BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Union County Head Football Coach Andrew Thomas has seen players rely on talent alone, but senior Gavin Jenkins has proven to him that he has talent and a strong work ethic, both of which combined have given him an opportunity to play Division-I ball.
Jenkins signed a letter of intent to play at Tampa’s University of South Florida during a signing ceremony on Dec. 4 in the UCHS auditorium.
“It’s exciting. I feel great right now,” said Jenkins, who plays corner. “All glory to God for giving me this ability to play football and go to the next level.”
Thomas said Jenkins changed his approach to work in the weight room about a year and a half ago. He also saw Jenkins devote time on his own to working on the field and improving his game.
“There are some guys I’ve seen — they don’t work real hard, and they’re naturals,” Thomas said. “(Jenkins) kind of understood how to grind and train himself in how to do it right. He’s really matured in that, which I think is going to help him become successful.”
Jenkins said that when he began receiving offers from colleges, he made it a point to work outside of practices and take the weight room “even more seriously.”
“It showed under the lights,” Jenkins said, adding, “It really showed how much I love the game.”
Jenkins looked toward the future in explaining why USF was the school for him.
“The head coach (Alex Golesh) is building something great,” he said. “They’re getting a new facility. Coach DVD (DeMarcus Van Dyke) — my DB coach — is putting in some good stuff for us and producing NFL products.”
Jenkins, who has seven interceptions the last three years and has been in on more than 20 pass breakups, was a two-way player at UCHS. He was the Tigers’ leading receiver his junior and senior seasons.
He was recruited to play defense at USF, but said he’d be happy on either side of the ball.
“It really doesn’t matter to me,” Jenkins said. “I’ve got good lung capacity, so I feel like I can play both sides of the ball.”
Thomas believes Jenkins has a high ceiling and will benefit from spending all his time on defense.
“He’ll definitely blossom more when he just focuses on that,” Thomas said.
As of now, one of Jenkins’ greatest attributes is his length, Thomas said, alluding to the player’s 6-2 frame. He’ll add to that with the help of the USF strength and nutrition programs.
“He’s going to put on some weight when he eats better and those kinds of things,” Thomas said.
Thomas said he could even envision Jenkins, with weight gain on top of his length, moving to safety.
“That’s great for him, to be able to have those skills and that length to be able to give options to himself, to be able to play different positions,” Thomas said.
When it came to putting himself in the best position to play at the next level, Jenkins also put in the necessary work academically.
“He really had to make up some ground in the classroom,” Thomas said. “He really turned it on and has done really well academically here in the past couple of years to be able to put himself in this situation. You can have the talent, but if you put in the work and not do what you need to do in the classroom, you’re not going to get this opportunity.”
Jenkins has his opportunity. He’s ready to run with it. When he was asked what it would feel like the first time he stepped onto the field as a USF Bull, he said he didn’t think there would be “too much nervousness.”
“I’m going to be ready to play,” he said.
