At the big announcement Thursday, Jawon Pass kept shuffling the hats on the table in front of him, hats from Louisville, Alabama and Auburn. He seemed to give the UofL hat a little extra care, placing it in the middle.

Over the past few months, Pass had received offers from 20 schools, arriving at his final three after eliminating such programs as Notre Dame, Ohio State, Florida, LSU, Clemson, Miami, North Carolina, Texas A&M and Virginia Tech.Screenshot 2015-07-16 16.10.12

The pressure from top programs was relentless. Pass had just visited Alabama the day before his announcement, Auburn during the past week. In the end, Alabama and Auburn would not make the cut.

When time came to make his decision, UofL fans held their breath as Pass slowly declared,

“For the next three or four years, I will be attending … the … University … of … Louisville.”

Carefully and lovingly placing the red hat with the Cardinal logo on his head to stay, confident in his decision.

There it was, Bobby Petrino, along with assistants Garrick McGee and L. D. Scott, had won one of the school’s biggest recruiting battles ever, over two of college football’s most respected programs. A five-star quarterback who checks in at an impressive 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds with 4.5 speed is on his way to Louisville.

Pass said he chose UofL for a number of reasons, including his respect for the UofL coaching staff, which he believes will prepare him for the next level. It didn’t hurt UofL that his brother, Khane Pass, had committed to UofL in August last year and will be a freshman safety of the roster this season.

Major college football recruiting, being what it is, fans can expect some programs to continue to recruit Jawon Pass. But they will probably be wasting their time. The commitment seems to be pretty solid in favor of Louisville. He loves that UofL hat.

“It’s a good fit for me,” Pass said. “I’ve got a good relationship with the coaches and that’s just where my heart was at.”

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By Charlie Springer

Charlie Springer is a former Louisville editor and sportswriter, a public affairs consultant, a UofL grad and longtime fan.

4 thoughts on “Jawon Pass picks the Louisville hat”
  1. What a great pick up. Alabama really needs to stop challenging us. Fiesta Bowl, Peanut, Pass. You think they would just give up. 🙂

    1. Great observation, Porkins! Although, Peanut’s choice may have been pure chance! After he came to UofL, I had heard or read somewhere that he was still undecided at his announcement event and just randomly selected a hat. I never saw a video of it. So, at one UofL alumni event, we were invited to dine with the team at the University Club. I was at the table with Peanut, another player and my wife. I obliquely said I had heard choosing where to play college ball could be a tough decision and that some prospects had randomly made their choice in the end. Peanut spoke up and said that’s how it was with him. He said he couldn’t decide even at this announcement press conference. He said he closed his eyes, picked up one hat, hesitated, as the crowd began to react, put it back down and picked up another and put it on his head. When he heard someone say “Louisville,” he knew where he was going.

      OK, I thought. So, the tale was true. Then, to my enormous surprise, the other player at the table spoke up. It was “T-Butt” (Terrance Butler). He said he had similar problems deciding where to go. He said his mom had him spread out all his offer letters on a table, close his eyes and put his finger down on the table. It landed on UofL’s letter….and he became a Card!

      I’m not certain, but I believe Peanut also said the hat he first picked up (and then put down) was Alabama!!! If so, it had to make Jawon’s faint with the Alabama hat even more galling to the Tide!

  2. Fantastic. Nice to beat out so many traditional programs. There’s a new contender on the national scene.

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