Rashawn Yates is a coach's player, he's productive on the field, works hard, plays iron-man football, and exhibits an attitude of leadership.
"Rashawn is a big piece of who we are defensively, his presence off the edge allows the other ten guys to step up and make plays because he forces offenses to key on him. Knowing that, he pushes his teammates to be better, to get better on every rep in practice so that it's natural come game day. His strength and athleticism, along with his intuition make him a powerful piece, one we are blessed to have coming off the edge every Friday night," boasted Treasure Coast head coach Irvin Jones.
In conversation with Yates, it's easy to see why his coach raves about him. He's a high character player who carries himself like a bonafide leader.
"My goal for the upcoming season is to be a good leader and set the right example for the younger ones, oh and I want to get 20 sacks," said the 6-foot-3, 250-pound senior.
I asked him to define what it means to be a leader and the young man gave an answer wise beyond his years.
"A leader is someone who shows by example, leads the way without straying from the plan, and keeps everyone on track," answered Yates.
Some of the credit for Yates' maturity can be traced back to the role his father, Alfred has played in molding the young man. The elder Yates has been training the younger pretty much since his son could walk and the two have an extremely tight bond.
"He's coached me my whole life and he coaches at my high school too. He taught me the game, he knows pretty much everything about football and he's trained me since I was four, I've been doing footwork drills since I can remember," said the younger Yates.
A strong kid who benches 335-pounds and squats 495, Yates is also mentally tough and discussed what it's been like going through the recruiting process.
"[The process] is stressful and humbling. You have to filter out the fake and see what's real and understand what the coaches want for you. Don't commit to the hype of a school. Go somewhere you fit and the people there care for you as a person and want what's best for you," advised Yates.
When discussing his recruitment, the 3-star from Port St. Lucie keeps his cards close to the vest and doesn't want to be unfair to any of the schools recruiting him. He did however allow that he's visited USF and seemed to be pleased with what transpired.
"USF really likes me and they say I could play anywhere in the defensive box for them," commented Yates. "I spoke with [head coach Charlie Strong] and I think he's wise, knows what he's talking about, and is genuinely a good man."
New Tennessee assistant coach Kevin Beard, a former Miami player and assistant coach with strong ties in South Florida, has also been in touch with Yates recently and it appears the two are establishing a good relationship.
"From Tennessee, I've just been talking to coach Beard lately. We mostly talk on a personal level about life lessons and we barely talk about me playing," commented Yates.
He has also visited Florida and the Gators' staff advised him they would be attending one of his practices for the Spring evaluation period, which starts today and runs through the end of May.
The talented edge defender doesn't have a commitment date set as of yet. It appears he is wide open to any schools he feels will show him genuine interest and where he feels he will fit.
