PLANT CITY – Durant Head Coach Mike Gottman sat in front of reporters during the Hillsborough County Media Days at Raymond James Stadium back in August describing how young his team was entering the season, but he did it with optimism and a bit of a smile on his face while doing so. He must have known (obviously) more than the rest of us did as the Cougars sit at 6-2 on the season and with a gigantic district game on the road at Tampa Bay Tech with their playoff lives still in their own hands this late in the season.
Everywhere you look on the stat sheets and on film you find underclassmen–along with the few senior they do have–making plays for the Cougars this season. The most exciting part for their fans–and their coaches alike is the feeling that they’ll be back next year with the intentions of being bigger, stronger, faster than this season.
Durant’s top-two tacklers on defense are juniors, although what seniors the Cougars do have this season are contributing nicely for Durant on that side of the ball. One of those juniors sitting behind Jacob Ross’ 77 tackles on the season, is 5-foot-10, 165-pound safety Jaden Garrett with 58 on the season. He admits he is a big Seminoles fan, but he also tries to emulate the game of Miami Hurricanes legend–and one of the greatest of all-time to play the position in the NFL as well, may he Rest In Peace.
We spoke with Jaden recently in advance of their game with the Titans and asked him about many things from his game–to who he models that game after–and to what he thinks makes his team such a tough group to face year-after-year. Here’s Jaden Garrett, in his own words.
On “exceeding” the expectations of those in the media and beyond based on the preseason:
Garrett: “We’re a young team, so I guess people weren’t expecting us to be as good as we are right now, we were pretty young on defense coming into the season.”
He had 19 tackles in their rival game with Newsome–a game that Cougars were victorious. He also was credited with one tackle in the their district loss to Lennard:
Garett: “That game (Lennard) was a rough game. I try to do my best to come downhill and I missed a couple of tackles–but I did the best I could.”
In the Hillsborough game, Garrett had an interception and a blocked field goal, on top of being the second leading tackler on the team–what’s the approach?:
Garrett: “Very active. I like to be around the ball–come downhill and make tackles. I like to be aggressive. I like being up in the action, because sometimes when you’re a safety you can be away from the action. I feel like I need to be in the action during the game and not let anything happen behind me.”
Durant seems to bring-it regardless of their wins and losses and they do it every year. What’s the formula?
Garrett: “We’re really close (at Durant)–we’re well-coached, so we know what we’re supposed to do and how to get that job done.”
They still have to hope for some other things to happen, but they still control their playoff lives. His thoughts?
Garrett: “We’re coming off a loss, so it’s tough knowing that it’s win and hope for the best, but really it’s about this week being the most important week of them all–just like last week was and next week will be.”
Who does he model his game after?
Garrett: “Sean Taylor is my favorite all-time football player. I watch his highlights before every game.”
So, you’d much rather give a hit–than take a hit, wouldn’t you?
Garrett: “Yessir!”
What’s on your recruiting radar and what are you interested in possibly as a major in college?
Garrett: “There’s no one right now, but that’s not what I’m worried about right now anyways. I just want to keep playing every week and that’s stuff will come when it’s time. Mass communication, journalism, broadcasting–I’d like to write about sports.”
