UM recruit still listening to offers

PATRICK FARRELL / MIAMI HERALD STAFF American defensive end Olivier Vernon has received scholarship offers from 15 colleges. Miami-Dade No. 6 Recruit LARRY BLUSTEIN'S COMMENTS: Another football player who emerged last spring and hasn't let down since. A quick, strong and very smart player who has given the Patriots a true force on the defensive side of the ball. He was an early commitment to the University of Miami.

Ben Aarestad was trying to call a play for his defense last spring when a persistent tap on the shoulder from a college recruiter got on his nerves.

''I'm not going to say who it was, but I can tell you this guy from Louisville wouldn't stop asking me questions about Olivier [Vernon],'' said Aarestad, in his second season as Miami American High's coach.

'I had to stop him and say, `Is it all right if I coach?' ''

Little did Aarestad know it was just the beginning. Being the ''official secretary'' for Olivier Vernon -- that's Olivier, not Oliver -- has kept Aarestad busy ever since that breakout game in Spring 2007.

Louisville, which on that same afternoon became the first school to offer Vernon a scholarship, according to the 6-3, 235-pound defensive end, is now one of 15 schools that have sent him a written offer.

Vernon committed to the University of Miami in February, shortly after an unofficial visit to the campus. But the suspense of his recruitment will likely continue all the way up to national signing day 2009.

Vernon said Alabama, Florida State and South Florida are still recruiting him ''very hard.'' And he said Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban has been giving him something to think about: the possibility of playing a flex defensive end/linebacker role like that of the Dolphins' Jason Taylor, a player Vernon admires.

''I'm still committed to UM,'' Vernon said Wednesday. ``But I still got a lot of schools talking to me and I want to take my official visits. I want to enjoy the process.''

A LATE START

Vernon has a good reason. He hasn't been able to enjoy playing football very long.

''I always told my parents I wanted to play football, but they wouldn't sign me up,'' Vernon said. ``So I played soccer for like eight years. I played forward, midfielder, striker. Then I got here in the ninth grade and I stopped all that.''

Now his parents -- mother Bernadette and father Olivier Sr. -- are his two biggest football supporters. Bernadette volunteers 60 hours per week at American and is the head of the PTA and president of the team's booster club. Olivier Sr., a Miami Beach police officer, helps serve team meals in the fall.

Vernon, who has a 2.6 GPA, has convinced his parents that football is the right sport for him. After playing on the JV team as a freshman, Vernon started 10 games on varsity as a sophomore. He followed up his sensational spring with a junior year in which he recorded 42 tackles (18 for loss) and 12 ½ sacks.

His coach believes Vernon, who was selected to the All-Dade Second Team, likely would have earned first-team honors if not for one of the most highly touted senior classes in Miami-Dade history in 2008.

''As a sophomore you could see Olivier had it,'' Aarestad said. ``Some of the things he did naturally were amazing. Then, this past fall, he basically did whatever he wanted.''

Vernon's size, strength and speed have a lot to do with it. After competing in track this spring, Vernon was timed running an improved 40-yard dash time of 4.7 seconds. His strength numbers -- 320-pound bench press and 455-pound squat -- also went up.

STILL IMPROVING

National recruiting analysts have Vernon as one of the top 10 pass-rushing defensive ends in the country in the class of 2009 and the second best in Florida behind Seffner Armwood's Ryne Giddins (6-4, 235).

What separates Vernon from the rest of the pack, according to his coach, is his versatility. This season, Aarestad said he will play Vernon a little at outside linebacker to give him the opportunity to thrive in a Taylor-type role.

Vernon, though, said he still feels much more comfortable at end. He played linebacker for only three snaps in American's 14-0 loss to Killian in a spring jamboree.

''I just want to learn the position more and keep getting better,'' Vernon said. ``I've got nothing to do but keep getting better at football and school.''