Coaches Corner: De’Jahn Warren ‘out of nowhere and set the world on fire'
What is Georgia getting in their newest 2021 commit, De’Jahn Warren? For the answer, we went to someone who knows the 4-star JUCO cornerback quite well—Mark Duda—Warren’s head coach at Lackawanna Community College in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Notably, Duda is an authority, you could say, of the sport of football. Besides earning honorable mention All-American honors in 1982 as a defensive tackle for Maryland, and playing five seasons in the NFL, his 177 career victories at Lackawanna are the most among active coaches in the NJCAA and 7th on the all-time wins list.
UGASports: What on-field skills does Warren have which really stand out to you?
Duda: “He has a tremendous vertical jump. I don’t even know what his vertical is exactly, but it is high—really high! Oh, and I cannot forget De’Jahn’s blazing speed. But, perhaps above all, he is an aggressor. You know, a way to think about it is a lot of cornerbacks could play flag football as well as tackle football—because of coverage skills. But, De’Jahn is an even better tackle player because, besides fantastic cover skills, his aggression really adds to his overall play.”
UGASports: Compare your first impression of Warren with your opinion of him now.
Duda: “Out of high school (Suitland in Maryland), I would say De’Jahn was a ‘zero-star’ prospect. He didn’t have a great high school career, so he was hardly recruited. But then, he came out of nowhere and set the world on fire. De’Jahn started to shine, running down people who are super fast. Granted, he was part of a really good defensive backfield. Besides him, we got a guy going to Penn State and another to East Carolina. Still, De’Jahn had a tremendous fall—maybe the best fall a corner has ever had at Lackawanna—just as far as picking balls off and making fantastic plays.”
UGASports: Describe Warren’s recruiting process.
Duda: “After showing what he could do last fall, De’Jahn was recruited—and I mean highly recruited. At first, we heard from Alabama, Oklahoma, then Oregon… The bottom line was it seemed like everyone was suddenly super interested in him. De’Jahn got it down to three schools: Maryland, which is close to his home; Penn State, which is only a couple of hours from here (Scranton); and then there was Georgia. When it came to Georgia, Coach [Charlton] Warren was pretty much the guy involved in the recruiting process. We’ve had kids transition to big-time programs all over, but this will be our first to go to Georgia.”
UGASports: Speaking of transitioning from junior college, what do you think is the main thing a kid needs to possess to go from junior-college ball to major-college ball—and does Warren have this?
Duda: “Confidence. To go from playing in front of 800 people to 100 times that at these huge schools, one has to be confident in his abilities. A player sees no difference between the two if he feels like he’s good enough to play at any level—nothing is too big for him. And, nothing is too big for De’Jahn. When he gets to Georgia, he won’t be in awe of the size of the crowd and stadium. He’s very confident in his abilities—and the kid just wants to go play.”
UGASports: Describe Warren off the field—his personality.
Duda: “He’s a super enthusiastic guy. He’s never tired. And, he’s always smiling—a smile which is refreshing to see. But, perhaps more than anything, he’s determined. I mean, he came here to Lackawanna, walked onto the team, and the kid was an unknown—completely unknown. We had no clue what kind of player he was until he started running around out here—and if anybody says that they knew how good De’Jahn was before, they are lying. We had a receiver, who wound up going to Penn State and was super fast. De’Jahn was as fast as he was. In one calendar year, De’Jahn went from basically a non-factor to arguably the best junior college player in America. Now, that’s pretty wild now—that’s determination for you. To me, it’s comparable to having never golfed before, and a calendar year later, you qualify to play in the Master’s.”
UGASports: In your mind, how solid is Warren’s commitment to Georgia?
Duda: “Very solid. De’Jahn never visited Georgia—didn’t make a visit to any school—but he got a good feel for the Georgia coaching staff, and a good feel for the place and program. And, to make his commitment on his [21st] birthday without anyone knowing where he’d go—we didn’t even know—is significant to me. He had become so highly sought after. I know because I was one of the people fielding the phone calls [from interested schools]. I know it got pretty tiring for him because of all the schools—all the calls. And, to eliminate most of those calls is why he decided to put out his final three schools. It’s a very solid commitment. De’Jahn will take virtual classes this fall and will graduate in early December (Lackawanna has canceled football for this fall). And, from there, he’ll be at Georgia.”