- Jun 12, 2016
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So . . the Bag Man is real.
Recruiting Tales (Part 5): U-M Lost Jai Eugene to the 'Bag Man'
From 2003 to 2007 Florida safeties coach Ron English served as the defensive backs coach (03-05) and defensive coordinator (06-07) at the University of Michigan. During a recent interview with The Michigan Insider English . . . recaps the story of late decommitment of former five-star defensive back Jai Eugene in 2006. I
Ron English: “So we're on Jai Eugene (at Michigan), and he's a good player. We want him, and we needed him, and all that stuff. Fred Jackson recruited Louisiana, so we're going to go down (together) and see him. We go down after Katrina and Fred drives me around one of the wards, and I've never seen anything like it. It's like The Wizard of Oz. You're seeing cars tucked into second story windows, and in trees, and all that. It was crazy. But you go down to the French Quarter and they had taken care of all of that. So anyway… (back to) Jai Eugene, we go to Destrehan, we go to the school, and we finally get Jai committed. In fact, Jai Eugene commits to us on national TV at the Army Game. Now, we go (back) down to his school… I go down… this is January. One of the recruiters down south, he was at Tennessee… (he said), ‘what’s up Ron? How are you doing man? Hey, you know (Eugene’s recruitment) is just starting now? Whoever has the biggest bag is going to win.' At that time I didn't really believe that kind of stuff was going on. I didn't know. I thought it was just talk.”
“But Jai stays committed, and we go down to the final weekend. Now it's Monday… it’s either Monday or Tuesday of the signing week, and Wednesday is Signing Day. Fred comes to my office (and says),’ Ron, you've got to talk to Jai. He's talking about he's not coming. You’ve got to talk to him’ Of course I love Fred. I start immediately chuckling. Just like this (I said), ‘Jai, what's going on man?’ (Eugene said), ‘Coach, they came to the birthday party on Sunday… and you know my daddy just got out of jail and they got him a job, and they got my momma a house, and they said they were going to take care of my baby. I gotta go to LSU. I said, ‘Jai, you do. You gotta go to LSU.’ And he goes to LSU.”
“And Bo (Schembechler) was… oh my God! Bo was mad, because Bo heard about it. And Bo said… I’m not going to tell you what he said. Bo said a lot of stuff, and Bo was so mad. He was mad. Bo heard about it… Bo was mad. He was the old Bo on that one. He was mad for real. It wasn’t no fake mad. He was mad, and he made some statements that came true. He made some statements that came true… let me just put it like that.”
Recruiting Tales (Part 5): U-M Lost Jai Eugene to the 'Bag Man'
From 2003 to 2007 Florida safeties coach Ron English served as the defensive backs coach (03-05) and defensive coordinator (06-07) at the University of Michigan. During a recent interview with The Michigan Insider English . . . recaps the story of late decommitment of former five-star defensive back Jai Eugene in 2006. I
Ron English: “So we're on Jai Eugene (at Michigan), and he's a good player. We want him, and we needed him, and all that stuff. Fred Jackson recruited Louisiana, so we're going to go down (together) and see him. We go down after Katrina and Fred drives me around one of the wards, and I've never seen anything like it. It's like The Wizard of Oz. You're seeing cars tucked into second story windows, and in trees, and all that. It was crazy. But you go down to the French Quarter and they had taken care of all of that. So anyway… (back to) Jai Eugene, we go to Destrehan, we go to the school, and we finally get Jai committed. In fact, Jai Eugene commits to us on national TV at the Army Game. Now, we go (back) down to his school… I go down… this is January. One of the recruiters down south, he was at Tennessee… (he said), ‘what’s up Ron? How are you doing man? Hey, you know (Eugene’s recruitment) is just starting now? Whoever has the biggest bag is going to win.' At that time I didn't really believe that kind of stuff was going on. I didn't know. I thought it was just talk.”
“But Jai stays committed, and we go down to the final weekend. Now it's Monday… it’s either Monday or Tuesday of the signing week, and Wednesday is Signing Day. Fred comes to my office (and says),’ Ron, you've got to talk to Jai. He's talking about he's not coming. You’ve got to talk to him’ Of course I love Fred. I start immediately chuckling. Just like this (I said), ‘Jai, what's going on man?’ (Eugene said), ‘Coach, they came to the birthday party on Sunday… and you know my daddy just got out of jail and they got him a job, and they got my momma a house, and they said they were going to take care of my baby. I gotta go to LSU. I said, ‘Jai, you do. You gotta go to LSU.’ And he goes to LSU.”
“And Bo (Schembechler) was… oh my God! Bo was mad, because Bo heard about it. And Bo said… I’m not going to tell you what he said. Bo said a lot of stuff, and Bo was so mad. He was mad. Bo heard about it… Bo was mad. He was the old Bo on that one. He was mad for real. It wasn’t no fake mad. He was mad, and he made some statements that came true. He made some statements that came true… let me just put it like that.”
