When Jack Del Rio was fired as coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, speculation began on where he would end up on a coaching staff next. Yet there's more than just the future direction of an NFL unit or college program in the balance; there's also the future of one of the nation's top quarterback prospects to consider.
As first noted by the Los Angeles Times, Luke Del Rio, the son of the Jaguars coach, has emerged as one of the top quarterbacks in Florida. In his junior season at Jacksonville (Fla.) Episcopal High, the younger Del Rio passed for an average of 253 yards per game and a total of 20 touchdowns in leading the Eagles to the Florida state playoffs (Episcopal was blown out by Madison County (Fla.) High in the first round of the postseason). While Del Rio couldn't single-handedly inspire miraculous results from Episcopal, he did turn heads by doing a lot without a wealth of resources.
That -- combined with his football roots -- inspired interest from a variety of top college programs, including Alabama, Florida State and USC, where his father played and was rumored to be a head coaching candidate before the program turned to current head man Lane Kiffin.
Now, L.A.-area high schools are reportedly on alert about the availability of the younger Del Rio, particularly if his father joins the coaching staff at USC or UCLA. Father and son reportedly were visiting area high schools across Southern California on Friday.
The question might be which Del Rio is more highly sought after. The ability to bring in an established top notch prep passer, even for a single season, is no small coup for competitive programs. And there's no dearth of competitive programs in the L.A. area, that's for sure.
Of course, it remains to be seen if the elder Del Rio will land on a coaching staff in the L.A. area or if he opts for another destination. Still, based on the initial response from a simple one-day tour, we can expect L.A. area schools to put out the welcome mat and then some for a talented quarterback who could enter into any program in the area as a valid location transfer, thereby eluding any concerns about recruiting violations.
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