Fort Smith Arkansas 2016 LB Si Kilinc Talks Commitment to Jacksonville Dolphins

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @HogManInLA

The swiftly burning fuse on the powder keg that is college football recruiting is climatically inching towards the explosive Feb. 3 conclusion (cue the Mission Impossible theme song). For some programs, this is a time for feasting among college football royalty restocking the proverbial shelves with great talent that will help guide and mold a team for years to come.

The flip side of the feast is the apprehension of the process for most of the young men involved stressing over making a life altering decision based off years of hard work and a comfort level of being home. For a recruit holding 30 offers or a player receiving just one offer, the process is not any easier because a tough decision has to be made one way or another.

Fort Smith Southside outside linebacker Si Kilinc did everything a player needed to do during his senior year shy of run a 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds, measure out at 6’3”, 220 pounds, or have an established recruiting site put three stars next to his name. Instead, the 6’1”, 190 pound, talent was among the leaders in the entire state of Arkansas, if not leading, with 163 tackles, 32 tackles for a loss while coming up with six pass breakups, four sacks, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and one pick. Kilinc was given one great honor being selected to play in the Blue-Grey All-American Game.

The stats are not skewed. Some guys can be a big fish in a small pond dominating their way to eye popping numbers. Kilinc gutted it out at the Class 7A level, highest in Arkansas, and in the 7A West Conference, the toughest in the Natural State.

Despite the great numbers and highly productive season, the three-year starter was overlooked by most Division-I schools seeing him as a “tweener” and not wanting to mold him into a safety or wait to see if he can add a few more pounds of muscle to his frame to fit the prototypical idea at linebacker. The rush for a finished product, or close to finished, is the fall of many college programs and the gain of Jacksonville University.

Kilinc had a lot of D-II offers and interest but the Dolphins were the only D-I program to extend an offer seeing not only the product on the field but all the positive intangibles that come with it off the field.

In a Recruiting News Guru exclusive interview, I sat down with Kilinc after his verbal commitment to Jacksonville to get the inside scoop on how the offer came about and how the pledge went down to the FCS program.

Interview

Si, first, congratulations on your commitment to Jacksonville.

“Thank you.”

Alright, so this was a whirlwind scenario for you getting an offer on Tuesday and within 24 hours committed to Jacksonville. Walk me through how the offer came in from the Dolphins.

“I was in the middle of class. The teacher giving a lecture and Coach (Austin) Eisenhofer was DM-ing (direct messaging) me on Twitter. We were messaging about scholarship stuff, talking about football, and stuff like that. All the sudden he drops a message saying, “By the way head coach Ian Shields loved your film. So it’s a yes. You are officially offered by Jacksonville.”

“I looked at the message three times to make sure I was reading it correctly, then I screamed, which was kind of funny because everyone thought I was hurt. I was so pumped. I went over to one of my football buddies in the class to tell him. He asked, “Did they offer?” I said “heck yeah they did.”

After that, I went into the teacher’s office and we talked about it. It was cool. After that I walked with our head coach, Coach (Jeff) Williams. He was telling me how much I deserved it. He started helping me telling me how it will be, that it’s a job, but that he’s not worried about it with me because I treat it that way already and I love it. He thanked me for being the player that I am for helping lead the team for three years. It was a good talk – a great talk. I’ll remember that forever.”

So you have the offer. Now you have to talk it over with your family. What happened from there?

“I went home that night to talk to my family. I wanted to commit on the spot but I did not know too much about the school. I know they went 9-2 last year, I knew they were in Florida, and I knew that is where I needed to go to play D-I football. I knew Jacksonville would be my best chance to get in the NFL, and you best believe that’s where I’m going.

“I told my parents Jacksonville is where I wanted to go. I told them I know I will be far away but I want to live out my dream. They know how hard I have worked for this. They told me they are sad that I will be so far away but they know all their games are on ESPN so they can watch me play. They told me we’ll watch you and fly out for some of the games. They told me this is a chance to follow your dreams so go do it. They were very supportive about it.”

When you committed, who did you commit to on the staff?

“Coach Eisenhofer.”

How did you commit?

“We had messaged back-and-forth, then he called me later that day and we talked. When I told him he got excited and said, “It’s a great day to be a Dolphin.” He gave me a pep talk. He said, “I know I don’t know you that well yet but I am proud of you. Getting a D-I offer is a big deal. I can tell that you are a hard worker and you will be ready to play when you get here. I can’t wait to see the impact you have for our team on and off the field.”

“His pep talk was great. That got me pumped up. He was really easy to talk to, it was like talking to a friend. I’m excited to meet him in person.”

When will you officially visit Jacksonville?

“On Feb. 6.”

Are you going to help recruit players to join you at Jacksonville?

“Yes! I’m already talking to them about Jordan Barlow, the Van Buren quarterback. He played with us our sophomore year. He’s a hard worker and a great quarterback. He has the same kind of mindset that I have. If I’m going to invest in Jacksonville, I want the same type of guys on the team with the same mindset about winning games.”

Have you done anything to celebrate your commitment yet?

“My mom and dad have been out of town. I’ve been staying with my grandparents. They’ll be there for Signing Day and then we’ll go out to eat. All of my family members have been calling and texting me. I’ve been getting a lot of support.”

What kind of ceremony will Southside have for you guys?

“It’ll be Andrew (Clark) and I. He’s signing with Northeastern State. It’ll be packed. They hold it at our indoor facility. Coach Williams will say a few things about us and then we will sign. There should be some reporters and local news stations there. They make it a nice ceremony.

“After that, a couple of guys from (Fort Smith) Northside who are coming over, (linebacker) Dontre Harwick and (offensive lineman) William Clements, I’m not sure if (cornerback) Kiondre Thomas is coming or not, but then we are going over to their signing ceremony and then up to Van Buren to see Jordan Barlow and (wide receiver) Jaylynn Dye sign. After that we are going out to eat together.”

I think that is great that all of you are supportive of one another even though you played on different teams within the same conference. Sounds like a lot of fun too. Si, again, congratulations on your commitment to Jacksonville and wish you the best of luck.

“Thank you.”

Photo credit: twitter.com; Si on the sidelines at the Blue-Gray All-Star Game.

Photo credit: Kilinc family; Si being interviewed by local media.