FWB's Coffee commits to South Carolina

By TRAVIS DOWNEY

travisd@nwfdailynews.com

FORT WALTON BEACH - At first, Matt Coffee wanted to prolong his college recruitment for as long as possible.

The rising senior, tabbed as a four-star recruit and the nation's No. 24 athlete by Rivals.com, wanted to make the most of his time as a highly-sought after high school prospect.

He wanted to soak it all up.

That all changed, however, following a visit to Columbia, S.C., where upon his return home the Fort Walton Beach linebacker/running back verbally committed to the University of South Carolina on Tuesday.

"They are really going to take care of me and they really want me there," Coffee said. "I didn't see any reason to wait."

Coffee plans to take an official visit to Columbia in the fall as well as make it to "a couple" of Gamecocks games next season.

He was unsure if he would take any visits to other schools.

Coffee's verbal commitment is non-binding, as high school prospects cannot officially sign their letters of intent until national Signing Day on Feb. 4, but Coffee said he was "pretty solid" with his commitment.

Having already experienced the tug of war that is recruiting season while traveling across the country with is older brother, Glen, Coffee elected to go against the grain and commit early.

"(Glen) told me to wait until after the season but I was feeling too good about South Carolina so I just went ahead and committed now," Coffee said. "I'm happy, I'm glad, I'm excited - I can't wait."

"I went through it all with (Glen) so I knew a lot about the process before I went through it," Coffee said. "That helped a lot."

So too did a strong first impression by members of the Gamecocks' coaching staff.

With head coach Steve Spurrier out of town, Coffee spent most of his visit with South Carolina defensive backs coach Shane Beamer, who was his lead recruiter.

"He was cool, real down to earth," Coffee said. "He's one of the main reasons I committed."

Coffee said the staff at South Carolina views him primarily as an outside linebacker, which means the Fort Walton Beach standout could soon be playing under one of the Southeastern Conference's more grizzled veterans in defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson.

"I heard he had a pretty solid defense," Coffee said. "I'm pretty excited about that."

Coffee also was intrigued by the loyal fan support that is so commonplace at Williams-Brice Stadium.

"I love the stadium. They went 0-11 (in 2001) and were still selling out games," said Coffee, who added he was eager to join what he felt to be a program on the rise.

"I know they're only getting better with coach Spurrier every year," Coffee said. "I want to be a part of it."