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DB Antonio Crawford flips from Georgia Tech to Miami

6:34 pm January 29, 2012, by Michael Carvell

Georgia Tech lost one of its recruits on Sunday.

Antonio Crawford, a defensive back from Tampa, flipped from the Yellow Jackets to Miami. He had been committed to Georgia Tech since last summer, but changed his mind after getting a last-minute offer from Miami a few days ago and taking a recruiting trip with the Hurricanes over the weekend.

Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson lost one and gained one recruit on Sunday (AJC photo)

Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson lost one and gained one recruit on Sunday (AJC photo)

“It was a pretty hard decision because I’ve been committed to Georgia Tech for a long time.” Crawford said. “I got to know the coaches and I got to know some of the other recruits. It was pretty tough to do it, but they respected my decision and I respected them for that.”

Crawford said he talked with Georgia Tech assistant Charles Kelly on Sunday and was assured that he still had a scholarship offer waiting for him after returning from Miami. Before the visit, Crawford told the AJC that it was his understanding that making the last-minute trip could jeopardize his Georgia Tech scholarship offer.

“I told him in the most respectful way that I was going to the University of Miami … and that was basically it,” Crawford told the AJC. “He said he wished me the best.”

Was Crawford surprised that Georgia Tech took the breakup so well? “No, I’m not surprised,” Crawford said. “The Georgia Tech people are real classy. They are respectable people, and I know they wouldn’t do anything like be angry and mad at me.”

Why did Crawford flip to Miami? “I’ve always liked Miami,” he said. “I got to know the coaches better this weekend. I got to know the players better. It was a beautiful campus. I just felt like it was the right place for me and the right fit.”

Robert Weiner, Crawford’s coach at Plant High School, said it was “not an easy for situation” for all parties involved.

“The bottom line is that Georgia Tech has been nothing but outstanding with this situation. It certainly wasn’t anything they did or didn’t do. It was kid who got an opportunity that he didn’t have a long time ago. We’re not a school that likes to have kids commit early and then de-commit. You like to see a kid stick with it until the end. But in the end, it’s Antonio’s life ,and he has to make the decisions that he made, and we’ll support him.”

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187 comments Add your comment

RedandBlackDawg

January 30th, 2012
7:49 am

I guess he wasn’t as interested in a college education as he was in trying to play football. It is a shame because I think he is going to miss out going there, as they most likely have some hard penalties coming down the pike with their recent NCAA troubles. I kind of don’t think he was looking to get a lot of education in the first place. I hope he enjoys the campus, works hard and stays out of trouble, but he is in the wrong place to do that most likely.

Whiskey Breath

January 30th, 2012
7:51 am

Not saying Paul had it coming, but he is a fool to threaten those kids. I wouldn’t be surprised if
Tech has a terrible year in recruiting. They make it too hard. No players ever graduate from Tech so
you would think they would lighten up. Kind of a shame. Paul is a great X and O’s coach, but he is fool to think that will keep his job. Poor Tech.

CheatinSewer

January 30th, 2012
8:20 am

The wheels are officially off!!! Tek and their large breasted coach are the laughing stock of college athletics. Johnson is now forced to raid the Sun Belt Conference and try and steal their recruits. I absolutely love it!!!

Couldn’t happen to a better craptastic coach, school and fan base.

Maz

January 30th, 2012
8:25 am

I could maybe see a Bama, Southern Cal, Texas or Oklahoma given an ultimatum like Johnson’s, since those are schools that actually have their pick of recruits, but for Johnson to have been that arrogant at a school like GT where they have to beg kids to come in to play is just the definition of insanity.

NtheNo

January 30th, 2012
8:28 am

TECH might soon find itself limited to offering mid-major recruits and essentially becoming a mid-major program. If a verbal committment is viewed as a binding agreement from kids, then a coach should never contemplate an offer from another school until his contract has expired.

DIT

January 30th, 2012
8:28 am

CPJ needs to lighten up on the “official visits” kids are allowed to go on even if they have committed verbally, key word verbally. I’m not sure Johnson is all the incorrect, but the fact its that 18 year old kids have attitudes these days and if they feel threatened in any way they feel that they have to “get even” or “make a statement” for being backed in the corner.
Parents, for the most part, these days don’t teach their kids on how important it is to keep their word. Though I’m a UGAer, I think it stinks that kids are flipping on tech. I’d rather see a good tech team at the end of the year.
If CPJ can ever recruit a great QB, passer and rusher, then get rid of your DC. I think he’s killing you (just my opinion)and pick up a good DC, tech could be much improved.

