Gervarrious Owens On Recruiting & Relationships With Coaches

Part 1 of 2

GoCoogs first learned about Gervarrius Owens on May 22nd. Owens had committed to coming to UH but there were still plenty of details to work out. We get lots of tips like this one but Owens caught my eye. The interesting name, of course. But then his story.
 
Houston is the fourth school that Owens has signed with (3 FBS and a JUCO) and yet, he’s only played one season of college football. Coming out of Southmoore High School in Moore, Oklahoma, he had offers from Purdue, Iowa State, Kansas, and Kansas State as well as about a half dozen G5 schools, too.
 
Notably, Owens had an offer from Houston and then-head coach Tom Herman. OL coach Derek Warehime, himself an Oklahoma native, recruited him to UH. UH offered Owens in April 2016 and he made an unofficial visit to campus in July of that year.
 
He also had an offer from Arkansas State where DL coach Brian Early doggedly recruited the 6’1″ defensive back. Early knew that Owens would go to a P5 but kept after him anyway, building a lasting relationship.
 
Those relationships were a driving factor for Owens in this round of recruiting, maybe even more than the position he’ll play. I found that out the hard way with the very first question I asked him.
 
GoCoogs.com: Your plan is to play nickel-safety here, correct?

Gervarrius Owens: No sir.

I play safety and corner but Coach Belk told me that he wants me to start out playing corner first and go from there.

He said he really likes how I move and things like that. Plus they play a lot of press-man and he says he feels like I’m really gifted in that category. So he wants to let me try out corner first.

 
GoCoogs: Are you interested in playing corner at this level? Does that appeal to you?

Owens: Yes, sir. I’m comfortable playing either one, you know. As long as I can showcase my physicality, speed, and instincts then I’m comfortable in any defense.

 
GoCoogs: Ok, so who specifically recruited you to UH?

Owens: It was Coach Belk, Coach Early, and Coach Etheridge.

 
GoCoogs: Did you have a previous relationship with them?

Owens: Before the recruitment?

 
GoCoogs: Yeah, before they recruited you to UH.

Owens: Not with Coach Belk and Coach Etheridge, no sir.

 
GoCoogs: Did have a previous relationship with Coach Early?

Owens: Yes, sir. He recruited me all throughout high school and then after I got to the JUCO level.

 
GoCoogs: So you’ve known him for a couple of years?

Owens: Yeah, dating back to when he was at Arkansas State.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”#dd0000″ class=”” size=”20″] “As long as I can showcase my physicality, speed, and instincts then I’m comfortable in any defense.” – Gervarrius Owens[/perfectpullquote]

GoCoogs: So tell me about that relationship with him How does that relationship work?

Owens: We weren’t in heavy contact since he recruited me in high school. He recruited me some at JUCO.

But he was a good dude. I liked how he recruited me, he’s a very real and honest dude. He’s not going to, you know, some colleges leave a lot in a grey area.

Every college is only going to tell you good things about the university. But I like the fact that he keeps it true and authentic to what he’s telling you and things like that. He made it very comfortable for me within the short amount of time I had to make a decision.

 
GoCoogs: So he recruited you out of high school and he recruited you out of NEO…

Owens: Yes, sir.

 
GoCoogs: When you decided to leave Minnesota, did you look for him or did he see you in the transfer portal and come find you?

Owens: He came and found me, maybe a week or a couple of days later. We got on the phone and got to talking and everything. Once I got my release, then he introduced me to Coach Belk and Coach Etheridge. And we just went from there.

 
GoCoogs: You’ve gone through the recruiting process several different times. Is it kind of the same everywhere or is it different from school to school?

Owens: I feel like certain schools have different things to offer depending on the caliber of the school.

But I feel like, mostly, the game, the business that it is, I feel like, overall, its the same thing. But you know some coaches are more authentic than others. Some coaches you can kind of tell how true certain things are.

 
GoCoogs: For you, it was about the relationships with the coaches?

Owens: Yes sir. That was a big thing for me as well as the experience that they have. The experience that they have at each level, what other schools have they coached at, how far have they coached, have they been in the NFL. Have they put players in the NFL, things like that.

How much knowledge do they have that they can pass on to me, basically. How much can they develop me as a player.

 
GoCoogs: Have coaches told you areas where you need to improve?

Owens: We really haven’t gotten to that point yet. I haven’t started yet (with football-related activities). I really start tomorrow (Thursday). But they’ve watched the tape, seen me do drills, and things like that. I think they like a lot of what I have to offer.

But, I would just say, just getting comfortable with the position. Mainly, money (nickel back) and safety have been my main position my whole life. I’ve played a lot of corner so I’m comfortable with it but I need to get ready.
 

PART 2

Owens Talks 4-2-5 And Going Home In Week 1

Part 2 of 2. Read Part 1 Here.
 
