out ‘Hey, I can play here pretty fast,’ everything just lined up for Miami.”
Aside from just building a relationship with George, Branch said Miami’s coaches also made it a point to build a relationship with the Plantation coaching staff.
“Once they got here, they were on the ground running,” Branch said. “I’ve had a couple Zoom’s with coach Lashlee, coach Likens, and coach Hickson. Coach Hickson is a South Florida guy so I’ve known him for years, coach (Stephen) Field too. They just made it comfortable. They said whenever we wanted to call, come down to campus, zoom, whatever, they were available if we wanted to do that. It’s a comfort thing.”
As the head coach at Plantation, Davis echoed some of those same points.
“I always got a visit from a Miami coach at the high school,” Davis said. “They always have given invitations to our staff to come down and visit.”
As the passing coordinator for the Colonels, Branch is a firm believer in the idea that Miami moving to a spread offense is going to greatly improve their offensive recruiting, especially when it comes to landing South Florida’s best receivers.
“It’s going to be a huge difference, 90 or 95% of South Florida high schools run spread offenses,” Branch said. “Think about some of the top receivers that have been drafted - Jerry Jeudy, the Ridley boys (Calvin and Riley), (Amari) Cooper, (Jacorey) Brooks who committed to Alabama. There's a lot of kids who would have given Miami a much closer look had they been running that kind of offense. These kids are coming out of spread offenses already.”
Right now, George is the first commitment at WR for the new offensive staff at UM, but according to Branch, they are just getting started.
“These kids want the ball, let’s call it what it is,” Branch said. “If you are coming from a high school where they throw it 30 times a game to college where they are throwing it 15 times a game and it’s not very effective, that’s going to discourage you a bit. What coach Lashlee has shown me and coach Davis is that his offense is going to be fast, high-powered, flashy, and it’s going to attract South Florida kids. I think they are going to get another big commitment from a wide receiver in South Florida (in this class). I believe it’s going to happen.”
