Muschamp “Baker Acts” Urban

The decision is in and another Cleveland native is taking his talents to the state of Florida. This time its linebacker Jerome Baker (6-1, 206, Cleveland, OH Benedictine) who pledged to Florida on Friday morning.

Baker’s family liked Ohio State and for sometime the Buckeyes were the favorite but defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin developed a strong relationship with the linebacker and in the end won out.

“Coach Durkin and I have an awesome relationship,” Baker said. “Coach Durkin is someone that I can talk to about everything from my life to football. We have really good conversations with each other and are always relaxed. Our relationship is very strong and open. I usually talk to him twice a week or sometimes more.”

With Baker’s commitment the Gators now sit at 10 verbal commitment for the Class of 2015 and Baker is the first linebacker commit as Florida looks to add three more linebackers after not taking one in the class of 2014.

Baker joins defensive tackle Andrew Ivie, defensive backs Marcus Lewis, Jalen Julis and Deontai Williams in the class and is also the fourth out of state commitment for the Class of 2015.

Ohio State and Tennessee — his other finalists — aren’t going to stop recruiting Baker but he says that his decision will be a solid one. At this time, Baker doesn’t know if he will take an official visit other than one to Florida this upcoming season.

If Florida  signs Baker in February of 2015 then he would be the first Ohio prospect to sign with Florida since 2002 when running back Deshawn Wynn signed with Florida out of Cincinnati, Ohio.

While that’s a crazy stat, this year the Gators have a great chance to sign two prospects out of Ohio as offensive lineman George Brown has Florida as a finalist and he’s from Cincinnati, Ohio himself.

Andrew Spivey
Andrew always knew he wanted to be involved with sports in some capacity. He began by coaching high school football for six years before deciding to pursue a career in journalism. While coaching, he was a part of two state semifinal teams in the state of Alabama. Given his past coaching experience, he figured covering recruiting would be a perfect fit. He began his career as an intern for Rivals.com, covering University of Florida football recruiting. After interning with Rivals for six months, he joined the Gator Country family as a recruiting analyst. Andrew enjoys spending his free time on the golf course and watching his beloved Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewSpiveyGC.

6 COMMENTS

  1. This is the biggest get yet. A great player at a position of need. Let’s hope the Gators do well enough on the field this year to keep the coaches from being fired. It sounds like this kid is basing his decision on his relationship with Durkin. UF had a guy flip to them last year, Thomas Holley, that changed his mind after a coaching change.

  2. This is a big one! No, he’s not a five-star “super stud”, but, he’s going to be a solid, if not great LB in college. It feels good to snatch one out from under Urban and I hope Muschamp intensifies recruiting in Urban’s back yard. Now, I get to rub my friend’s face in it, for a change. He’s been bragging about Urban stealing recruits from us; now, it’s my turn. They are really shocked that he chose UF – they thought he was in the bag. :-)

  3. you people think 6,1 and 206 LBs if what UF needs to play LB at the top SEC level??=======do you people not see the total lack of star power in the classes of WM ? UF wins when it has stars thru its rosters ===YOU CANNOT PLAY BAMA, LSU, UGA, FSU with rosters filled with 3 star recruits =========

    • Baker isn’t a 3 star and he will be big enough to play LB at Florida after Dillman gets a hold of him.