Jaremiah Anglin Jr. is confident that even if he never played football again in his life, he would have Archie Collins’ support forever. A bond that transcends football can be difficult to find in today’s college football.
“If I take away the coaching aspect from him, will he still support me? Are you still going to control me? Will you still be a great father? Are you still going to help me as a man? And if you take away Coach Collins’ coaching, he’s still the same person,” Anglin told Pittsburgh Sports Now.
It was Collins’ love and support that influenced Anglin when he entered the transfer portal from Kentucky, but it wasn’t just Collins. She felt like she had found a home away from home in Pittsburgh.
Anglin officially committed to Pitt on April 28, just five days after entering the portal and a few days after arriving in Pittsburgh with his father Jaremiah Sr.
Anglin was heavily approached by Pitt during his initial recruiting process at Lake Wales High in Florida and hosted him on an official visit in the summer of 2022, but he committed to Kentucky. It was where he needed to be then, but that changed throughout his first season.
While it was frustrating for Anglin to watch him – injured – come off the bench last season, feeling like perhaps he was the missing piece in the Wildcats’ secondary, he felt it was the right time to start again after the spring season.
“I just want to say I respect the coaches there,” Anglin said. “I respect the players; Those are my brothers. But I feel like, missing last year and coming back from two surgeries, that wasn’t the best position to play.”
Anglin suffered a torn ACL and a partial meniscus tear in his knee and a labral tear during camp last summer. Two surgeries, a lot of time in rehabilitation. He had surgery over the summer and wasn’t able to practice again until mid-spring. If you count Kentucky’s spring game, he went through nine practices.
He entered the transfer portal 10 days later and Pitt (Collins, in particular) was the first school to reach out.
“I heard about a couple different schools, but my heart was already set on Pitt,” Anglin said. “I’m glad my dad had the opportunity to see him this time because last time he couldn’t make the visit. That also played an important role. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t hear from other schools, but my heart was set on Pitt. I would say they were the first school to reach out and show the amount of love they had right when I was coming out of high school. I just couldn’t turn down the opportunity.
“Coach Collins, Coach Duzz, Coach Sanders, the whole staff showed a lot of love. It feels great to be here and I can’t wait to get to work and show people what they missed last year. And as a team, I can’t wait to show you what we have in store.”
Anglin is healthy now, after a game-ending six pick in Kentucky’s spring game, and feels better than he ever has, or at least since he was in eighth grade.
.@jaremiahhjr He went up and stole it 😤 pic.twitter.com/6ZFtmR6LkE
– Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) April 13, 2024
“I just played all year, went from football to basketball to baseball, back to track, back to soccer, but I never really had a break,” Anglin said. “So, I feel like it was just God telling me that you had a lot of work and you just needed a year off.”
He’s had a year off, his body feels good and he’s coming to Pittsburgh with no preconceived expectations. Collins did not guarantee a starting job; He promised a chance.
“I have full confidence in Coach Collins, and I have confidence in Coach Sanders and Coach Duzz,” Anglin said. “So, I feel like with this year, just with my work ethic, how much I really want it, I think I can really show people what they missed last year and the type of playmaker they’re getting when I was In secondary school”. “He’s the type of playmaker they’re going to have this year.”
Anglin didn’t see any action during his freshman season, obviously, but he’s not far off from a standout senior season at Lake Wales in which he recorded 19 receptions for 293 yards and three touchdowns and racked up 62 tackles (46 solo). , three tackles for loss, eight interceptions, 21 pass deflections, five forced fumbles and one recovery.
He’s a great outside cornerback who takes contact, which is a requirement in Pitt’s defensive scheme, but he has a nose for the football. It is evident that he played quite a bit of receiver during high school.
Anglin has already studied the defensive scheme a lot. He sees how Pitt’s defensive line attacks opposing quarterbacks and the defensive backs make the quarterbacks pay for it. He is excited for the opportunity to make plays on defense.
“You meet someone who comes in really hungry,” Anglin said. “I am very hungry. I’m talking about being hungry, but I’m also a supportive teammate. So not only do I bring energy and a different level of support, but I also bring a dynamic game to the defense that I felt Pitt was missing last year.
“They had great guys, like MJ Devonshire. The playmaker was on defense, I feel like that could be my role in this defense. And I’ve met all the DBs. It seems like we’ve all known each other for years. And we are ready to show people that we are one of the best secondary schools in the country.”
Anglin would like to follow in the footsteps of someone like Devonshire, who transferred from Kentucky. Devonshire was selected by the Las Vegas Raiders in the 2024 NFL Draft. In three or four years, Anglin also wants to be drafted.
“The numbers don’t lie,” Anglin said. “Look at the last ten years. They’ve been in the top five in all of college football in DBing, which is my position in the NFL. “I want to be one of those selected.”
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