TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - After sifting through dozens of offers from elite Division I football schools, Jonathan Vickers narrowed his field of choice down to seven: Louisville, Vanderbilt, Georgia, South Carolina, Ole Miss, and Florida State.
In the early afternoon hours of Friday, July 19th, Vickers made his decision public. He will stay in Tallahassee to attend Florida State.
Vickers spoke with WTXL ABC 27 on his home field at NFC, "Growing up around Tallahassee and always seeing the stadium, my family grew up Florida State fans, so I always watched them. It's just tremendous to even get an offer from them."
"My chemistry with coach (Jimbo) Fisher and coach (Jay) Graham was tremendous."
As Vickers praised his future coaches, his current coach at NFC was quick to offer his praise of the six-foot, 205 pound back.
"(Florida State) gets a guy who's gonna represent the University great off the field," says Eagles' head coach Robert Craft, "then they're gonna get a guy who can do everything on the field. An all-purpose back."
Vickers had a stellar sophomore season at North Florida Christian, culminating in the Eagles sixth state championship in school history, but his path to Florida State is not one without adversity.The very first game of his junior year in 2012, Vickers broke both his left fibia and tibia. He would miss the remainder of the season. Still, that injury gave him the chance to display some of his off-the-field characteristics.
"This past year was a great example," explains Craft. "He was determined from right after his surgery to be back and be better than he was before."
"I had a great support group," adds Vickers. "My family, my coaches, my players, my friends, they always kept my head up from hours after the injury. And praying, you know, that always helps. So it just always kept me in good spirits."
It has been an active recruiting season in Tallahassee for Florida State. Out of the Noles' 19 commits, three are from the Capital City. Alongside Vickers is a pair from Godby High School: linebacker Jacob Pugh and long-snapper Stephen Gabbard. Before this trio, FSU hadn't snagged a Tallahassee recruit since NFC quarterback Clint Trickett in 2010.
With the addition of Vickers, Rivals.com ranks Florida State's 2014 class second-best in the country, behind only Tennessee.
