Coffee High DB Pernell Williams and the Florida Gators
Coffee DB Pernell Williams
Coffee defensive back Pernell Williams said he committed to the Florida Gators, but it appears that the reigning BCS champions have not yet accepted his commitment.
Here’s a quick recap: Williams said he got on the phone on Thursday morning with Florida assistants Vance Bedford and Brian White, and told them he was committing to the Gators. Then Williams texted reporters, saying he was excited about picking the Gators.
However, word later got back to Williams and his family that maybe the Gators hadn’t accepted the commitment just yet. Apparently, there was some miscommunication. Former UGA player Reggie Weeks, who is the brother-in-law of Williams, said he called Bedford late Thursday to clarify the matter.
“[Bedford] said ‘We definitely want Pernell and he has an offer from Florida,’” Weeks said. “He said they (Florida) didn’t want Pernell to rush into it so soon with committing where he might change his mind later on. So Florida is coming to Coffee’s spring football practices to work it all out.”
“Pernell is committed to Florida. That’s where he wants to go. That’s his dream school. That’s where he plans on playing in college.”
NCAA rules prevent college coaches from commenting on prospective student-athletes. The 6-foot-2, 180-pounder has been clocked in the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds said Clemson offered him as a sophomore and said that UGA had offered within the last few weeks. He also had serious interest from a dozen schools, including Tennessee, South Carolina and Georgia Tech.
Williams told the AJC on April 10 that he loves the Florida Gators. “It just doesn’t get any better than that. They have won two out of the last three national championships. That speaks for itself. They are the champions, and I’m excited that they want me to join their family. I almost committed to [Urban Meyer] when I was down there for Junior Day, but I didn’t.”
Williams made a name for himself in last year’s Class AAAAA playoffs against Stephenson. The two teams were stocked with big-time college prospects, and Williams stole the spotlight with 11 solo tackles.
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30 comments Add your comment
scout?
April 16th, 2009
12:40 pm
The guy at Scout said Pernell has no offers from Georgia or Florida, so who am I to believe?
Does he have an offer or what?
Geez thought he had the inside word on this stuff!
Liar Liar
April 16th, 2009
12:47 pm
Chad Simmons is a fraud. He always has been. He wrote YESTERDAY this kid did not have an offer from Florida. I printed it out before Chad could delete it, like he does EVERY time he’s WRONG. Chad you know your stuff. I’m glad I didn’t switch from Rivals.
Gators
April 16th, 2009
12:49 pm
Congrats Pernell, I just heard the big news from the Florida coaches. Sorry that Chad Simmons threw you under the bus. Don’t worry, no one on the college side takes him seriously.
TommyP
April 16th, 2009
12:54 pm
Liar: Thought Chad was WITH Rivals?
dawgpride
April 16th, 2009
1:09 pm
He was, but he left for the bigger paycheck. Now he is calling the shots over at scout, and word from Athens is he is keeping commits silent for better rankings!
john
April 16th, 2009
1:22 pm
Ayers, Peters, Atwater are the three in state DB’s UGA has targeted. Williams has no offer from them. There a number of out of state recruits they are after, but with limited numbers they will only sign 2-3 db’s. my vote is AYERS, Grimes,Peters
gatorman770
April 16th, 2009
2:45 pm
You made the wise decision, Pernell and I know you’ll do well and will be instrumental in keeping the Gator-D a top rated defense in the future.
I love reloadin’!
Go GATORS!
DBOY JONES
April 16th, 2009
2:54 pm
Michael,
Has Ta’ler Jones WR from Gainsville committed to a school yet? I know he was suppose to announce his committment today!
Chad Simmons
April 16th, 2009
3:04 pm
Jones has committed to Stanford. As for Pernell Williams, he is not a Florida commitment. The AJC jumped the gun and the Florida coaches have yet to accept his commitment.
'ol sport
April 16th, 2009
3:26 pm
Rivals shows that he only has offers from UGA and Clemson. This just shows that these recruiting “experts” are not on top of their game if he really has comitted and been accepted by CUM.
DBOY JONES
April 16th, 2009
3:31 pm
Jones committed to Stanford?!?! Are you kidding me? What tha hell he made that mistake for? He must dont’ have aspirations on going to the league. He must of did it for academics purposes. The reciever from Henry Co last year did the same thing. I forget his name but he played with the kid Ambles that is still at Henry Co and is one of the best receivers in the nation. Harbough must be getting these kids Escalades or something. Stanford is the door mat of the sorry azz Pac 10 conference. I just don’t get it.
Gator
April 16th, 2009
3:31 pm
He is not a Gator yet…. Our UF mods say that he doesn’t have a commitable offer. Let’s see how this plays out I guess.
DBOY JONES
April 16th, 2009
3:32 pm
?
Rich
April 16th, 2009
3:38 pm
I guess we have ourselves a bit of suspense here. Maybe Pernell had an offer but had a contingency that it was only valid until we had signed a certain number of cornerbacks. Is it possible that there is only room for Pernell if Dorsey backs out ??
It’s a mystery at the moment.
Rich
April 16th, 2009
3:42 pm
Another thought here. I’ve been reading rumors about Pernell committing for the last week. No doubt the Gators were aware of this.
