NSD 2022: Catholic has record-setting Signing Day
Seniors from Montgomery Catholic High School sign on the dotted line Wednesday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
It was probably the most impressive signing ceremony ever held on signing day in the Capital City, particularly among the five private schools that make up the Capital City Conference.
Three of the signees were major college recruits signing with Power Five programs. Another signed with a Sun Belt member while twin brothers who wanted to sign together ended up with a Football Championship Subdivision program in the state. A seventh signed with an NAIA school.
For first-year coach Kirk Johnson, Wednesday’s signing ceremony in the gym was more than just football, however.
“A lot of people think it’s athletic ability, but it’s more than that,” he said. “It’s student athletes, guys who have GPAs that are 3.2 and higher. Having ability is one thing but putting together the complete student-athlete is another. These guys are phenomenal in that regard.”
Most of the attention was focused on linebacker T.J. Dudley and defensive backs Kylon Griffin and Jourdan Thomas, three players who rank among the top 30 recruits in the state of Alabama. All three had committed to schools in 2021, but issues with all three forced them to skip the early signing period and open up the recruiting process again.
Dudley, originally committed last fall to Oregon, made his choice official on Wednesday by choosing Clemson over the Ducks after Oregon coach Mario Cristobal left for the head coaching position at Miami after the 2021 season.
Griffin, originally committed to Mississippi State, had his offer pulled just before signing day in December and ended up signing with Clemson on Wednesday. Thomas, also committed to Mississippi State, suffered the same fate but quickly pounced on an offer from Tennessee and signed with the Volunteers on Wednesday.
The remaining four players had similar recruiting stories that had a happy ending on Wednesday. Twin brothers Javen and Jamarion Augustus, who transferred from Macon East Academy prior to the start of the 2020 season, capped a two-year career with the Knights by signing with North Alabama on Wednesday.
Jamarion, sporting a 4.0 grade-point average, earned all-Capital City Conference honors this past year and concluded his career with 129 tackles, including 33 for loss and 11 sacks, after spending much of his junior year at wide receiver.
Javen, who also earned all-Capital City Conference honors, made 232 tackles, including 48 for loss and 12 sacks, in two years as a defensive end.
Both players wanted to attend college together, limiting their scholarship offers, but in choosing North Alabama they’re selecting a team that recently made the move from Division II to FCS as it transitions to Division I-A.
Linebacker Patrick Ryan, a two-time all-Capital City Conference linebacker, concluded his career with 325 tackles, including 41 for loss and 10 sacks, along with three interceptions. He is, as Johnson noted, “the definition of a dang good high school football player. Anybody on this team will tell you the heart and soul of Montgomery Catholic’s defense last year that gave up 43 points would be Patrick Ryan.”
Ryan signed with South Alabama on Wednesday.
Fellow linebacker Ethan Binns, Johnson said, “is the definition of hard work. Ethan is the type of kid that makes you play him.” Binns, an all-Capital City Conference linebacker who had 108 tackles, including 14 tackles for loss and four sacks in his career, signed with Point University, an NAIA private school.
T.J. Dudley signs with Clemson
When Mario Cristobal left Oregon for Miami in December, it forced Catholic senior T.J. Dudley to revisit his commitment to the Ducks.
He didn’t sign in the early signing period and considered his top choices again, but only made a recruiting visit to Clemson last weekend. By Wednesday, he had narrowed his choices to Oregon and Clemson and Dudley’s choice on signing day reflected the turmoil he endured over the last two months.
“It definitely made it a little more special,” he said. “Another thing is, I know (Clemson coach Dabo) Swinney isn’t going anywhere for a long time. Swinney’s there and the program will stay the same. Swinney’s not going anywhere for a long, long time.”
Dudley chose the stability of Clemson, which might sound funny as Swinney has had to replace both coordinators since the end of the 2021 season, choosing Wesley Goodwin and Mickey Conn, the former special teams coordinator, as co-defensive coordinators. It’s sort of a new defense, at least in the way it attacks opposing offenses.
“I think I fit perfect in this defense,” Dudley said. “Coach Wesley likes long, versatile linebackers and I fit that to the ‘T.’”
Dudley has only been playing at Catholic for three years and is a three-time all-state selection and a three-time all-Capital City Conference selection. In addition to earning Capital City Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors, he also the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s 3A Lineman of the Year. He had 381 tackles in three years, including 59 for loss and 10.5 sacks. He had seven interceptions, including four returns for touchdowns as a senior, and was selected to play in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic.
Dudley capped a successful day for Clemson in the state of Alabama. In addition to signing defensive tackle Caden Story, the younger brother of Alabama sophomore Kristian Story, the Tigers nabbed walk-on Caleb Nix of Central-Phenix City, the younger brother of former Auburn quarterback Bo Nix; Saraland punter Jack Smith; Vestavia Hills receiver Cole Turner, the younger brother of former Clemson defensive back Nolan Turner and son of the late Kevin Turner; and the Catholic duo of Dudley and defensive back Kylon Griffin.
“He committed two days after me,” Dudley said of Griffin. “I put a little bit of pressure on him. When I heard he had the opportunity to go, I was like, I’m going to get him.”
