Football Recruiting
Report
Monday, December 23, 2013
By Sammy Batten |
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McGhin family pedigree goes on
Pirates tap Tallahassee for O-lineman
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By
Sammy Batten
©2013 Bonesville.net
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Garrett McGhin thought of himself as
a baseball player first when he reached the ninth grade at Florida State
University School in Tallahassee, FL. But that all changed once McGhin
stepped on the football field a year later.
"I wanted to be one of the handful of
kids who make the varsity baseball team as a freshman, which I did,'' McGhin
said. "So didn't play football my first year in high school. By by the end
of my freshman year the football coaches kept telling me, 'Come on out.'
"So my tenth-grade year I came out and I
was kind of rusty at it. But I was big enough and kind of strong, and just
bullied people around basically.''
McGhin quickly mastered the techniques of
blocking well enough to attract the attention of major college football
recruiters, including East Carolina. The Pirates eventually landed a verbal
commitment from the 6-foot-6-1/2, 285-pounder on December 5, making him the
fifth offensive line prospect to join the recruiting Class of 2014.
The pledge by Garrett continues a McGhin
family tradition of producing college football players. His father, Patrick,
was a defensive end-outside linebacker at Appalachian State and cousin John
McGhin played offensive line at South Florida.
Those influences, and his large size made
it natural for Garrett to become involved with football at a young age.
"You could say I have an athletic
family,'' McGhin said. "Even my mom played soccer, so I started playing
football as a little kid at around 10 or 11. I remember playing Pop Warner
ball, but back then there was a weight limit ... I was really fat when I was
younger. So when I was like 10 or 11, I had to play with the older
13-year-old kids.''
Florida State University School is
sponsored by Florida State University and is attended by approximately 1,700
students ranging from kindergarten to 12th grade. McGhin has attended FSUS
since elementary school and actually played quarterback for the middle
school football team.
It was there that FSUS varsity football
coach Jarrod Hickman began to notice McGhin's potential.
"He's been here a long time, but in
elementary school you didn't know if he was just a big kid,'' Hickman said.
"Once he started playing at the middle school you could start to see he was
a little more than just some big kid. And he had a good work ethic, so we
felt like he'd do what it took to develop into a good player.''
Baseball delayed McGhin's arrival on
FSUS's varsity football team. A right-handed hitting corner infielder, he
made the FSUS varsity baseball team as a freshman, then developed into a
true star on the diamond as a sophomore when he hit .391 with three home
runs and 26 RBIs to earn All-Big Bend honors from the Tallahassee Democrat.
Those averages dipped to .262-1-10 as a junior, but McGhin is expecting a
breakout senior season.
Hickman immediately made McGhin a two-way
starter when he joined the football team as a sophomore. "We only had about
20-some people on the team, so I had to play both sides of the ball,''
McGhin joked.
As he gained experience, McGhin began to
realize that football, not baseball, may be his ticket to a college athletic
career when his cousin John pointed out he had the frame to make it.
"My cousin was a pretty good player and
he was telling me, 'Hey, you're 6-4 as a junior and you're still growing.
You've got a chance if you work at it,''' McGhin said. "At first, I didn't
believe him because we had senior players that were being recruited and that
made me think I couldn't get to college if I wasn't a 300-pound offensive
lineman. But then the coaches started telling me the same thing near the end
of my junior year, too. So I started to think, 'Hey, maybe I can do this.'
''
Further reinforcement for McGhin came
last spring when college recruiters began dropping by the FSUS campus. ECU's
new defensive coordinator Rick Smith, who is a graduate of Florida State
University, was among those taking an interest in McGhin.
Eventually, scholarship offers came in
from Appalachian State, East Carolina, Florida International, Florida
Atlantic, Middle Tennessee State, UAB and South Alabama. By the end of July,
McGhin decided to accept the offer from South Alabama.
But even though he'd committed to South
Alabama, McGhin continued to consider other offers as he produced his best
year yet at FSUS as a senior.
"We had gotten off to an 0-3 start and we
weren't playing as good as I thought we were,'' Hickman said. "Then, in our
fourth game of the year against Leon, Garrett really had a great game. He
graded out at over 90 percent on his blocking assignments and had six or
seven pancake blocks. He ate up his guy all night long.''
Smith and the Pirates kept up their
attention and eventually convinced McGhin to come to Greenville for an
official visit on November 9 to watch ECU face Tulsa in a Conference USA
game. The trip caused McGhin to reconsider his commitment to South Alabama,
and after speaking to his family upon the return home, he decided to sail
with the Pirates instead.
"There were multiple factors to it,''
McGhin said. "The two main ones I'd say were the atmosphere and the coaching
staff. They have a great stadium, a great fan base and the game-time
atmosphere was amazing.
"The coaches were all great. I love
(head) Coach (Ruffin) McNeill and (offensive line) Coach Brandon Jones. They
are great guys and I could really see myself playing there for four or five
years.''
McGhin is expecting to play offensive
tackle at ECU.
"My strengths are my quickness and I'm
very athletic,'' he said.
Baseball remains part of McGhin's future
plans and he's spoke to McNeill and ECU baseball coach Billy Godwin about
joining the Pirates in that sport at some point.
"I'm definitely thinking about playing
baseball in college,'' he said. "I play first base, so if I get bigger and
stronger for football, I'd still be able to play first base.
"When I came up for my official visit I
talked to the head (baseball) coach and he liked my size. Coach McNeill also
talked to me about being able to play both at East Carolina.''
For now, McGhin has football on his mind
and he might even drop in to watch the Pirates play Ohio University in the
Beef O'Brady's Bowl in St. Petersburg, Fla. on Monday.
"I'm going to make an attempt to get
there,'' he said. "But if I don't, I'll be heading up there (to Greenville)
this summer.''
E-mail Sammy Batten
PAGE UPDATED
12/22/13 10:17 PM.
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