If there was any reason that they couldn’t accept an offer from Pernell, they should have talked to the kid and avoided any confusion like this. Inquiring minds want to know what’s going on here.
Gator
April 16th, 2009
3:43 pm
Rich,
Not sure yet but I know for a fact that Florida sites (Scout and Rivals)have said that their sources are that he did not have a commitable offer. What that entails, I am not sure. Will know more soon.
Diamond Dawg
April 16th, 2009
3:54 pm
Who cares???????? He wants to go to fla let em go. He now is Dawg food!!
DBOY JONES
April 16th, 2009
4:01 pm
I can’t believe Ta’lier committed to Stanford. He had to do it for the academics. Stanford will remain the door mat of the Pac 10. Terrible choice Ta’lier!! We wont hear from you once you head out West. Hope you didn’t have dreamz of the NFL. LOL. Wit that said I think he just committed to them so the other school would cool off of him so he can concentrate on his up coming Senior yr. I bet he switches because he said he is still going to take 3 more visits to schools. Why would you do that Ta’lier if you are so committed to Stanford!?! Thats like your girl or boyfriend saying she/he is wit you but they are going to date 3 other people. LOL
Rich
April 16th, 2009
4:13 pm
Hey D’boy,
Stanford may not be a threat to USC but that’s a $200,000 scholarship to the finest academic institution west of the Mississippi. That degree and those contacts would open some amazing doors for Ta’iler in the future.
As far as football, Harbaugh is moving the program forward. There are 12 Stanford grads in the NFL now and Stanford beat USC 2 years ago.
Tom Davis
April 16th, 2009
4:42 pm
Hopefully he lays off the dope unlike Harvin and sticks to the books.
Gator
April 16th, 2009
5:37 pm
Your a moron Tom.
Percy Harvin
April 16th, 2009
6:37 pm
I rolled a joint with my Wonderlic test. I am so high right now…. Torrey Davis always has the best Sherm.
Lord of the Lizards
April 16th, 2009
6:59 pm
I hope the offer is valid, we could really use his talent, especially at WR. Sign him up! Or at least say “Welcome to the Family” I like this kid, he’s gonna be a good player, good size and good speed. Any grade issues???
Gator Growl
April 16th, 2009
7:27 pm
I don’t care if he has a valid offer or not…if he’s got the grades and the talent and the right attitude and he LOVES the Gators…And he’s not another Greg Reid or Noo-key Richardson, I say let’s Love him back!!!
JustCallMeChamp
April 16th, 2009
9:08 pm
Weird situation…IMO I think Florida is being cautious after getting burned by another player from Georgia they had been on for a long time and had cultured a relationship with, Greg Reid. If you’ll recall, during the Under Armour All American game prep week, Reid, who was a long time Fla commit, started to garner alot of attention and got wandering eyes, which led to his “de-commitment” and subsequent NSD signing with FSU. Florida had been on the kid from jump street when no one else cared and I think the coaches were disturbed that once he got all that national attention and suddenly wanted to “shop around”. Hey it happens in recruiting but it’s not cool and it affects your entire board. And then throw in the Richardson thing with Kiffin, whom Kiffin convinced the kid to continue to lie to not only the Florida coaching staff, but to his entire hometown of Pahokee, Fla, about his intentions. Glad That guy didn’t come!!! I just think the coaches are just saying, let’s make sure… Hope it all works out and Pernell ends up in orange and blue!
Gator Dave
April 17th, 2009
12:48 pm
Well, the fact that they’re coming up to see him indicates to me that he’ll end up there. Maybe they just want to re-affirm his decision or maybe they want to take a look at him at another position (WR?) because they have alot of depth and alot of 2010 commitments from top DBs. Gators are in need of WRs in this class, no doubt.
Rising Tide
April 19th, 2009
10:56 am
Call it what it is…. Urban Myer caught with his pants down. They offered the kid but didn’t want him to committ because they want to see if they can lure someone with more stars. Happens everywhere. Exactly why Florida or any other school shouldn’t get their panties in a wad over a kid (Reid, Richardson) changing his mind later in the process. I know everyone will say that’s why kids shouldn’t committ early but if Williams was a 5 star would you have a problem with him committing now? Neither would Urban Myer.
Lord of the Lizards
April 19th, 2009
1:51 pm
All of that is true but you can’t blame Urban if no official offer was ever extended and according to the official services they didn’t and I couldn’t find where he was. All schools actively recruit many more players than they could ever take, in fact many SIGN many more players than allowed (see Ole Miss)! I see that Tennessee is actively recruiting about a hundred players, can you imagine if half of those guys decided to “commit” tomorrow! Of course, they would have to pick and choose the ones they want and tell the others “see ya”. With all that said , I think Pernell has an excellant chance of being Gainesville bound IF that is really what he wants to do.
'10 OR DE Owamagbe Odighizuwa - Page 6 - VolNation
May 17th, 2009
6:51 pm
[...] a little murkier, Tavaris Barnes. There was no public reporting of his declaration of committment. Coffee High DB Pernell Williams and the Florida Gators | Inside College Recruiting: Michael Carvell kenbrell thompkins – Google News (the thompkins article is available only to subscribers, but [...]
Trojanboy09
August 11th, 2009
3:04 pm
Pernell is my friend from way back we used to ride the bus together he lives right down the rode where ever he goes he will do great