A father's perspective on recruiting in the time of pandemic: Cliff Jeudy
By now, Georgia fans should be quite familiar with Rivals250 pass rusher Elijah Jeudy.
The Bulldogs have been making the Philadelphia-based four-star prospect a priority since they offered in January, and the nation's No. 196 overall player has returned the love, proclaiming the Bulldogs as part of his top two options in March.
Jeudy and his parents were able to get to Athens before the recruiting shutdown came into effect, and the family's relationship with the UGA staff has continued to blossom even in the absence of on-campus visits.
Jeudy's father, Cliff, spoke with UGASports as to how the family is navigating the process, how Georgia has adapted to the changes, and how recruiting has changed in a time of crisis.
Given how things have changed in the world of recruiting, how are you and your family seeing schools alter their approach? As a family, how have you altered your approach, as well?
Clifford Jeudy: "I guess for the most part now, everything has transitioned to the whole digital world. Everything is more FaceTime, a lot of text messaging, but mainly a lot of FaceTime is what we've been pretty much doing with pretty much a lot of the coaches and with Elijah. For the most part, I would say a lot of coaches reach out through text and through DM or through Twitter. It's a core group of colleges now that I'd say for the longest we've been constantly in contact, and they basically call to checkup on everything from health-wise, how we're doing, check on the other kids. I'd say we've build a pretty good rapport with a couple of different schools."
Who are the schools you're hearing from regularly?
Jeudy: "Well, right now I would say top of the list, I cannot not say Georgia. Georgia would have to be top of the list. Then we'd have to say Texas A&M and Penn State have always been in the mix, but Tennessee lately has really been reaching out a lot. I'd say if it was up to the top two, I'd say Georgia, Texas A&M. Top four, it'd be Georgia, Texas A&M, Penn State, and Tennessee have really been in the mix. Don't get me wrong, the other schools will reach out, as far as LSU and everything like that. Georgia, if I didn't know better, I'd say me and Coach [Dan] Lanning kind of feel like we're best friends."
What's your impression of Lanning? Outside of Elijah, how have you seen that relationship develop?
Jeudy: "I think with Coach Lanning, the genuineness comes out. A lot of coaches will call and they'll basically tell you about Elijah, tell you what they think he can do. But we're kind of past that point. You can only tell somebody so much about someone. So it's at this point now, it's like we've heard pretty much everything. What's left? When Coach Lanning calls us, it's more of a, 'Hey listen, how you guys hanging out over there?' And he'll be like, 'Well, I noticed you guys were on TikTok, you with your wife was doing this,' and we really relate about regular everyday stuff where it's like you kind of forget that, 'Oh shoot. This guy is actually recruiting my son.' Because you're basically talking about regular life. You'll ask about work, how's the job going, any issues there. We go back and forth and it's a different level. It's a little refreshing to not to always be talking about football, because at some point I would say we kind of got a little overwhelmed. It was to the point where I was like, 'Elijah, we might have to change your phone number because this is getting out of control.'"
Looking back on that visit you took to Georgia, what did you learn from a parent's perspective?
Jeudy: "Well myself, I'm the football dad. I don't miss any games. We dissect plays, we look at how you can be used in the program. My wife teaches, so she's going to make sure the academics are right. So when we came down there, the main thing that caught my eye was really the support system that they have for their players, not just academically but just in life in general. The way that the kids had an issue they really had someone they could really go to for just about any problem they had."
Your picture on that visit caught a lot of attention from fans who wanted to sign you up right with Elijah. What's your football background?
Jeudy: "I played a little bit. I made it to the point where I played semi-pro for a while, I played high school, I played ... I tried out for the Philadelphia Soul. I made it through all the cuts, was on my last step and I got into an accident and blew my knee out."
People suggested you could step in for (father of D'Andre) Darren Swift in terms of imposing Philadelphia dads.
Jeudy: "Here's the ironic and funny part. Me and big Swift, me and Darren played semi-pro ball together. We actually played against each other a couple of times. And it's funny because me and him had history back to maybe about 2000, 2003, 2004 or so. We played against each other a couple times and I actually trained with him over at his gym. And when Elijah was going up to start high school, he actually volunteered to train Elijah. He was like, 'Bring him down to the gym. I'll work out with him.' Who would have known after all these years where we'd end up?"
What kind of insight has Swift given you on Georgia?
Jeudy: "Actually after Swift did the whole combine and everything, he reached out to me and said, 'Listen. I'm going to tell you straight because I'm not here to sell you to a school, but I'm telling you if Elijah does go to Georgia, that'd be a hell of a place for him to land in.' So I do my own research. I kind of felt the same way. Like I told Elijah, at the end of the day, it's not what I want, want mom wants. This is a decision you're going to have to make and live with."
Do you think this shutdown has been hard on Elijah?
Jeudy: "I'll honestly say I don't think it has been. In terms of hard, I think he's been a little disappointed that he hasn't really got to go on his officials or to go see the schools a little more. One thing that I will say, he's been blessed to the point where he did get to go to quite a few places prior to everything happening. So even with him not getting to go to a couple schools that gave him some late offers, I think the core schools that really are in contention for him to really go there, he's actually got to see the schools. He knows what their program's about. So in the event that, let's say he doesn't get to go on another official, I think he's seen enough to make a decent choice from what he's gotten already."
When you think about Georgia compared to other schools, do they do or say anything different when it comes to the plan for Elijah? Is there a message from Georgia that maybe others aren't necessarily going with?
Jeudy: "I think the main thing that kind of sticks out with Georgia is I kind of feel like all the other schools, they focused on Elijah. They're focused on the parents, too, but I think Georgia really got to know myself and my wife. Coach [Kirby] Smart has called us plenty of times. He shoots me texts here and there, 'How are things going?' It's like they really are more in tuned more on a family level, where it is not just, 'Your kid's coming in. He's going to play ball. You're the parent. Once he's here, he'll forget about you.' It's kind of like we went through the whole interview process, too, because Lanning told me straight up, 'Just because you have a kid that fits the program, you got to make sure the parents, everything fits the program, too.' We really feel, well, I feel like if it were up to me, Georgia is a hell of a place to land. Don't get me wrong, Texas A&M is definitely up there, but I just feel like the genuineness from talking to the coaching staff. It's just that family orientation that I feel when I talk to them."