In the summer of 2016, high school safety Gervarrius Owens committed to the new Memphis head coach, Mike Norvell. It was a good pickup for the Tigers, reaching two states over to grab a much-sought-after player from the OKC area. Luckily for UH, the good luck didn’t last long for our top conference rival.
 
By the end of October, Owens was more in-demand and de-committed from Memphis. He flirted with several schools including Kansas and Iowa State but on signing day, he chose to head to Kansas State.
 
The allure of the Big 12 was hard to overcome, especially for a child of Moore, Oklahoma, raised right in the middle of the league’s footprint.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”#dd0000″ class=”” size=”20″] My first game to be in Norman, you couldn’t ask for anything better. – Gervarrius Owens[/perfectpullquote]

After a summer at KSU, Owens left Manhattan and transferred to be closer to home. He headed to Northeastern Oklahoma, a school that is known for producing a lot of NFL talent. In the 2019 draft, the Norsemen had 3 former players chosen.
 
Owens started at NEO in 2017 with two guys that were drafted 6 weeks ago: Texas A&M TE Jace Sternberger (3rd round) and Utah State RB Darwin Thompson (6th). Several coaches on the UH staff believe Owens will be added to the list of NEO players in the NFL.
 
Owens redshirted in 2017 under head coach Clay Patterson, the same year that the fast-rising coach was named Southwest Junior College Football Conference Coach of the Year.
 
During this time, current UH DL coach Brian Early was recruiting the state of Oklahoma and NEO specifically for Arkansas State. It was at this time the two coaches got to know each other.
 
Patterson left NEO in January 2018 to become part of PJ Fleck’s new staff at Minnesota. Naturally, one of his first recruiting targets for the 2019 class was Owens.
 
After earning JUCO All-American honors last year, Owens again had several FBS offers to choose from: Matt Wells, the new coach at Texas Tech who had previously coached Thompson at Utah State, offered. So did Louisville and Southern Miss. But the relationship with Patterson was too much to overcome and Gervarrius signed with the Gophers.

 
Owens never made it to campus at Minnesota. Officially, the school acknowledged releasing him on June 1st, the day he tweeted he was heading to Houston:

I will be attending the University of Houston this fall? see y’all September 1st in Norman #GoCoogs #HTownTakeOver

— 3️⃣ (@gervarrius_3) June 2, 2019

 
GoCoogs.com: Why did it not work out at Minnesota?

Gervarrius Owens: It was really just personal issues we got into and we decided to part ways.

 
GoCoogs: After you got your release, were you in contact with many schools?

Owens: It was really Houston, Ole Miss, and Florida Atlantic a lot. But the coach that was at Ole Miss went to Florida Atlantic (Jason Jones).

 
GoCoogs: Besides Coach Belk, Coach Early, and Coach Etheridge, what else attracted you to UH?

Owens: I think it’s a great opportunity for me to go into. My position (corner) is very wide open – there’s a lot of people at the position but it’s a chance for all of us to go in and compete for a starting job come September 1st. UH has a good schedule as well.

It’s a very big city so there’s a chance for a lot of opportunities even outside of football with just jobs and with Fortune 500 companies. I just think it will be a good experience for me.

 
GoCoogs: What do you like about this 4-2-5 defense?

Owens: I like it because I feel like the 4-2-5 fits my style of play. Playing corner, like I said, considering they do a lot of press-man, I feel like that fits me perfect because I’m a very physical specimen.

I like just being able to get my hands on a receiver and bump and run the whole time. Really just me and you one-on-one the whole game. If I can take you out of your game, then I did my part. My 111.

 
GoCoogs: What are the differences in playing safety at the JUCO level and stepping up to play corner at this level.

Owens: I think, at the end of the day, it’s all just playing football. I feel comfortable playing any of the three positions (safety, corner, nickel).

Safety is a little more complex with reading run/pass and you still have man responsibilities, blitz responsibilities. I’m not saying corner is the easier position but its more simplified.

If you’re athletic and you can go, and you have great instincts then you can make a living at corner. So I’m just gonna see where it takes me.

 
GoCoogs: So, last thing: you’ve got two games this year in Oklahoma this year.

Owens: Yes sir (laughing).

 
GoCoogs: That’s 5 miles from Southmoore (Owens’ high school). This is a home game for you.

Owens: Yes sir (laughing again).

 
GoCoogs: What will it be like starting your career at OU?

Owens: Man, it’s gonna to be something. It’s gonna be real special getting to go back home, you know.

Doing high school and JUCO in Oklahoma, I know a lot of OU fans. So, you know, they’ve already been joking about the game and things like that.

My first day needs to be in Norman. You couldn’t ask for anything better. It’s going to be real special and I’m gonna definitely try to put on a show.

 
GoCoogs: Gervarrius, this was great. Thanks so much.

Owens: Yes sir.

 
GoCoogs: I appreciate it and good luck.

Owens: Thank you sir. You have a good one.