Before Corey Collier Jr. even made his entrance into the world, he was meant to be an athlete.
While getting out of bed to pee in the middle of the night feels like an olympic sport for most pregnant women (and I can attest to this), Alanyia Johnson actually competed at a Division I level with baby Collier baking in her belly.
A former member of the Florida State track team, Johnson continued competing with precautions while Corey Collier Sr. played football for the Seminoles.
“I lifted weights, I ran, did high jump, long jump,” Johnson said. “I did all of that with him inside of me. That’s why I tell people, Corey, mentally he is very strong. Physically, he has to be strong with what he endured just being inside of me with me running, jumping. I kind of already knew he was going to play a sport. I didn’t know how good he was going to be, but I kind of always knew he was going to be athletic.”
Even more impressively, Johnson did the same thing the previous season as she carried their daughter, A’laysia. For Johnson and Collier Sr., continuing their athletic careers as new and expecting parents was not only for the love of their sports, but also to maintain their scholarship status and complete their education.
Johnson’s water broke on an early October morning, and the only thing she could think of on the way to the hospital was a paper she had due that day. She frantically called her professor to ask for an extension until she could get to her flash drive where she saved her work, but was denied.
So, Collier Sr. had to go find her flash drive, print her paper, turn it in for her, and drop their 14-month-old daughter off at daycare, all before going to his own class to take a test and attending football practice while she delivered their future star.
Little did the FSU alums know their bundle of joy would one day suit up in orange and blue.
But they did know he would play football.
Collier’s parents never pressured him to play. The game just captivated him from a young age.
“I put him in all types of sports,” Johnson said. “But he’s always had a football in his hand from when he was younger. Maybe 3 or 4, just running with a football.”
Collier Sr. remembered taking his son to watch cousins play while he was still too young to join a league. He said little Collier would cry because he wanted to play so badly but couldn’t.
When he finally did get on the field, he immediately had something special inside of him. Collier started out playing running back and quarterback, and his dad said the very first play he ever made in a game was a 70-yard touchdown run.
Johnson said she knew he had a little something extra when he started throwing stiff arms on the poor kids he played against. She had never seen anything like it from someone so young.
Work eventually took Johnson to Georgia, and Collier lived with her there for much of his childhood. As he reached middle school, it became increasingly clear that he had a bright future in football.
Not wanting to hold him back from exposure and opportunities, the family decided it was best for him to move back down to Miami with his dad.
Miami Palmetto Senior High School coach Mike Manasco immediately saw the trajectory of his program rise as Collier joined an already talented group of future Panthers.
“Him coming back here, it was just known that he was going to come play for us,” Manasco said. “He was going to come back to his home and play here … He’s got Palmetto in his blood. I think everybody in the whole country wanted Corey Collier to play for them in high school.”
Collier essentially stepped right in and excelled at Palmetto, just as he did back in his Pee Wee days.
One of his first games as a freshman came in a hostile environment at South Florida powerhouse Naples High School. It didn’t phase the young safety in the slightest.
“Corey’s freshman year, he leads the county in interceptions,” Manasco said. “His first interception is against Naples and he almost scores with it. It was on our sideline, and I just looked at our coaches like, ‘Man, that was so special.’ He basically baited the quarterback to throw the ball his direction and almost scored with it.”
It didn’t take long for Florida and just about ever other college football program in the country to take notice.
The obvious choices seemed to be staying home and going to Miami or following in his parents’ FSU footsteps.
While every parent has certain visions for their children, Johnson and Collier Sr. stepped back and let their son navigate the recruiting process on his own. They offered advice along the way and helped him stay grounded, but only he could decide where he felt the most comfortable spending the next four years of his life.
Collier and his older sister share an extremely close bond, and she said she never really thought he would end up at FSU.
“At one point, he was thinking about it, but I always knew he wasn’t going to follow the same path my dad did,” A’laysia said. “My mom always tells us, ‘Don’t try to be us, be better than us.’ So, I knew that wasn’t on his mind at the time.”
As decision time came closer, Collier did not feel drawn to either of those obvious choices, but to rival Florida instead.
At first, Johnson couldn’t wrap her head around why he wanted to play for the Gators. Then, she saw the emphasis the staff placed on her son.
Collier Sr. said the coaches made them feel comfortable and frequently checked up on them, not just to talk football, but to ensure they were staying safe throughout the COVID-19 pandemic
“If somebody is taking that interest without having my child at their school, I can’t imagine what they’re going to do while he’s actually there,” Johnson said. “For us, they showed the most interest.”
John Herron (better known as Coach Hova) led the way in Collier’s recruitment, joined by offensive coordinator Brian Johnson. Manasco gave high praise to Johnson’s recruitment of Collier and players in his program as a whole.
“He loved Coach Johnson,” Manasco said. “He is the man with recruiting down here. The kids love him and they gravitate to him. That was a big draw for Collier at the end of the day.”
Now that the early enrollee has had a few weeks to settle in on campus, his family can already tell he is ready to shine at the next level as he has his entire life.
“I can see a change in him,” Johnson said. “When I talk to him, he’s like, ‘Ma, I’m doing school work right now!’ I’m like, ‘What? This is a new child.’ The goal is, and the drive for him is, ‘I want to work hard and I want to play.’ So, he’s making those changes and adjustments to make sure the coaches see that, ‘I’m dedicated. I’m here early. I’m doing my work. I’m working out. I’m staying on time. I’m growing, and I want to play.’”
If Collier is anything like his loved ones described, he is an automatic culture-booster for the Gators.
His mom, dad and sister all said he constantly wears a smile on his face and rarely gets upset. That is, unless he has a bad play and needs some motivation to make up for it on the next one.
Manasco simply described him as the ultimate teammate.
“Once he walks in a room, he’s able to shed light into that room,” he said. “Corey Collier seems like he’s never had a bad day. He’s that kind of kid.”
His genes gave him no choice but to be an athlete. His passion for football gave him no choice but to be a great athlete.
From running in the womb to soon running out of the tunnel in The Swamp, Collier continues to pave his incredibly unique path to success.
“I used to walk around school with him, and people didn’t even know that I had a child,” Johnson said. “Just the fact that, that’s how he started out. Just how life was. All of those things could have turned him a different way. The fact that he prevailed through that … For him to understand that and keep prevailing, that’s a lot. That’s major.”