LAKE CITY — Timmy Jernigan is going to replace the Gators mailbox that sits in front of his house.
The four-star defensive tackle, who grew up a Florida fan in Lake City, signed a national letter of intent to play at Florida State on Wednesday.
“As a kid, if you’re a Gator fan and you had to choose a school, it definitely wouldn’t be Florida State,” Jernigan said. “God works in mysterious ways, and he definitely changed my heart. That’s where my heart’s at — in Tallahassee.”
Jernigan was long thought to be Florida’s to lose. The 6-foot-2, 275-pound defensive tackle grew up about 40 miles north of Gainesville and was recruited by Florida since he was in the sixth grade, when he attended summer football camps at UF.
But the coaching turnover in Gainesville played a role in his college decision, as he believed FSU’s coaching staff was more stable.
“It just seemed like all the coaches I really got closer to, all of them left,” he said. “Coach [Dan McCarney], he left. Then when Urban (Meyer) left … it hurt me because me and Urban, we were tight. Me and coach Meyer were very tight, and that shook me a lot.”
While the familiar faces at Florida disappeared for Jernigan, he built a strong relationship with Seminoles defensive line coach Odell Haggins, whom Jernigan said is like a brother and a father to him. Haggins recruited Jernigan since he was in eighth grade, and Jernigan doesn’t see him leaving FSU anytime soon.
Despite the change in staff at UF, Jernigan wanted to give coach Will Muschamp and his staff a fair chance to make an impression before he eliminated Florida from consideration.
But with less than two months between taking over as the Gators’ coach and National Signing Day, that proved to be difficult for Muschamp.
Jernigan said LSU and FSU were his leaders during that time, but he never counted out Florida until two weeks ago, when he said he had to cut a team because time was winding down. He informed Gators defensive line coach Bryant Young in person that he didn’t feel like Florida was the place for him.
“I didn’t want to act sour toward anybody because of what happened in the past,” Jernigan said. “I know I could’ve gone in and played, but it’s way more than playing the game of football. It’s way more than that. That’s why I chose Florida State.”
The Lake City Columbia standout was most comfortable with the coaches and players at Florida State, comparing them to a family.
And family means a lot to Jernigan, who had his younger cousin sit on his lap during the nationally televised announcement.
Although he felt a lot of outside pressure from people in Lake City to go to Florida, Jernigan said he didn’t want to make a decision just to appease everyone else.
“I had to do what was best for me and only me,” Jernigan said. “And I did what I had to do.”
