Six Jefferson "J Boys" make it official

TAMPA—At Jefferson, there are two goals for the football program: to win state titles and to get scholarships.

And on Wednesday, six seniors checked that second one off the list.

As they proudly sported their diamond-crusted state championship rings from their junior year, DL Tyriq McCord (Miami), DE David White (Florida A&M), DB Will Watson (Bowling Green), WR Adrian Jenkins (Florida International) and LB Lamar Woods and WR Jawuan Coffee (Becker (Mass.) College) signed their letters of intent to play for their respective schools.

Each one took a turn sharing memories, such as Jenkins, who had no one to sit with at lunch when he came in as a freshman and McCord, who thanked his friends for their Facebook and Twitter support when he played in January's U.S. Army All-American game in San Antonio.

McCord, ranked among the nation’s 100 top recruits by Rivals and ESPN, also took a moment to remember the uglier side of the process.

"It's been a long journey,” he said during his speech. “A lot of people thought I was going to this school, a lot of people thought I was going to that school, a lot of people wrote things, a lot of bad things, because I'm going to the school I'm going to right now.”

“It’s a blessing stress to have,” he said after signing with the Hurricanes, “But at the same time, it was very, very stressful.”

Watson reflected on friends that chose different paths than he did, Woods spoke of how defensive coordinator Ricky Sailor helped him get recruited through Unsigned Preps, and White thanked his grandparents for giving him and his mother a place to stay.

And then there was Coffee, who overcame his freshman year 1.2 g.p.a, among other challenges. 

“I lived with my mom, I lived on the streets, we didn’t have any place to go, me, my brother or my sister, but I’m lucky, my aunt (Ella Coffee), she came into my life and took me in and cared me as her own child,” said Coffee, who lost his father, Christopher Coffee, in fifth grade, and his mother, Tabitha Rice, before last year’s state title game. “I use all that as motivation. I told my mom I’d get a state ring, and I’ve got it on my finger right now.” 

Recruiting updates more