Donovan McMillon Discusses His Wrestler Mentality, Offer From Georgia Football
The Georgia Bulldogs offered, then 3-Star, safety Donovan McMillon from Peters Township High School in McMurray, Pennsylvania on April 7th. Since that offer, and one by LSU the same day, followed by a Miami offer on April 8th, McMillon has been reranked as a 4-Star and is now the 8th ranked safety in the entire country. The Bulldog Maven on SI.com was able to catch up with McMillon recently to discuss the brisk pace of his recruitment and his budding relationship with the UGA.
Donovan McMillon started off the conversation by stating, "First I'd just like to say that with everything going on right now, if the worst thing that happens to me is that some recruiting visits are pushed back and I can't get out there until whatever date that it's possible, then I'm very thankful. I just want everyone to be safe and healthy again. It's crazy times and I just hope that we find a cure and this all ends shortly." Until that point in which everything returns to normal, McMillon said, "I've been waking up on a scheduled basis and working out. I run around and play with my three younger brothers and just spend time with my family."
On the recruiting front, specifically Georgia, McMillon explained that things have picked up with the Dawgs over the past couple of months. Charlton Warren is McMillon's main recruiter as UGA's Defensive Back Coach and the hard-hitting safety described Warren as, "a really great guy, and a really great coach. I really like him. I think me going there could be a great opportunity. My brother's God-Father (the Offensive Coordinator at Peters Township HS) is a huge Georgia fan, so we've grown up watching Georgia a lot and them offering me, a guy from Pennsylvania, it's really a dream come true."
Coach Warren has pitched to McMillon Georgia's use of defensive backs, regularly having the nickel, star, and money positions on the field at the same time and sometimes even more DBs. Georgia used six and seven defensive back personnel packages against LSU last year in the SEC Championship. McMillon said, "I like that they have 5 DBs on the field. We, at my high school, run a 3-3-5, so I think having that many DBs on the field is awesome and think their scheme would be a good fit for me."
When watching film of McMillon the physicality that he plays with jumps out at you. Georgia is certainly known for having a physical style of play under Head Coach Kirby Smart. McMillon would fit right in and he attributes his fondness of contact and collisions with his background in wrestling. "The hard-hitting mentality comes from me wrestling. I'm a wrestler and placed in the state last year. Just being able to be aggressive, to attack, and tackle a leg. Just not giving anything up easy and wanting to get out there and hit someone, that's basically my mentality and something I pride myself in," McMillon shared.
Now it will be top college programs that are doing the wrestling. Wrestling to reel in one of the premier defensive backs in the country in 2021 in the form of Donovan McMillon. McMillon originally released his top ten schools on March 27th, but a lot has changed since then and some marquee offers have rolled in. The talented safety will now be taking a wait and see approach and just focus on building relationships with coaches and programs. McMillon will use the remainder of this Coronvirus mitigation period to decide what schools he wants to visit.
As far as Georgia goes, McMillon stated, "Georgia is a great opportunity and a school that I definitely want to invest time in and grow closer with Coach Warren and the staff." Overall, the recruitment of this flourishing prospect is wide open. The team that does land the 4-Star will be getting a talented player with a balanced, mature outlook on his college experience. Expect things to stay highly contested in the recruitment of McMillon for a while.
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