Georgia Tech Football Recruiting: S Jarett Cole is Commitment #7

Georgia Tech's class of 2016 got even stronger earlier this afternoon when three-star safety Jarett Cole announced his intentions to play on The Flats over Twitter. Cole, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound defensive back out of Norcross, had narrowed his choices down to Kansas State and Georgia Tech before deciding to commit to the Jackets today. He had thirteen confirmed offers in total, including some impressive interest from schools such as Nebraska, Iowa, Syracuse, and Boston College among others.

I wanna thank all the coaches that gave me an opportunity to play college football but I am now committed to Georgia Tech #TogetherWeSwarm

— D1 Bound (@Jarett_cole) July 30, 2015

Cole is a top-100 player in the state of Georgia and also a top-50 safety in the nation, checking in at No. 44 (according to 247Sports) at his position. His commitment also means that the pipeline from Gwinnett County continues to be more than fruitful for Tech -- Paul Johnson and company have now received four of their seven commitments for the 2016 class by way of Gwinnett. You can see Cole's highlights from last season below:

It isn't hard to see why defensive coordinator Ted Roof and his staff got to Cole early and made him a priority; he clearly has the potential to be a special player and a key contributor for what should be an excellent Georgia Tech defense from 2016 and on. What I find noteworthy is that, based on the film, Cole looks to be as good a tackler as you will find coming out of high school. Throughout the highlight film above he makes some impressive open-field tackles and flat-out stands up a few ball carriers that were coming at him hard. Perhaps the most impressive part of his film is the sheer athleticism and drive he exhibits -- Cole was constantly making plays that no one else on a very talented Norcross defense could make and doing it with ease. Those aforementioned traits coupled with his great size and coverage ability could make him into a fantastic player from the moment he steps onto The Flats.

Cole now becomes the first defensive back commit and third overall defensive commit for the 2016 recruiting class along with LB Jakob Brashear and DT Chris Martin. Considering that he plays a premium defensive position and that the Jackets will be looking for more depth in the secondary during 2016, I'd say that he has as good a chance to play right away as anyone in the 2016 recruiting class.

Congratulations and welcome to The Flats, Jarett! It should be a fun few years.