Five-star Venice DE Damon Wilson talks Miami, Jason Taylor, a decision timeline and more
With one chance to visit a college campus in a tight window between dead periods during the final weekend of July, Damon Wilson decided to travel down to Coral Gables.
A five-star edge rusher from Venice, Wilson put the Miami Hurricanes in his top five a few weeks earlier — along with some of the usual the usual suspects for a top-50 recruit: the Georgia Bulldogs, Alabama Crimson Tide, Ohio State Buckeyes and Texas Longhorns — and is reveling in the change around the program.
Wilson’s top priority, he said, is finding the school best suited to develop him into an NFL prospect and the Indians defensive end believes Miami can do it.
“I see a lot of development and growth over there, I see they’re changing a lot of the facilities, coaching staff and just the overall mentality of the team,” Wilson said Friday after wrapping up a preseason practice in Venice. “I also enjoyed being around the coaches they have there. ... All those guys right there—it’s a really good lineup of coaches to get you ready for the NFL.”
Georgia, Alabama and Ohio State all have the track record, as College Football Playoff fixtures, who regularly fill the early rounds of the NFL Draft with their former players. Texas defensive line coach Bo Davis has been part of three national championships, including two as the defensive line coach with the Crimson Tide, and has a track record of sending linemen to the NFL. Wilson’s interest in the Hurricanes is something of a leap of faith — a bet on coach Mario Cristobal’s eye for coaching talent, the value of joining a team on the rise and, of course, Jason Taylor.
Wilson praises Taylor, Miami’s coaches
At 6-foot-4 and about 240 pounds, Wilson isn’t too far off from the 6-6, 244-pound frame Taylor sported during his Pro Football Hall of Fame career. Now a defensive analyst at Miami, Taylor is instrumental in developing the Hurricanes’ defensive ends and recruiting the position.
On his first visit to Miami back in April, Wilson got to have a long sitdown with the overqualified analyst and pick his brain.
“The first time I was there, we talked a lot,” said Wilson, who’s the No. 8 player in Florida in the 247Sports composite rankings for the Class of 2023. “I got to sit with him and (defensive ends coach Rod) Wright in the defensive meeting room, got to learn the scheme. Also, I sat in a whole defensive team meeting, so I learned a lot.”
Sometimes, Taylor even overshadows Wright, but Wilson is just as excited about the 38-year-old assistant coach, who’s in his first full-time job in one of the Power Five conferences.
When he was back in South Florida last month for the Hurricanes’ recruiting barbecue, Wilson again got to meet with Wright and was impressed with the position coach’s ability to teach.
“He has a lot of energy. He’s pretty young, but he seems really skillful about the game, knows a lot,” Wilson said. “We were in there for the cookout probably for 20 minutes — I felt like we went over an hour worth of information over there, so he knows how to teach really well and he knows how to keep you engaged.”
Aaron Feld, the strength and conditioning coordinator, could also play a big role in Wilson’s recruitment: The blue-chip senior said he has a close eye on teams’ strength staffs because he wants to get up to about 260 pounds by the time he’s done with college.
Damon Wilson’s plans for season
Right now, Wilson feels good about his strength and he’ll put it to the test this year against the Indians’ loaded schedule. On Friday, Venice will host Bradenton IMG Academy, the No. 4 team in MaxPreps’ preseason rankings, and he’ll match up against five-star, Miami-committed tackle Francis Mauigoa in the preseason tune-up. On Aug. 26, the Indians will open the regular season by hosting Northwestern up in Sarasota County, and they’ll also host No. 3 St. Frances Academy out of Baltimore in September and No. 13 Chaminade-Madonna in October.
A year ago, Wilson piled up 90 tackles and 23 tackles for loss, recovered a fumble, batted down three passes, grabbed an interception and set a school record with 15 sacks, even though he only played in four full games on the way to a Class 8A championship. The stiffer competition on the Indians’ schedule this year, Wilson hopes, will give him better chances for development and he’s particularly looking forward to this upcoming meeting with IMG Academy.
“They’re probably not going to double team me because they’re going to think they have a chance,” Wilson said. “You play against these regular teams and they’ll double team, triple team, chop block, cut block, but this is going to be like a real 1-on-1 battle the whole game, no outside effects.”
Wilson does not yet know when he’s going to return to visit the Hurricanes again, but he plans to take an official visit sometime during the season. Wilson has four official visits left to use — he has already been to Alabama — and will use those to check out everyone from his top five before he makes a decision later in the fall.
“I’ll probably make my decision a little after,” Wilson said. “I’ll probably look at all the games of the teams I put on my list, take a look at what has changed because the team from last year to this year is completely different, so I just want to take a little look.”