Big Crimson 75

January 30th, 2012
8:51 am

I thought you actually had to have a recruiting class for there to be drama?

Muffin

January 30th, 2012
8:56 am

Bad move…. CPJ would give him chance of higher education, NFL career…..

DawgsRule

January 30th, 2012
8:59 am

with tech losing all these 3 star recruits, will they even be able to win 2-3 games in the weak ACC?

AltamahaDawg

January 30th, 2012
9:00 am

I think its pretty obvious that Johnson wasn’t just bowing up becasue of the “visit”. Clearly he felt like the kid was about to flip, and just wanted to get on with it. Can’t blame him for that.

FRED

January 30th, 2012
9:03 am

Nice to no that a kid with no class can see that Tech has class HAHAHA

Birmingham Jacket

January 30th, 2012
9:12 am

All you idiots who support Paul Johnson are doing nothing than postponing the inevitable. His departure for failure to compete with UGA and build a top 20 program.

The guy is a country bumpkin’ with an attitude that pisses off everyone; including recruits and referees.

He runs an outdated offense that no youngster worth a crap wants to participate in.

We were MUCH BETTER OFF WITH GAILEY.

Doc

January 30th, 2012
9:13 am

I am a Kentucky fan, so I have no beef with Tech, but does CPJ recruit players that are committed to other school’s? Also, the University of Miami is a pretty good school when it comes to the education side of things!

vesaversa

January 30th, 2012
9:28 am

This kid have the right to attend any school that will except him but i really hate sellout .

Birmingham Jacket

January 30th, 2012
9:33 am

CPJ is terrible.

globeflyer

January 30th, 2012
9:37 am

Somehow, this has got to be Saban’s fault…..right?

PMC

January 30th, 2012
9:40 am

A recruit picked an instate college he’s liked his whole life over an out of state college gasp!

Claucworc

January 30th, 2012
9:45 am

I applaud Coach Johnson for sticking to his principles. The athlete that picks Ga. Tech over the flash and name recognition of the U is doing so to be an overall better student athlete……….the one that picks Miami and follows the crowd is going to do the same thing over the course of his education, it always seems to play out this way. We need more old school minded coaches like this, he may not get the most hyped players, but he will build better teams by getting kids to understand what committment really means. Besides, if he were that good……he would have been offered by bigger schools before now. Sorry, but no big loss for GT.

BigTimeTechFan

January 30th, 2012
9:54 am

@Doc
“I am a Kentucky fan, so I have no beef with Tech, but does CPJ recruit players that are committed to other school’s?”

Yes, and other schools recruit players committed to Tech. no issue there. Players committed to Tech receive letters, calls, offers, vists from other schools. Coach Johnson does the Same, and does not pull offer when that happens.

Coach Johnson view with his recruits is the same with other teams recruits, if your committed to 1 school but visiting other schools your not really committed if your looking at other schools, nothing CPJ does prevents that other school from removing offer. His view is if his commited recruit can visit other schools he can look at other players. Like he tell the recruit, if your looking we are looking, it’s rally no big deal as the player all know his policy when they commit, and he is clear and upfront with the players. Most of the player/parents like him because he’s up front about the policy and this has attracted more recruits then he has lost.

Gerald

January 30th, 2012
9:57 am

Man, you Georgia idiots … Miami is a well respected, highly rated state school. The ONLY REASON why Georgia Tech is rated over Miami is because Georgia Tech pulls in all those research dollars from their massive, bloated engineering programs. Miami is a MUCH BETTER school than Georgia Tech for ANY PROGRAM OTHER THAN ENGINEERING, PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY, including a ton of great programs at Miami that Georgia Tech doesn’t even have. Unless this kid was going to be one of the few athletes at GT that actually major in engineering, he is doing better for himself educationally by going to Miami, which by the way has a higher graduation rate than GT does. And UGA fans … you have nothing to talk about. Miami is a much better football program AND university than yours.

