Jake Mann, Northwood senior and member of the Northwood Varsity Football Team announced his commitment to the University of Oklahoma on Feb. 3 on Twitter. This announcement comes after his original decision to commit to Florida State back in April of 2020.
“The process was very stressful, but when I decided on Oklahoma all of that stress went away,” Mann said when asked about recruitment.
Before Mann started high school, he initially wanted to pursue kicking in football. After Mann attended a Kohl’s Professional Camp for football, he decided to try long snapping.
Freshman year of high school, Mann was the starting long snapper for the Junior Varsity Football Team. The decision to take on a different position would later earn Mann the number one ranking of long snapper by Kohl’s Professional Camp. Kohl’s evaluates and ranks, snappers, kickers and punters who attend their events. Notably, the sports cable company ESPN uses the rankings of the organization. Mann was also given a five star rating for his long snapping.
Mann was given offers from numerous schools, such as Arizona State and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He also spoke to Power 5 schools, those considered to be elite in college football, that needed a long snapper.
Florida State was Mann’s very first offer, and he initially committed to Florida for its history, team and business and communications programs. Mann switched this year and made his final decision on Oklahoma.
“I chose Oklahoma because of the history of the program and how they are competitive every year,” says Mann. “The coaching staff that is there is awesome and doesn’t get better.”
Northwood’s football season is occuring in the spring due to the pandemic, and there is much still left to see from Mann.
“What I will miss about high school football the most is playing with the guys I grew up with and also playing in front of family, friends and the Pittsboro community every game,” says Mann.
Graphic from the Northwood Homepage.
