USF lands DE Ryan Jenkins over P5 suitors

South Florida's new football coach Alex Golesh has been burning up with the recruiting trail with his new staff and he landed one of his biggest targets in the 2024 class on Wednesday with the commitment of Westover (Ga.) three-star defensive end Ryan Jenkins. Jenkins picked the Bulls over Iowa State, Georgia Tech, Indiana, and Boston College who all recruited him heavily over the recent months.

The Bulls offered the right mix for the talented pass rusher who will relocate from the small town of Albany to the Bay Area.

"I could have gone Power Five, to places like Georgia Tech, Indiana, Boston College, but I feel as if in the future USF will grow. With coach Golesh coming from Tennessee, coach (Todd) Orlando and coach (Kevin) Patrick coming from FAU, and also coach (Chad) Creamer coming with coach Golesh from Tennessee -- with the investments they're making to the program to become a Power Five program one day. UCF just left the same conference, so we see USF signing a lot of transfers and better classes so we feel like we can change the culture," Jenkins told Rivals.com

Ultimately relationships became the biggest factor for Jenkins and the Bulls staff did a great job of building a bond with him both on campus and virtually during his recruitment.

"It's just the relationship I've built with the coaches and the relationship they have built with my parents. Like coach Golesh is on the phone with my mom like every day. They're with me almost every day, even if it's just something motivational. So it's more than a relationship, it's me feeling like home. Plus it's not that far away, like a few hours away from my actual home, and I have people from my city there that play for the team," he said.

Trying something different was also important to Jenkins. He had some city schools recruiting him and some more rural college towns as well, but he wanted a change of pace from his hometown.

"Also (USF) gets me out of my comfort zone as well. Albany is not a big city at all, but Tampa is a big city. It means more opportunity for something different, maybe even an opportunity to get an internship or something like that. Tampa is one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S. right now. But it still feels like home," he said.

Jenkins was one of several recent commitments that Golesh hinted about on social media last week. Stay tuned to Bulls Insider for the latest on USF recruiting and team news.

John Garcia Jr. contributed to this story.