By Kyle LoJacono
Land O’ Lakes senior quarterback Stevie Weatherford has verbally committed to play at the University of South Florida (USF) after receiving numerous offers from other Division I schools.
“I really like the coaches there,” Weatherford said. “(Quarterbacks coach) Peter Vaas is a great coach and they run the spread offense like we do here at Land O’ Lakes. It’s close by and I’ve always liked the school.”
The Gators started using the spread offense, which uses four and five wide receivers, when Matt Kitchie took over the program last season. Kitchie said Weatherford has done a great job picking up the offense in a short time span. Weatherford said he likes the system because he gets to throw the ball out of the shotgun.
Weatherford had offers to play at the University of Cincinnati, East Carolina University, the University of Southern Mississippi, Boston College, Iowa State University, North Texas University and Southern Methodist University.
The Bulls were the first team to offer Weatherford a scholarship. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound quarterback said he plans to graduate from high school early so he can attend USF next spring semester. He is not sure what he will major in yet.
One of the things that drew Weatherford to USF was the Bulls quarterback situation.
“B.J. Daniels is the quarterback now and he’s a great player, but after he leaves I think I’ll be able to earn the spot as the starter” Weatherford said. “I’ve met him a couple times and he seems like a nice guy who will help teach me the system.”
Weatherford has been the Gators quarterback since his sophomore season. Last year as a junior he had 2,052 passing yards with 128 completions and 27 touchdowns. In Land O’ Lakes’ spring game against Wiregrass Ranch High he completed 11 of 17 passes for 351 yards and six touchdowns despite the game being called after two quarters because of bad weather.
Last year he helped guide the Gators to their 13th straight playoff appearance, a Pasco County record. The new Bull is the last of six brothers to play football at Land O’ Lakes and the third to play quarterback. His brothers Drew and Joe also quarterbacked the team.
Now that he has made his decision, Weatherford can focus on his senior season.
“It feels good to not have to worry about that anymore,” Weatherford said. “I’ll be going to a great school and play football for a Big East school close to home. Really it’s the perfect situation for me and now I’ll go out and do the best I can my last year here.”
The Gators will start the 2010 season at Ridgewood High at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 3.
-All stats as recorded to Maxpreps.com by coaches as of July 12.
