National Signing Day 2011: Will Florida and LSU Be Big Players for Tim Jernigan?

Columbia (FL) defensive tackle Tim Jernigan is a hot commodity these days, as he is being recruited extremely hard by every major college football program in the South. Jenrigan has narrowed his list down to Florida State, Alabama, LSU, Tennessee and Florida.

Although he's scheduled to head to Knoxville this weekend, Florida has to be considered the surprise team to still be in the race. At one point, Jenrigan all but eliminated the Gators from contention as they went through a coaching change.

New Florida head man Will Muschamp briskly sought out to speak with Jenrigan as the ink was drying on his new UF contract, yet Jernigan and Muschamp never could find time to meet. Ever so determined as his defenses play for him, Muschamp finally got the chance to meet with the stud defensive lineman recently.

Showing up at Columbia High School in Lake City, Florida was Will Muschamp, new UF defensive coordinator and new defensive line coach Bryant Young. The trio stayed at Jernigan's school from 7 am to well into the evening, speaking with Jernigan, his parents, coaches, teacher and school administration.

Florida is seriously after Jernigan, and after many felt the Gators were out, they are back in the hunt and are big game hunting. Jernigan is also a noted Gator fan who has gone on record to say so. It's always a special feeling when the team you grew up rooting for comes hard after you as a top priority in recruiting.

While the Gators won't get an official visit out Jernigan, he could opt to make a quick mid-week trip to scope out the The Swamp in Gainesville and meet with the staff once again. Florida will be right in the middle of things on National Signing Day.

Then there is LSU. John Chavis, Brick Haley and Les Miles know that getting Jernigan down to the Bayou would give their defensive front much needed versatility as Jernigan could play inside and outside as a strongside defensive end. During the US Army All-American Bowl practices, LSU was brought up the most among players when asked where they thought Jernigan was headed.

Many times players are more open with one another than the media, so if other players were strongly linking Jernigan to the Tigers, then that's a strong source. Jernigan visited to LSU in November, loving the visit, game atmosphere and the coaching staff.

His high school coach has said that Jernigan has never really left Lake City for an extended period of time and distance may be a factor, but the Tigers have firmly entrenched themselves as a major player in the Jenrigan sweepstakes.

"LSU is strongly in the picture. LSU has been strong the whole time," said Craig Howard, Jernigan's high school coach. Howard has seen this type of hype and attention before, as six years ago he was a coach at Nease High School. Nease is the former school of some quarterback named Tim Tebow.

With Jernigan, his relationship with Brick Haley, the Tigers' defensive line coach, has been key. Haley and LSU has an in-home visit with Jernigan last week, which reportedly went extremely well.

While Alabama, Florida State and Tennessee are also very much in the picture, Florida and LSU will be right there with them battling for Tim Jernigan through National Signing Day.