Last week, receiver Jacob Copeland (6-0, 192, Pensacola, FL. Escambia) made big news when he released his commitment to the Florida Gators over Twitter.
Copeland who had said he wanted to wait until the Under Armour All-American game to make his decision decided to move his decision up and he explained why he decided that.
“I felt like I should go ahead and secure my spot,” Copeland said on why he committed to Florida. “I felt like committing to Florida was one of the best decisions I could’ve made, knowing that was a dream school growing up. Ever since they’ve been recruiting me, they made me a priority. That was big, so that’s what I think made me decide on that.”
Florida Gators head coach Jim McElwain made Copeland priority since he was hired in Gainesville and that was a big reason the receiver committed to Florida.
“Knowing that he was the head coach and I was his first priority, I felt
good about that,” he said on McElwain personally recruiting him since day one. “Knowing he made me a priority. And when he got a chance to contact recruits, he always made sure to contact me at all times and check up on me.”
Not only did McElwain recruit Copeland but receivers coach Kerry Dixon and linebackers coach Tim Skipper also built a relationship with the receiver and helped land his commitment.
“My relationship with them is great. Matter of fact, I talk to them
all the time,” Copeland said on his relationship with Skipper and Dixon. “When Skip started recruiting me, he always checked up on me to make sure I was good. Coach Dixon acts like a father to me. It’s not always about football, he just checks on me throughout the day to see how I’m feeling, what I’ve got going on today, just stuff like that. It doesn’t always have to be about football. It’s a good relationship.”
Alabama and Auburn both made strong runs at Copeland but the receiver says he has known for some time that he wanted to play in the Swamp on Saturday’s.
“Probably my 10th to 11th grade year,” he said on when he knew he was going to Florida.
Copeland was in Gainesville during Friday Night Lights and got the chance to meet new quarterback commit Matt Corral and the receiver credits Corral for helping him choose Florida. “Yeah, because knowing that he’s a good quarterback,” Copeland said on if Matt Corral had any part in his commitment. “I know he’s a good quarterback and he’s gonna come in and ball. He’s gonna work to get a starting position, so I feel like that could be a thing, too.”
Now that Copeland has committed to Florida, the receiver plans to help build the 2018 class up and he thinks this class could help build something special for the Gators.
“Oh yeah. No doubt,” he said on if he thinks this class can help Florida get back on top. “I feel like everything’s building up, so we have a good class to go get that.”
INSIDERS TAKE: Copeland is very locked in with Florida and is recruiting hard for Florida. Honestly, Copeland has been talking to guys about Florida for sometime now.
Why is Copeland not listed on the right of the homepage under LATEST 2018 COMMITS??? Looks like the newer ones are?