Madison County LB Talks FSU

Madison Country (Fla.) is the home of the No.28 rated player on The Insiders.com 2005 South Hot 100 list. Some consider him the top linebacker in the state of Florida. Last week he took an unofficial visit to Tallahassee and he was offered a scholarship from his childhood favorite Florida State.

“Coach Jody Allen offered me a scholarship,” Eugene Hayes said. “I got a chance to talk with Coach Andrews, Allen, Steele and Haggins. They talked a lot about the schemes that they run. Coach Steele impressed me. He’s a cool guy.”

One would assume that the Noles would be at the very top of the list now but that’s not the case. Former Seminole linebacker coach and now North Carolina State head coach Chuck Amato is going to make his former team sweat this recruitment out.

My top schools are North Carolina State, Florida State and LSU,” the 6-foot-2 and 218 pound linebacker said. “North Carolina State probably is my leader. They stand out to me now. I like their defensive coordinator. He’s a good guy. I like Florida State because of their tradition. They are going to be hard to turn down. Florida State isn’t too far behind North Carolina State. I like LSU’s coaches and players."

This summer Hayes will be attend a few football camps but he doesn’t know which ones yet. However, he does know that he’ll visit the campuses of LSU and Clemson unofficially.

In addition to working hard on the football field, Hayes is working very hard on qualifying academically. He needs to bring up his core grade point average and test score.

“I finished the last semester of school with a 2.8 grade point average,’ he said. “I’m going to make up two classes this summer that I didn’t do so well on as a 9th grader. I’m also going to take the ACT next Saturday. My coach is helping me prep for the test.”

Hayes told The Insiders.com that the two biggest factors in his decision will be depth and playing time.

When will he make a decision?

“I’ll probably make a decision at the beginning of the season or sometime in the middle,” he said.

In addition to Florida State, Hayes has been offered by Oklahoma, LSU, North Carolina State, Florida, LSU, Georgia, Tennessee and several others schools.