RECRUITING: Ferrell Defends Himself

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Tallahassee (Fla.) linebacker Willie Ferrell debunks rumors; says LSU “still considers me as an LSU commitment”

by Daniel Mingea III
Tiger Rag Recruiting Analyst

One of the earlier commitments for the Tigers’ class of 2009 came from linebacker Willie Ferrell (6-2, 222, 4.5).

Ferrell’s commitment was accepted by many except for a few bitter fans and sports writers. The detractors questioned Ferrell’s level of competition, but all the standout student-athlete could do was challenge the opponents placed in front of him and he certainly did.

Ferrell anchored his Florida A&M High School’s playoff run this year with over 100 hundred tackles while guiding them to a 7-3 record. Ferrell’s defense surrendered just 10.5 points a game this season. That was an improvement not only from last year when they came up short in the state championship game (13.2), but also from two year’s ago when they won it all (15.2).

Ferrell continues to hear the accusations stating he is not a solid commitment to LSU and he is also aware of the recruiting boards that no longer consider him to be a part of LSU’s class of 2009. Ferrell, puzzled by some people’s motives, spoke out.

“I am still committed to LSU,” Ferrell confirmed once again. “I am also academically qualified. I keep in touch with coaches on a regular basis too. In fact, I received a hand written letter from coach [Josh] Henson yesterday. He basically said good luck and was congratulating me on my team’s victories this year. It was not like a regular letter, it was more specific.

“Coach Henson still considers me as an LSU commitment,” Ferrell continued on regarding whether the LSU staff currently lists him as a commitment. “We are usually writing or calling each other. I spoke to the coaches like a week or two ago. It was a general conversation. We were talking about what was going on with the season and things like that.”

As the Tigers’ coaches monitor the play of Ferrell, the dynamic linebacker returns the favor by following the Tigers’ progress and claimed this season’s speed bumps came as no surprise.

“To me LSU is still the same team and I have the same feelings for them,” Ferrell admitted. “I expected them to struggle this year. With all of the talent that has left LSU in the last two years, you knew this would probably be a down year. They just have to keep working hard and they’ll get better.”

Getting better is something the never-say-die linebacker has been doing since September as he suffered a high ankle sprain.

“I got a high ankle sprain in like the second week of September,” Ferrell informed. “The ligaments around my ankle were close to being torn, but they were just tight and tender. I had to wear a $100 ankle-brace just to be able to run. I missed three games, but I played through the rest and I’d say now I’m playing at about 80-percent.”

Ferrell will guide his team into the first round of the playoffs this weekend for the last time of his high school career. Ferrell said he is willing to do whatever it takes to help his team win another state title.

“After my injury I really hadn’t played too much on offense,” Ferrell concluded. “But now that the playoffs are here, I told my coach I’m here for a reason. Use me while I’m here.”

That is the attitude champions are made of.

Note: Through the recruitment process with the help of the class of 2009’s ring leader, Ferrell formed a relationship with Abilene High School linebacker Chris Williams. Ferrell offered words of encouragement for his friend. “I know Chris is going through some things right now and I hope everything works out for him. I met him through Russell Shepard and we’ve been talking ever since.”