Offers spring up for Whitehurst

Gainesville (Fla.) linebacker Tashon Whitehurst began the spring season without any offers to his name. A month later, he has added a handful of options.

"I am at five offers now," Whitehurst said. "UMass, Western Michigan, N.C. State, Syracuse, and Marshall."

Early on, one of those offers made a significant impression on Whitehurst.

"Syracuse did," Whitehurst said. "I was talking to an assistant, their defensive line coach, Coach Tim (Daoust), and we were talking about the school. He also talked with my dad and my dad told him that is where a lot of my family is from. I also talked to the linebackers coach, (Dan Conley) and he was telling me how much they loved me and how much they want me to play for them."

In addition to his offers, the 6-foot-3, 187-pound linebacker is also receiving attention from Central Florida, Florida International, Georgia, Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, and Utah.

At this stage in the process, Whitehurst is just allowing the process to play out.

"I don't really have a leader," Whitehurst said. "I have just been letting the offers come in and once they slow down then I will look at what schools have offered me and range them out to whatever, however many offers I get, so I have a chance to sit and think about each school and if it would be a good fit for me."

One way in which he will work on narrowing down his list and finding his eventual home is by taking some visits.

"I haven't decided which schools I want to visit yet," Whitehurst said. "But I am going to some camps. I just haven't decided which ones I am going to."

When the Gainesville product makes his way onto college campuses, he is looking at finding a school that provides him opportunities on and off of the field.

"I want to see how the school is and how they run their defense," Whitehurst said. "The campus experience will be important. Also the percentage of graduation rate, so that if I don't make it to the NFL then I have something to fall back on."

As a junior, Whitehurst had 99 tackles, 3.5 sacks, and three forced fumbles.