From FSU 247 board, Zach Blostein
So the Darrell Jackson recruitment developed again on Saturday evening, with the FSU DT transfer commit heading down to Coral Gables.
Logically, if it was a win to get him to head back to Tallahassee en route to South Florida on Friday night, then this development isn’t ideal for FSU. But from what I’m told, FSU’s side wasn’t surprised about this trip. Not sure why. It seems like Sunday is a sort of “moving” day. Maybe literally, I don’t know. Figuratively, I believe today to be the pivotal day in this recruitment to see if Jackson ends up at FSU or returns to Miami. And then Monday will be the day we figure out where he ended up, best I can tell.
A few details that I’ve picked up along the way:
**I do believe that Jackson really wants to be at FSU. He’s extremely close with his high school teammate and FSU DT Josh Farmer. They want to play together again and heading home-ish to FSU is the easiest way to make that happen.
**But an aspect that is creating hesitation – and it’s something that Miami is playing on from what I can gather from non-FSU sources – is his concern about getting a waiver. I believe that Miami has been in his ear about it not being a lay-up to get a waiver (his mother, who lives near Tallahassee, does have a medical condition although I’m not familiar with the exact condition and am not comfortable discussing it in any more depth than this), so there’s a concern that he goes to FSU and has to sit a year.
One non-FSU source has gone as far to say that Miami will not sign off on a hardship waiver for Jackson. Trying to gather if that’s something that’s needed for him to have a chance to pick up a waiver.
**The NIL package Miami is offering him to remain on the roster in 2023, from what I’m told, is “stupid money.” Wellllll into six figures. The exact number varies, and I’m not convinced that the high number that I’ve heard is legitimate. Still, it's substantive.
**Basically, Miami is using concern over not playing and a pay bump to entice him to stay. And playing time. He'd be a starter at Miami, a reserve at FSU this season. This seems to be creating a good deal of conflict for Jackson, best I can tell.
Jackson was leaning towards staying at FSU yesterday afternoon. Then he was in Coral Gables yesterday evening.
This has all been very interesting to follow, with Miami putting on the full-court press to retain its starting defensive tackle. It’s a big recruitment for both schools, for a few reasons that I just can’t get into right now. Sunday, as I mentioned, will be a pivotal day in this recruitment with hopefully some finality coming on Monday when business hours begin (to see if he enrolls at one school or the other).
