Jackson talks Blazer football's 2023 signing class
Feb. 3—VALDOSTA — Valdosta State football announced its 2023 signing class Wednesday as part of National Signing Day.
The Blazers and second-year head coach Tremaine Jackson added 27 new players into the fold on Wednesday as well as 33 during the mid-year signing period, giving the Blazers 60 new additions this offseason.
"We signed 27 and what people don't know is we signed 33 in January, so we signed 60 guys that are now being infused into our program so we're really excited," Jackson said. "We addressed a lot of needs and still are addressing some, but we addressed needs in the line play and in the secondary and we're really excited about the guys we've got there."
Georgia and Florida are natural recruiting hotbeds for talent and the Blazers mined those resources as 23 of the 27 signees were from Georgia or Florida.
"When you look back a year ago when we got here, we laid a lot of groundwork in the last year just trying to build relationships — not just with high school coaches but with high school players," Jackson said. "We have one of the best camps in south Georgia, so we had a lot of kids come through here. We were able to build those relationships. We had some kids on our roster already from here and when kids are having a good experience, they normally tell other players from the area. We say good players recruit good players and because of the experience that they're having, because of the groundwork that our coaching staff has laid, we were able to keep some kids home and get some kids back.
"There's a lot of great football players in this area. South Georgia football, there's Florida football — we're so close and privy (to the talent here). We've got to take advantage of that and in prior years, that might not have been so taken advantage of. We tried to really get back into it and take full advantage of it."
Of the 27 the Blazers signed this week, 13 are offensive players, 12 are defensive players and two are specialists. Here is a breakdown of what the Blazers accomplished on National Signing Day:
OFFENSE
The Blazers signed quarterback Chris Turner (6-1, 180) out of Yulee High School (Fla.) as well as running backs Solomon Leslie (6-0, 212) out of Loganville High School and Camron Smith (5-8, 170) out of Baker County High School (Fla.).
After losing senior quarterback Ivory Durham as well as running backs Seth McGill and Jamar Thompkins, the Blazers were in need of replenishment in those spots.
"It's tough when you lose Ivory Durham, and we certainly had to go out and address that," Jackson said. "We brought in Darius Ocean from Western Kentucky and then Chris Turner from Yulee to go with the guys that were already here to compete. We've got a three or four-man competition at quarterback, which I think it's going to take that in order to replace that production."
At wide receiver, the Blazers added Jamari Haynes (5-8, 150) out of Plantation High School (Fla.) and Bryant Siravo (5-11, 160) out of New Smyrna Beach, Fla..
At tight end, a familiar face to the Valdosta area, former Valwood star Harrison Hamsley (6-3, 231) joins the Blazers after spending time at Georgia Southern and Independence Community College. Kennesaw Mountain product Earl Kyle (6-3, 205) and Yulee product Jye Thompson (6-3, 204) were also signed at tight end.
An area of weakness at times last season, the offensive line was a huge emphasis for the Blazers this offseason as five offensive linemen were added: Ameir Bellamy (6-1, 282) out of Central High School (Ala.), Isaiah Huff (6-5, 336) from Eustis High School (Fla.), Brandon Golden (6-6, 330) out of Georgia Military College, Nikita Ots (6-3, 320) out of William R. Boone High School (Fla.) and Mason Roberts (6-1, 273) from nearby Coffee High School in Douglas, Ga.
"Ultimately, we needed to address the O and D lines," Jackson said. "We didn't have quality depth on the O and D lines. We had to go out and address that. I think in this class total, we brought about 25 linemen on both sides of the ball into the program. Guys with experience, guys that are high-level freshmen that might be able to compete for us early, so I'm really pleased with that and we're still not done in that area. We're looking for difference-makers still on the O and D line. Recruiting, it seems like it's over; we're really just in mid-stride right now but very pleased with where we are."
DEFENSE
Defensively, the Blazers left much to be desired last season as they fielded perhaps the worst defense in program history in Jackson's first season.
The Blazers signed 12 players on the defensive side of the ball on Wednesday.
Lowndes High School product Elijah Colvin (6-1, 220) and Tattnall County High School's Josiah Anderson (6-1, 204) were added at linebacker.
Along the defensive line, the Blazers added Antonio Culbreth (6-3, 300) out of Dougherty County High School, Jacob Dorn (6-3, 275) from Saginaw Valley State (Mich.), Jalen McKay (6-2, 257) from Eustis High School (Fla.), Ty Merkle (6-6, 232) from Durant High School (Fla.) and Devin Pein (6-1, 233) out of St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Fla.).
In the secondary, the Blazers signed five defensive backs: Julius Pascal (5-10, 184) out of Krop High School (Fla.), Rickey Ransom (5-11, 178) out of John Paul II Catholic High School (Fla.), Tavales Thomas (6-1, 206) out of Ed White High School (Fla.), Kamari Hollis (6-0, 150) out of Pelham High School (Ala.) and De'Avion (Dre) Hughes (6-0, 175) from Lakeland Christian High School (Fla.).
Last year's defense started six players that were freshmen or sophomores — several players that were inexperienced and had not played significant snaps — and it showed.
"It was very important — young, experienced guys is what we charged ourselves with finding and then, young and experienced guys that were from this area that understood what Valdosta State football was about, what the Gulf South Conference is about," Jackson said. "We were really able to address those needs through the transfer portal, through junior college and through high school, which on our level, is what you have to do."
SPECIAL TEAMS
An area Jackson was disappointed with was the Blazers' kicking game. After entering the transfer portal in the offseason, starting kicker Estin Thiele will be returning to the Blazers this season.
The Blazers added Pierce County kicking specialist Jonah Allen (5-11, 155) and Valdosta High School punter/tight end Grayson Leavy (6-2, 235) to the mix.
"We've signed eight kickers and punters. That staff now is about 12 with what we have there," Jackson said of the kicking room. "We took Grayson Leavy, he's a punter from town. We signed Noah Botsford, a punter from Temple. We signed Jonah Allen, who was one of the top kickers in the state. He's a guy. He's a dog, too. We really went to work to address that area and what we found watching cut-ups is there just wasn't a lot of competition in that area. Some guys just kind of got complacent — let's just call a spade a spade.
"We wanted to create a lot of competition. When you come see us practice, you're gonna see four or five punters. You're gonna see four or five kickers. You're gonna see three or four holders. We're really excited about that group. We addressed those issues, because we can't have those issues. We had to clean that up."
LOOKING AHEAD
In Jackson's first season, the Blazers finished 5-6 overall — the first losing season for the program since 1999.
As Jackson leads the Blazers into Year 2 with him at the helm, he's steadfast in pushing his belief in his mantra of the D.O.G. mentality — Discipline, Obedience and Grit; both on and off the field.
"We say we're Blazers, but we want to have a D.O.G. mentality. That mentality is not just on Friday nights. We get a lot of calls from people that go, 'Did you see the kid on Friday night?' Well, that kid might not be a D.O.G. Saturday through Thursday," Jackson said. "You can't just show up here at Valdosta State and say you're going to win a championship. You've got to be willing to be the reason and normally if you're doing things right off the field, if you're being disciplined, obedient and you've got grit off the field, then it just carries over to on the field. So no more at Valdosta State will we compete for a national championship and not do so well academically. We're gonna do both, and we're gonna have the kids that have that mentality to get those things done."
Shane Thomas is the sports editor at the Valdosta Daily Times.
