Sherit recaps latest trip

Tampa (Fla.) Hillsborough four-star strongside defensive end Jordan Sherit took a visit to Vanderbilt over the weekend. After returning home late on Sunday and allowing the trip to sink in, he shared his thoughts about what he saw in Nashville.

"I thought it was great," Sherit said. "It was really different than what I expected. I thought it was going to be kind of smaller and just outside Nashville but it is right there in the middle of everything. I was definitely pleasantly surprised. It is a great city with a lot going on there. You really can't get bored living there.

"They are building new things at the school - a new JumboTron and a new indoor facility - stuff like that," Sherit added.

The 6-foot-4, 245-pound defensive lineman was accompanied on the visit by fellow Tampa-area standouts such as Seffner (Fla.) Armwood four-star safety Leon McQuay III, Tampa (Fla.) Tampa Bay Tech three-star wide receiver Richard Benjamin, and Tampa (Fla.) Hillsborough three-star outside linebacker Nigel Harris.

"It was great visiting with those guys as well," Sherit said. "I just had a great time overall."

The Rivals100 defender was extremely impressed with James Franklin, the head coach of the Commodores.

"The best part was meeting with Coach Franklin," Sherit said. "I think if he wants to in a couple years that he can be the head coach of any school in the country. That guy is for sure doing great things at Vanderbilt, especially with the great recruiting classes that he has put together. I talked to him a lot and he was telling us that we need to bring Team Tampa to Vanderbilt.

"I can see how he signed one of the best recruiting classes in Vanderbilt history," Sherit added. "The guy is a great coach, a great person, a great father figure. I definitely want to talk to him a lot."

Another coach that showed Sherit a lot of attention was his prospective position coach.

"I talked to (defensive line) Coach (Sean) Spencer about the defensive line also," Sherit said. "He taught me a lot in like 45 minutes, so I can't imagine what he could teach me over four years."

During the Black and Gold game inside Vanderbilt Stadium, Sherit paid close attention to his future position as well as some other components of the Commodores.

"I watched the defensive line a lot, but I was also watching Josh Grady, a local guy, and other stuff," Sherit said. "I can see myself playing in that defense. I talked to the defensive coordinator, Coach (Bob) Shoop, and he told me that they don't try to fit guys they recruit into their defense, they make their defense revolve around the playmakers on the field.

"I like how they allow their players to make plays," Sherit added. "In my opinion, I saw a lot of different things going on with their defensive ends. I saw them blitzing. I saw them dropping back into coverage. That was impressive to see."

With the visit now concluded, Sherit admits that Vanderbilt is a school he definitely wants to return to in order to take a more in-depth look.

"Definitely, I want to go back and see it once again," Sherit said. "I hope to be able to go back to Vanderbilt and hang out with the players and people there. I want my family to be able to see it as well."

Sherit mentioned that he may visit South Florida this weekend for their spring game. Other visits will have to wait until after spring football concludes in May.

"I know I want to visit some out-of-state schools too," Sherit said. "I will just have to find time during the summer to take some visits and then narrow down my list."

As far as summer visits, one destination Sherit mentioned was returning to the University of Florida along with his parents. Some other possible destinations include Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Stanford, and Vanderbilt.

At this stage of the process, Sherit isn't quite ready to narrow things down or put anybody on top of his list of nearly two dozen offers.

"I don't have a leader yet. I think soon I will have a top five, if not top five, then top seven," Sherit said. "I am not 100% sure when I want to decide. I don't want to be a guy that makes an early commit and then decommits. I want to commit once and only once. I don't want to have second guesses. Once I narrow it down to five or seven, I want to see all of those schools before I make a decision."

As a junior, Sherit had 110 tackles, 14 sacks, three forced fumbles, and five fumble recoveries.