West coast trip for Myles Jernigan could swing his recruitment

The 2019 crop of linebackers in Texas isn’t the deepest position group in the state, but Myles Jernigan has been one select prospect that has drawn national attention.

This weekend, the three-star Grand Prairie, Texas, recruit will venture west for visits to Cal and Utah as he continues to work through his recruitment. His other offers are mainly from more regional Big 12 teams, but he is interested to know if the west coast feeling is enough to pull him away from more familiar scenery.

“I would call myself pretty versatile,” he said. “In the Pac-12, it’s fast-paced with a lot of movement going on, so that’s the kind of thing that I am built to stop.”

Jernigan hasn’t been shy about making visits elsewhere, either. He’s been to Baylor – where many have thought he had been leaning – but has also made a couple visits apiece to Houston and Oklahoma State. He said that after he returns from his trip next week that he’ll be in a good spot to make some decisions with his senior season around the corner and all of his official visits available to take.

“Even though these visits are all unofficial, they’re still pretty impactful,” he said. “I think after this week I should be able to make a decision and then take my officials to the school that I’m choosing and a couple of others possibly for the ones that I’m still interested in.”

On Baylor

“I would say that I’m still an important recruit to them,” he said. “I have a good relationship with Coach (Mike) Siravo, but they’ve also picked up a couple of guys at linebacker – it wasn’t like that at the time that I visited. I still believe that they want me and I think that it’s a great school, I just have to think about the guys there.”

On Cal, where he’ll visit on Saturday

“Their defensive coordinator, Tim DeRuyter, is one of the best in the game,” he said. “I think that’s why he’s been able to pick up a few Texas kids here lately. He sells a great product, so he can get the program some better athletes.”

“[DeRuyter] came down to my spring game, established that he wants me out there,” he said. “Being on the west coast isn’t a problem for me – it shouldn’t be a problem for anyone – I just can’t wait to get out there and have a look.”

On Houston

“It does stand out that they’re not a Power Five school – that’s all that I’m hearing from others – but I look at it like it’s still a Division I team,” he said. “I love Coach (Major) Applewhite. Coach (Mark) D’Onofiro and Coach (Dan) Carrel text me almost every day. They have a No. 1-projected pick in Ed Oliver on defense. I’ve been there twice as well and only have great things to say about the program.”

On Oklahoma State

“They’re thinking about me as an edge or standup guy but I know they were thinking about putting some weight on me and getting me up to around 245-pounds,” he said. “Coach (Joe Bob) Clements is a really cool guy, and with the new defensive coordinator [Jim Knowles] I am expecting to like the new defense there.”

On Utah, where he’ll visit on Monday

“I’ve been talking a lot with Coach (Morgan) Scalley, Coach (Justin) Ena, and Coach (Guy) Holliday,” he said. “Coach Scalley is a good one – he’s put a lot of defensive players in the NFL, and I’m always hearing that coming from them. What they’re doing has been working out there too.”