If Georgia Tech wants to keep out of state kids that have good in-state options, they really need to start winning some bowl games. Otherwise, they should only recruit out-of-state kids that are considering Sun Belt schools because that is pretty much all they are going to get with any consistency.

CPJ isn’t even out-recruiting the lower-rung ACC schools anymore. Last year, they lost their top QB prospect because he decided to go be a slot WR at Wake Forest. This year, they lost their top RB prospect to N.C. State. They aren’t even competing with top ACC schools Clemson, Miami, FSU and Virginia Tech like they did consistently when they had George O’Leary and Chan Gailey. That is the real problem, not a kid choosing to stay at home to go to a school with a better athletics tradition and is just as good an option academically.

bucket

January 30th, 2012
10:11 am

This is not intended as a bash against Miami (I am a UGA fan with no dog in the fight, unless they grab Young or JHC), but I have 2 questions about the Miami situation. First, how are they bringing in so many signees? If the numbers I am hearing are correct, they have over 30 commits. Also, I would have figured the pending NCAA action would have deterred this class, but apparently the commits are not worried about it. I understand that Miami is a good school with a good history in football, but if the NCAA hands down the penalties that most college gurus feel like they are getting some of these kids will be juniors before they have a chance to play for anything there.

GTBob

January 30th, 2012
10:26 am

We were MUCH BETTER OFF WITH GAILEY.

Yeah, Gailey was amazing. He was 7-5 most years and most of his recruiting classes were unranked. I’m not sure why we got rid of him.

THE CURIOUS INDEX, 1/30/2012

January 30th, 2012
11:20 am

[...] HE DON’T CARE. You go right ahead and flip on down to Miami, recruit. Play for Georgia Tech or don’t. Paul Johnson doesn’t care. You need him, well, [...]

SoCal_GT_Fan

January 30th, 2012
11:42 am

Don’t understand this move since the U of M class is FILLED with DBs (8 counting Antonio Crawford). Plus the uncertainty with sanctions and other stuff makes it iffy at best. But I do understand that it was the school that he wanted to go to and followed the U religiously. So, I wish Crawford luck at the U of M. Sounds like the coaching staff although they didn’t like the fact that Crawford was switching commitment so late in the game, wished the kid luck. Good classy and smart way to deal with recruits.

Doesn’t all this activity the last week confirm that CPJ does know how to recruit? Or at least find the recruits that everyone wants WAY BEFORE everyone else? This situation and Will Adams situation shows that CPJ has an eye for talent. Even Kallon is in the same boat. Some were laughing that we got a commit from someone who’s never played football until one of the recruiting sites raised him to a 4-star recruit then he went from “guy who never played football” to “he’s too good for GT and will want to play for a “real” team like X”. Hopefully Will stays committed to Tech.

@GTBob

January 30th, 2012
12:04 pm

Gailey recruited better players , rankings , stars, no stars whatever. Gailey also had to recruit while on probation limiting scholarships and roster size , then flunkgate.Plus he was recruiting against a UGA that was winning SEC titles and going to BCS bowls. The first down year UGA had in 2006 Gailey brought in very good (but great for tech) class in 2007. PJ has missed the best opportunity Tech would’ve ever had to compete with Georgia. Chan plays in ACC championship game builds on the momentum and signs a top 20 class, Pj plays in ACC championship game and follows with another lackluster class and a losing season, Techs 1st in 16 years. i am not sure firing Gailey was the wrong thing (he disliked tech as much as tech disliked him), but hiring a coach with no real recruiting experience was a mistake.

And The Genius Blinked | | apaja.tk

January 30th, 2012
12:07 pm

[...] But Tech still wants him. Not that he cares. He’s going to Miami.  [...]

AltamahaDawg

January 30th, 2012
1:02 pm

What “principal” is that? The one where he was hired to do a job and if a player he thought was going to help him, doesn’t, he need to find another one?The principal of what? A Task? I’m on Johnson’s side here,. but calling this some life lesson, is hoey. Obviously Johnson knew the kid was iffie, and simply leveled with him about the realities of a week before NSD. The kid is looking out for himself, and Johnson is looking out for his own self interest as well. He did no more or no less than any recruiter would have in that situation.He wasn’t standing on some moral high ground.

