Louisville adds commitment from 3-star Tennessee DB Jarek Campbell
It's been an eventful offseason for three-star Murfreesboro (Tenn.) Riverdale defensive back Jarek Campbell. After playing most of his career as a wide receiver and even adding some major offers at the position, he made the switch to safety and quickly saw his recruitment blossom. Over the weekend, he camped at Louisville and enjoyed himself so much while on campus made the decision to commit to the Cardinals. Rivals.com caught up with Campbell to go in-depth on his decision.
In his words: "They were probably the most interested school in me and I was just ready to commit and get it over with. I like them a lot and I like them a lot and I have a good relationship with Coach Sirmon and it just felt like home for me."
On his relationship with the Louisville coaches: "Coach (Peter) Sirmon comes around a lot when he's allowed to be out recruiting and that shows he cares about you and he really wants to coach you. He's a guy who isn't going to sugarcoat things, he's going to coach you hard but treat you like family at the same time. At the camp working with him and the defensive backs coaches I felt really comfortable. They like me, I like them a lot and I think they're good coaches."
On the Nashville to Louisville pipeline: "We have two guys there already, Rodney Owens and Nick Okeke and now I'll be going so that makes three of us in the last two years. That makes it easier to know that I'll have people there I'm already friends with."
On the Louisville campus: "It's a big city so there's a lot of stuff to do both on and off campus. I really like being there, it's nice, the dorms are nice and they keep building new facilities so it's only going to get better."
On his fit in the scheme: "I weighed in at 200 pounds at the camp so they said they want to use me a number of ways. He says I'll be playing nickel, safety and even come down in the box when they need me against teams that run it a lot."
On his move from wide receiver to defensive back: "I feel like defensive back was the place I'm supposed to be because when I was at wide receiver my recruitment was going slow. I feel like I'm better at defensive back than receiver and I'm getting a lot better at defensive back than what I was when I first started. It came natural but after I started working on it every week it starting come more and more. Hopefully I will keep getting better so I can have a big impact when I get to Louisville."
On future visits: "This is done. I'm all Louisville."
Rivals Reaction: Campbell is commitment No. 11 for the Cardinals in the 2018 class and the first player from the state of Tennessee to join the fold. As he mentioned he's blossomed in his transition from wide receiver to defensive back so it's not a surprise to see Louisville want to lock him up before more schools get a chance to see him camp at the position over the summer. Louisville has made the state of Tennessee a priority in recruiting and the results over the last two cycles are showing that work is starting to pay off.
