My prediction on where Jawon Pass will decide today

Jawon Pass will make his decision today at 4:00 p.m. ET on where he will play his college football. He will be choosing between Louisville, Auburn, and Alabama. Normally when you see a list like that, you are just happy that Louisville is mentioned with the big boys of college football. But this time, the Cards have a legit chance to go down and get a recruit right from their territory.

I have said for a while that Jawon Pass is a name that I would get tired of hearing when it came to his recruitment. Now that it is the day he will announce, I can’t get enough of it. And most of that “me being tired of it” was due to the fact that it seemed like every time there was a new “top 5” or “these two schools are in the lead” with him, the list was different. But it was mainly reporters that were putting these lists out that were constantly changing, not necessarily Jawon himself. So I wasn’t tired of Jawon Pass. I was just tired of hearing about the recruitment.

Pass is the type of player that can change a program. Auburn and Alabama don’t really need their programs to change. They are in pretty good spots. Louisville doesn’t really need a change, but maybe a boost to get into that national conversation. But if Pass doesn’t choose Louisville, I do believe the Cards are just fine at QB and are set for the next few years. But if you get a special kid like Pass, “just fine at QB” goes up a notch or two.

For the time being, I think Auburn is out of this and it is a two-team race between Louisville and Alabama. Think about that. Louisville and Alabama going head to head for a big-time football recruit from down south. Times sure have changed.

Pass was originally scheduled to announce his decision on July 13 (I believe) but moved it back so he could take a visit to Alabama. That obviously made me nervous. A last minute trip to one of the best programs in the country with Nick Saban? I wasn’t too excited for that.

But here we are. The visit has come and gone, and we have still made it to “decision day” and he didn’t commit to Alabama early. And like his mom told the Courier-Journal on Wednesday evening, Jawon wanted to take some time for himself and not even talk about his upcoming decision. I liked to hear that. It showed me that Jawon wasn’t going to be a prisoner of the moment and get all caught up in his most recent trip and forget about everything else. Taking a step back from it all and letting the dust settle has to help the Cards here. There may have been a last minute trip to Tuscaloosa, but there has been some time pass between that and decision day, and I like that.

Speaking of Jawon’s mother, she has said that she will be happy with whatever Jawon chooses, and rightfully so. You can’t really be unhappy with any of those choices. But a part of me does think that she would prefer that her two boys be at the same place. They can look out for each other and of course she would only have to worry about watching/attending one game a week and not having to decide which son to go see play. I think his mom  prefers Louisville, and having Mom on our side (purely speculation from me) is a great thing.

Now I did say that I think Auburn is out of it, but that could be temporary. Let’s face it, any decision today can be temporary. National Signing Day isn’t until February. Today is just a verbal commitment to wherever he chooses. But let’s say Auburn has a great season and QB Jeremy Johnson looks like he can go pro after this season. Suddenly–and yes I know they still have a big-time QB committed–there is an open spot there for the Tigers. Could they come in late in the game and make another push at him? Sure.

So here is where I am at with all of this. At the beginning of the week, I was pretty confident he was choosing Louisville. The more time that passed and with the visit to Alabama, my confidence dwindled a bit. Yesterday I was pretty 50/50 and would not be surprised with either decision. I wake up today and my prediction is that Jawon Pass will commit to the Louisville Cardinals. Did I just jinx us? Probably. My bad.

I think the combination of playing with his brother, building his own legacy at Louisville, and his relationship with Garrick McGee will all factor into this decision. I hope I am right, but it won’t shock me at all if I am wrong. Either way, today is just a verbal commitment day. Someone is going to have to hold off these other two schools until February.