Pretty sure there was way more to the conversation than,” if you are looking, then so are we”. Pretty obvious at that point, the kid knew he had an offer from the U and told Johnson he was probably going to take it as the reason for going down there.

DK

January 30th, 2012
1:02 pm

Bucket…UM is able to get so many recruits because 8 have already enrolled because they met their HS graduation requirements. You can count those against the previous year’s recruiting class, and Miami had a very small class last year due to the coaching change situation and Golden only having a few weeks of actual recruiting time. So the 25 scholarship per year limit is still being met (they can sign up to 33 players this year including those 8 early enrollees, plus, typically you lose a couple due to clearinghouse or academic issues, or last minute decommitment.

Regarding the pending penalties, most at the school and those not more concerned about writing articles that sell instead of those that are accurate and logical, don’t expect the hammer to come down. Take away the overwrought nonsense and sensationalized story-telling in the Yahoo! article, and the situation in reality is not anywhere near as bad as some try to portray. Shapiro conned Yahoo! and the author, Robinson, as bad as he conned his many victims. Plus, the University has been completely open and cooperative with the NCAA since the moment they heard about the issue, whereas schools like USC and Ohio State were not until the very end of the process. I see Miami MAYBE having to forgo one more year of bowl eligibility (if that), and the loss of a few scholarships per year for the next 2-3 years, but that’s it.

And The Genius Blinked « Sports « android tab

January 30th, 2012
1:12 pm

[...] But Tech still wants him. Not that he cares. He’s going to Miami.  [...]

UGASlobberknocker

January 30th, 2012
1:48 pm

I’m beginning to see CPJ’s point about not wanting his verbal commitments to make their trips elsewhere.Because ANYWHERE looks better than Tech.

So he knows you’re gonna lose em if they go visit somewhere else., So by taking a hard stand he hopes he can talk some 17 yr old into making a quick decision under pressure to go to Tech and then intimidate him to quit looking around afterwards.

Wow . thats what I call keeping the kid’s best interest in mind. You Techies must be so proud.

How are those two methods working out for you guys , anyway? Yeah. thats what i thought.

Really?

January 30th, 2012
1:50 pm

What is most hilarious about this entire Crawford situation is the way the kid punked the “genius” cpj. After all cpj’s loud mouth bragadacio about pulling offers if a kid dared to visit another school, AC informs the world that the trade school still held his scholly offer. Of course he turned it down….again and in the process exposed cpj for the lieing hypocrite he truly is……again.

Speaking of lieing, has cpj yanked the scholly offer for the kid that went to visit Auburn yet? Of course not because cpj’s word means less than nothing. His hollow threats have been shown to be just as fake as the genius tag all the trade school bug boys have gifted coach fish fry with.

jarvis

January 30th, 2012
2:09 pm

Is “lieing” a word?

5150 UOAD

January 30th, 2012
2:14 pm

Really? you are not too damn bright. CPJ has always said IF the kid makes an OV he risks losing his Tech offer. CPJ has pulled an offer and reserves the right to pull the offer if the kid starts to waiver on his commitment.

dunnelloncane

January 30th, 2012
6:40 pm

FYI Crawford was 1st team all-state 8A(Fl’s largest schools) and played for 8A state chanps. We all know the best HS football in the US is played in Fla. For U Gators, UM is ranked 5,6 and 7 by Rivals, Scout and MaxPreps this year. Also,UM is ranked 38th in all colleges by US News and World Report, which is the most credible of all those who rank schools academically. UF is in the 50’s and FSU in the 100’s. Also,remember Crawford’s HS gave GA Aaron Murray and Orson Charles. Lastly,UM had 8 early entrants that count against last years total. Golden named best recruiter in US by Tom Lemming

DeputyDawg

January 30th, 2012
6:51 pm

Btw, Ga Tech is an outstanding institution- ranked #36 by USNews National University Rankings not too far above the University of Miami ranked at 38 in the country. The University of Georgia is ranked 62 in the national rankings.

dawg tired

January 31st, 2012
10:41 am

Maybe the young man had bigger fish to fry in Miami.

Techster

January 31st, 2012
12:31 pm

With the late interest in Miami by several high profile players, you have to think that an oversigning situation will be a real possibility. That may leave someone hanging high and dry come August.

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