2017 Arkansas QB Taylor Powell Talks Commitment to Wake Forest

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @HogManInLA

There really is not much left for Taylor Powell to do on the high school gridiron level, and not much more he can do against his peer group after an apparent Elite 11 snub, to show the world his talents. Powell led Fayetteville High School to a state runner-up finish as a sophomore and then took his team to the promise land as a junior carving up national and Arkansas competition along the way. But that is still not good enough for some which is driving Powell even further.

Tough to feel sorry for Powell taking a step back. He has earned every other honor possible to be given out within the state of Arkansas for high school quarterbacks after connecting for 2,500 yards and 20 scores in 2014 and over 3,500 yards with 49 touchdowns as a junior. All-State, All-Conference, and MVP honors followed to go with the trophy he helped put on his school’s mantle.

Along with the honors, college scholarships have followed. To date 15 schools have told Powell they want him to lead their offense at the collegiate level. The list includes Maryland, Purdue, Washington State, San Diego State, Florida Atlantic, Illinois, Arkansas State, Dartmouth, Coastal Carolina, Louisiana-Monroe, Memphis, Utah State, Indiana, and Vanderbilt. Over the weekend, Powell verbally committed to Wake Forest putting that chapter of his life to rest.

What Wake Forest is getting in return is a 6’1”, 202 pound, dual-threat pocket passer who is mad as hell and ready to take down college football with his right arm. Powell is as good as any of the others but is perhaps getting a small state snub in more ways than way.

Powell won the Nike Open regional camp MVP honors in New Orleans. That should have been a ticket to the finals in Los Angeles but he was left off the list of 24. Two of the players Powell beat out in New Orleans for camp MVP, Lowell Narcisse (St. James High School) and Myles Brennan (St. Stanislaus High School), also just happen to be LSU Tiger commits, made the finals with Brennan being selected for The Opening in Oregon allowing him to compete with and among those considered the best in the nation by Nike and their camp coaching staff.

In a Recruiting News Guru exclusive interview, I caught up with Powell after his commitment to Wake Forest to get the inside scoop on his big decision and got a little insight to the fuel that will keep Powell on top of his game during his senior season.

Interview

Taylor, first, congratulations on your commitment to Wake Forest.

“Thank you.”

Before we get into your commitment, I want to ask about your performances at some of the camps over the past few weeks. How did you do at the Rivals and Nike Opening camps?

“I went to the Rivals camp in Kansas City and won MVP there and I went to the Elite 11 camp in New Orleans and won MVP there as well.”

Are you going to any other camps coming up?

“No, but I might go to a Wake Forest camp this summer.”

Leading up to your commitment to Wake, you had a lot of different Power Five Conference coaches heading to Fayetteville to speak with you. Which schools came to talk to you?

“Alabama, Duke, Missouri, and Texas A&M.”

What was the point or focus of their one-on-one meetings with you?

“Most of the colleges that have offered me also came by my school. Most of the schools told me where I was at on their board and when I might receive an offer based on who commits where. I’m not worried about all of that because I am committed to Wake Forest.”

Your visit to Wake Forest the weekend before your commitment obviously went well. Walk me through what all you did while you were on campus.

“I hung out with the players and I got to know them. I got to see if I could get along with everyone on the team. By the time I left I felt like I had known them for four years. It felt like we were all best friends. I walked around the campus to see if I could be a student there if I played football at Wake.”

Of the 14 other offers you had on the table, what influenced you to commit to Wake over the others?

“Out of all the colleges that offered me, Wake Forest checks all the boxes for me. I fit in the offense they run, I have the ability to come in and compete for early playing time, academically the school is very strong, and they have a winning and proven coach (Dave Clawson). I believe the opportunity to compete for four years at Wake gives me the best shot to get to the NFL. Playing in the NFL is one of my dreams. Graduating from Wake, I will have a great education that is great to fall back on if the NFL does not work out for me.”

How did the commitment take place?

“The day before I committed, I talked to the coaches at Wake and told them I was going to commit. I called all the coaches that had offered me and told them I was committing to Wake. One of the Arkansas news stations asked if they could come to my house to get it on live TV. I invited all of my friends over and then I announced it live. I told everyone where I was going.”

Doing your announcement on live TV, were you nervous?

“Kind of. It was surreal. I did not think about it before hand. I had worked hard to get to that point. It was a cool experience.”

When you committed to the Wake coaches, what was their reaction?

“They were super excited. At Wake, I was their No. 1 guy for the 2017 class. They were recruiting me the hardest. They said they were super excited I had committed. On social media, I have been followed by and liked by a lot of the students. Everyone has been so welcoming. They all seem to know who I am. Wake has a big family atmosphere. I am really excited.”

I know it is still early but, do you still plan to take your other four official visits during your senior season?

“I don’t think so. Right now I am solid to Wake Forest.”

Do you plan on recruiting other players to join you?

“Oh yeah, that is my main job to get the guys I want and the guys the coaches want there.”

Are there any guys already on that list that you are trying to recruit?

“The coaches have not shared who they want me to get yet. There is one wide receiver out of Atlanta and (wide receiver) Josh Johnson (Iowa State commit) out of Little Rock (Central Arkansas Christian) that I’d like to get.”

How are you going to pitch the other players to join you?

“I’d say, last year we started eight freshman on offense. The ability to come in and play early there is possible. Wake Forest has had the highest ranked recruiting classes the last two years the program has ever had. If you could buy stock on Wake Forest, I would. The program is on the rise. Programs like Cal, you don’t know they are football schools. Now they are football power houses. The coaches are doing that at Wake.”

Is there anything you would like to share to the readers?

“I want everyone to know that I have a big chip on my shoulder and it got bigger after the Elite 11 thing. I want to go to Wake and prove everyone wrong. That is my main goal. I want to show them what they missed out on. I proved that in New Orleans.”

Taylor, good luck with the Wake Forest camp and with your offseason workouts, and congratulations again on your commitment to Wake.

“Thank you.”

Photo credit: Powell family; Taylor Powell at Wake Forest.

Photo credit:  NWAdemocratgazette.com; Taylor Powell in action.