The pressure had been on Dudley for some time. The highest rated unsigned player in the state, he waited for a visit that never came from new Oregon coach Dan Lanning, wondered what schools still had room for February signees (Alabama and Auburn, for example, combined for one signee on Wednesday) and never drifted too far from the Tigers, who were rumored to be the leader for his signature more than a year ago.
“We get late in the recruiting process,” Catholic coach Kirk Johnson said, “and I don’t know if you know anything about NIL, but I watched T.J. have to sit through meetings where people were offering and doing different things, but he never let that be the focus of why he wanted to play college football.
“First and foremost, T.J. Dudley is a four-star linebacker that has 40 Division I-A offers. Four years ago, I met T.J.’s father and he explained the vision and the goal he had for his son and never once in that vision and goal did he talk about football. He talked about putting his son in a place where religion and academics were at the forefront. The thing that sets ‘Bull’ aside from every other kid in the nation is he’s been dealing with multiple offers since his sophomore year but he stayed true to who he is and to Montgomery Catholic.”
There was one positive about the whole experience. When Cristobal left and Dudley opened his recruiting back up, he was a wiser recruit the second time around.
“Knowing what questions to ask the coaches about how they’ll use me and just getting a good feel for them because a lot of coaches, they’re great recruiters,” he said. “They might not be very truthful but they may be great recruiters. So just being able to see what’s real and what’s not is one of the biggest things.”
Thomas headed to Tennessee
When Tennessee coaches offered Jourdan Thomas a scholarship to play football for the Volunteers, it fulfilled a lifelong dream.
Thomas had committed to Mississippi State in mid-April, 2021, but missed the early signing period when the scholarship offer fell through. A quick offer from the Vols, however, quickly erased any bad feelings he might have had about the recruiting process.
“I just think it was God’s plan the whole time,” Thomas said. “Things happened with Mississippi State and it didn’t work out. I always knew my calling was to go to Tennessee. When I got there on my visit, it felt like home from the jump. Being at Neyland Stadium, there’s nothing like it. I think it’s the best stadium in college football and we’re renovating so it’s going to be even better. Coach (Josh) Heupel, I believe in what he’s doing.”
Thomas is a hidden gem in the recruiting world. He’s a three-time all-Capital City Conference player who first arrived at Catholic with dreams of playing quarterback. Then-head coach Aubrey Blackwell settled on veteran Christian Ivy to be the quarterback and defensive coordinator Kirk Johnson quickly plucked Thomas from the bench and gave him a role in the secondary.
“We moved him to safety pretty quick and he flourished,” Johnson said. “The thing I think about Jourdan all the time is the attention to detail. It’s phenomenal. That lets you know he’s a college football player. The thing that sets Jourdan apart from every other defensive player in the state of Alabama is he takes special teams seriously.”
Thomas earned all-state honors this past season and an invitation to play in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic. In his career, he had 145 tackles, including 33 for loss, along with seven sacks, five interceptions, five pass breakups and two touchdowns as a return specialist.
He was recruited as a safety, but he’s willing to play anywhere in order to contribute.
“When I get there, I might be all over,” Thomas said. “I might play all five positions (in the secondary). I’m just going to see where I fit best. If I do best at corner, I’ll play there.”
But first, look for him on special teams.
“I’ll be flying down, wrecking stuff,” he said with a smile.
Griffin joins teammate and signs with Clemson
Kylon Griffin was the first of the Catholic seniors to commit to a college. When others were weighing options, Griffin was sure he wanted to play college football at Mississippi State and committed to the Bulldogs in late March, 2021.
As it turned out, however, Mississippi State wasn’t committed to Kylon Griffin.
“A week before early signing day, he gets a phone call about 11 p.m. and Mississippi State told him, ‘we’re going to go in another direction and take a transfer portal kid,’” Catholic coach Kirk Johnson said. “The next day, Kylon came to my office and he never cried, he trusted the process. I told him to start praying about it and God will take care of it. Well, the best thing that ever happened is getting dropped by Mississippi State because the kid is going to Clemson on a full ride.”
Griffin, who watched others sign during the early signing period as his world was in turmoil, got to celebrate on Wednesday as he signed a letter of intent to play for the Tigers.
The good news didn’t end with the signing, however, as Griffin was one of six Alabama high school stars that announced they would be attending Clemson in the fall, including Catholic teammate T.J. Dudley.
Griffin was a three-time all-Capital City Conference selection at defensive back and earned all-state honors as a senior after recording 161 tackles in his career, including 20 for loss, along with three interceptions and 12 pass breakups.
When the recruiting setback came in December, Griffin simply restarted the process among the 25 offers he had received, settling on Clemson last week over late recruiting pitches from Nebraska and Southern California.
“The (Mississippi State) news was kind of stunning, but I didn’t pout about it or cry about it, I just went and prayed about it,” Griffin said. “Everything happens for a reason, so I just prayed and talked to God, talked to my mother and father. I just put it in God’s hands.”
Griffin said he was recruited to play safety for the Tigers and hoped to make a quick impact on the team.
“I hope to fill that leadership role, be a leader there, and play all around the back end (of the defense),” he said.