Shavar Manuel planned to flip from Florida to Florida State for weeks
Four-star defensive tackle Shavar Manuel committed to Florida State on Wednesday, flipping his commitment from Florida. It wasn't a last minute decision, however.
By
Tom Fornelli
•
1 min read
On Wednesday, like so many high school football players, four-star defensive tackle Shavar Manuel signed his letter of intent. What came as a bit of a surprise, however, was that Manuel faxed that letter of intent to Florida State.
He had originally committed to Florida State's in-state rival Florida on Jan. 5. Now, while this probably caught some Florida fans, and maybe even some Florida coaches by surprise, it was not a last minute decision. At least one Florida State coach had known it would be happening for a while.
“Shavar had told me the night before [he committed to Florida], ‘I’m a Seminole’ and then he committed to Florida,” Florida State defensive ends coach Brad Lawing told the Orlando Sentinel. “I called him up, asked what’s going on and he said ‘I’m just getting some pressure from people.’
“So he didn’t just flip tonight. We’ve known about this for about two weeks.”
Lawing, who was a defensive line coach at Florida in 2013 and 2014, also told Manuel to "play the game" and "tell the damn Gators anything they want to hear." Which is exactly what Manuel did, until Wednesday when he signed his LOI to play at Florida State.
Something Florida probably didn't want to hear.
Manuel is the No. 9 ranked defensive tackle in the 2016 class.
