South Carolina defensive end Trajan Jeffcoat has been considered a Missouri lean for quite some time. And truthfully, he's been a Missouri commitment for quite some time. Jeffcoat committed to the Tigers on his official visit the weekend of September 24th. But he didn't go public with that commitment until speaking with PowerMizzou.com on Sunday afternoon.
"I've been committed for a while. I just wanted to keep it silent so that I didn't have all these other schools coming in when they saw I had that (commitment)," Jeffcoat said. "But I can't keep it in any longer."
Jeffcoat said Ole Miss and a few other schools have tried to get him to take a visit over the last three months.
"They were telling me they knew Missouri had a big lead," Jeffcoat said. "I was just being honest and I told them Missouri is where my heart is at."
The chance for other schools to catch the Tigers has passed.
"I'm 100% signing with Missouri on Wednesday," the 6-foot-3, 220-pounder said. "They gave me an early chance. They came at me before my senior season even started. That really showed me the trust that they have in me. They showed me I was one of the highest recruits on their board and I had to take my opportunity."
Jeffcoat led the state of South Carolina with 13 sacks as a senior. He had a standout week at the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas, earning high praise from Rivals.com:
"It was a great overall week for Jeffcoat as he showed nice development from start to finish while adjusting to playing outside linebacker full-time. Jeffcoat’s size and athletic ability make him a tantalizing prospect and his effort to learn the position during the week paid off in the game as he had four tackles, including one for loss and half a sack. The Missouri target is still a raw prospect who will need time to develop but he deserves to be ranked higher at his position and in the state of South Carolina."
Jeffcoat is the 19th known commitment for the Tigers' 2018 class, moving Mizzou to No. 37 in the team recruiting rankings.
