Why is a lifelong Florida fan so set on his commitment to Miami? Jeremiah Payton explains

Jeremiah Payton was one of those prospects the Miami Hurricanes coveted from just about the time he stepped on a high school football field. A four-star wide receiver in the 247Sports.com composite rankings, Payton was only a sophomore at Neptune Beach Fletcher when he earned an offer from tight ends coach Todd Hartley, who recruits the Jacksonville metropolitan area for Miami.

Payton committed to the Hurricanes in February and has been one of Miami’s strongest pledges since. The receiver is still the highest-ranked prospect in the Hurricanes’ Class of 2019 and is on track to early enroll. Earlier this week, he discussed his football background, his motivations and just what makes Miami so appealing in a question-and-answer session:

Miami Herald: How’s your senior year been going?

Payton: “It’s been going pretty good. We’re about to get toward this playoff time. We’ve got some important games that’s coming up that we’ve got to win.”

MH: You played a lot of quarterback in the past. What did you learn about playing wide receiver from your experience there?

JP: “It’s just mainly timing, knowing where the receiver’ wants to be. Knowing how to make a read as a receiver is very important, just basically you’ve got to know whether it’s time to sit in a hole or keep running because they’re in man. Zones to get to, open spots in the defense — stuff like that.”

MH: You’re also a good basketball player. What came first for you: Basketball or football?

JP: “Football came first, but I started playing basketball at like the age of 12 and started actually getting like really, really good and then I continued to play basketball up through high school. I wish I was still playing my senior year.”

MH: What has basketball helped you with?

JP: “I can’t really tell just because I’ve been playing basketball for so long. It’s just all been kind of normal to me.”

MH: What drew you to football originally?

JP: “When I was little, I just kind of used to go by the park and see the signs where they were saying they were signing up to play. When I was 5, I actually couldn’t play because I was too young and then I started at the age of 6.”

MH: What motivates you now?

JP: “Just basically my family. Being able to see them smile and see them knowing I’m doing something well. It’s the people behind me. Basically knowing that I can basically just put my family on the map, put my name on the map.”

MH: What initially drew you to Miami? Was it a school you always thought about being in state?

JP: “Not necessarily. I always thought about Florida being in state. That was always my favorite team growing up, but as the time came toward choosing schools and stuff like that, both Florida and Florida State were going through big coaching changes. And basically I got comfortable with [wide receivers coach Ron] Dugans at Miami and when I sat down with him — just basically him telling me the information that he’s telling me, but not just him telling me that, me seeing it out on those Saturdays, me seeing him play those freshmen and use his rotation as he was telling me definitely was a major key to me. Once that happened, I just got comfortable with the coaching staff, went down there a few times and ended up liking it a lot.”

MH: I’m talking to you a few days after a tough loss for the Hurricanes. What have you mostly taken away from this season so far?

JP: “Mainly when I go to watch a game when Miami plays, I don’t really watch necessarily the game. I watch what the wide receivers are doing, how they’re running their routes. Kind of critiquing it, but not really. Just watching little stuff they can do to make their routes better, little stuff that I can do when I got there — just basically stuff like that.”

MH: You haven’t taken many other visits elsewhere since committing. What has made you so locked in with the Hurricanes?

JP: “Just being able to know I have a home, basically, and knowing that there’s really no need to go look at other colleges if I haven’t been talking to them. I’ve been just strictly focused on Miami and that’s really about it.”

MH: You’ve changed jersey numbers a bunch. You were No. 11 last year, started with No. 6 this and now you’re at No. 88. What’s with all the changes?

JP: “Eleven, that was just my first high school number basically. I never really like had a reason for picking it, then it kind of stuck with me. Six was basically like—well, my brother wore that number when he was in high school and he actually still wears that number in college, but basically we just wore that number together. Eighty-eight recently was because going into my freshman year, that’s kind of the number that I want to wear at Miami.”

MH: Why No. 88?

JP: “To me, that seems like a big-time, NFL number.”

MH: What’s something nonfootball-related people would be surprised to learn about you?

JP: “I like music a lot. My friends don’t really think I can sing, but I like to sing sometimes.”

MH: What’s on the pregame playlist?

JP: “It all depends on how I’m feeling. I remember like Week 2 I was listening to straight Christian singing songs and then Week 3 it changed to playlists where I just listened to like old reggae music, then like Week 4, I was just back to listening to like singing songs — not Christian, but just singing songs in general. This week coming up I’ll probably just have like a real hype playlist.”