This Sentell’s Intel rep has the latest with 4-star All-American LB Jadon Perlotte. He ranks as the nation’s No. 7 LB and the No. 54 overall prospect for 2025 on the 247Sports Composite ratings. The On3 Industry Ranking has him as the nation’s No. 8 LB and the No. 53 overall recruit.
Jadon Perlotte has been committed to UGA since December 2022. That’s a long time in this back-and-forth NIL player and coach carousel world.
When he committed to UGA over a year ago, he always said he was going to take his visits. He also always had a deep-rooted appreciation for the University of Georgia.
When he committed to UGA, he’d already been to Athens five times. He said UGA did things “differently” and was already paying attention to the little things that stood out with every visit.
He labeled UGA as his “dream” school and said “he always knew” he was going to be a ‘Dawg. His father, Kenny, also always wanted him to be a ‘Dawg.
Perlotte committed two cycles ahead of his class. But that was part of his story. He had to grow up far too soon seeing two key figures of his youth pass away.
His late Aunt Tammy Rucker passed away over a decade ago. He described it as a tragic spider bite. He also saw a beloved youth coach, Jake Marsh, pass on after making a deep-rooted impact on his life.
When Perlotte has a little fun with fan bases on social media, we can’t blame him for that. That’s him just being a kid and his way of enjoying the recruiting process.
He said last fall that he would also play with 5-star KJ Bolden in college. That was last July before Bolden committed to FSU in August. Perlotte knows a lot about players and where they are headed, but he keeps that all to himself.
That was their mutual dream to play for the same college program. So when Bolden rocked with the Seminoles for about four months, it made folks wonder.
“But looking back on it that’s how it played out,” Perlotte said earlier this month.
Perlotte grew close with Buford quarterback Dylan Raiola in a very short time. Raiola became one of his very best friends on the team. Raiola said he was going to make sure Perlotte didn’t get away.
There didn’t seem to be much doubt then.
When Raiola flipped to Nebraska, it opened up a possibility of concern about Perlotte. Especially with Bolden heading to Tallahassee.
But when Bolden flipped last month, it made Perlotte’s pledge feel more concrete.
“I’m locked in,” Perlotte said at the All-American Bowl out in Texas. “With KJ there, that makes me even more locked in.”
Maybe it is time that everyone stops doubting his pledge. Finally. But then he will say something once in a while that just leaves a little bit of doubt.
Is that Perlotte just being real? Or continuing to add a layer of intrigue to his recruitment? It feels like a little bit of both.
The way things are these days with some recruits, that might just be a genuine reflection of how a lot of players feel at some point.
He played all over the field for Buford in his junior year. He was outside a lot in coverage. Bolden was usually just behind him in the levels of that Wolves defense.
“I can kind of play where ever in the right scheme,” he said. “Corner. Safety. Defensive end. The ‘Money’ position at Georgia is really all of that combined. So you cover a little bit. Rush off the edge. Play the run.”
Jadon Perlotte: What did he think of Georgia’s “Junior Day” this month?
Perlotte was back in Athens earlier this month. The first of Georgia’s two “Junior Day” events in January and early February was a Saturday for elite targets only.
“I got to talk to a lot of people and meet a lot of new people and recruit,” he said. “That was the biggest thing for me.”
That was when the 2025 class got to meet new corners coach Donte Williams for the first time. That was when defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann introduced the change coming with Travaris Robinson as the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach.
What was that moment like?
“It just makes it that much better,” Perlotte said last week. “’T-Rob was recruiting me for Alabama since my freshman year and just that relationship has always been there. He’s going to do good at Georgia.”
Robinson wasn’t his position coach. He worked in the secondary. Not linebackers. But that’s a skill set that former corners coach Fran Brown gave the ‘Dawgs. Brown recruited Georgia’s top targets all over the field.
“He recruits a lot,” Perlotte said. “He got Caleb [Downs] last year and he’s always got a lot of good players. He’s going to bring that to Georgia.”
The news drop on T-Rob to UGA was a moment, he said.
“When Schumann came in there and told me,” he said. “Him and Coach Smart? I was like ‘Oh yeah y’all are going to be turnt. Really. ‘T-Rob’ is a damn good coach and I love being around him for the last three years.”
Perlotte felt he was always going to give Alabama one more look. A lot of that had to do with Robinson. How does that change the way he views the chance to play for Alabama now?
Does he have to figure out Alabama all over again?
“Yeah,” he said. “Kind of like that. I just have got to get up to ‘Bama and meet the new coaching staff. Just the head coach. New defensive coordinator. All of them. When I get to meet them, I will make my decision [about Alabama] off of that.”
It will be different heading to Tuscaloosa and not seeing Nick Saban leading the program.
“It will be kind of crazy,” Perlotte said. “The last time I went down there me and my Dad spent a lot of time with Coach Saban. He’s just a different coach. Everybody wants to be coached by him.”
Alabama has always been the biggest threat to UGA, he said. It felt like the staff in Athens was aware of that, too.
“A lot of times I would go in there and they wouldn’t say anything about me taking visits anywhere else,” he said. “But they would always ask me if I was going to ‘Bama. That was probably the biggest one they were worried about.”
Perlotte has long wanted to play with 4-star Alabama safety Anquon Fegans. Fegans in the nation’s No. 3 safety prospect for the 247Sports Composite scale and the No. 5 player at his position for the On3 Industry Ranking.
“He did good,” Perlotte said. “He was talking to coach Donte [Williams] a lot. They were getting close. If we get Anquon, we will be good.”
He was able to hang out with Bolden a little bit recently, too.
“KJ is having fun,” Perlotte said on January 16. “I hung out with him a couple of days ago. I’ve been committed to Georgia since close to my freshman year and it is probably going to stay like that.”
Where else does Jadon Perlotte want to go see this spring?
Perlotte said he hopes to see ‘Bama soon. He also said that he’d like to check out Auburn, FSU, Miami, Ohio State and USC.
Those might all be “Junior Day” visits, he said.
“I am going to try to hit a lot,” he said. “You know I’m always taking my visits.”
Perlotte expressed the opinion, like a few more targets that were at that “Junior Day” that Saban’s departure opens up the window for the Bulldogs to assert itself at the top of the food chain in the SEC and big-time college football.
“I feel like the next couple of years Georgia is going to run all over Alabama,” Perlotte said. “Losing Saban was a big part of that at Alabama. They’ve got to maintain that high standard that he held there.”
He said it feels different now that his class is finally on deck. The Class of 2025 will be the next to sign.
“A little bit but you know it is the same old same old,” he said. “You’ve just got to work. Keep growing.”
Perlotte said Fegans and Travis Smith at Westlake were two of the main targets he worked on earlier this month in Athens.
“Just a lot of the players there,” he said. “I was just making sure they felt at home. Just making sure they knew if they needed anything they got me.”
SENTELL'S INTEL
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