On Dec. 4, Jason Verrett and his mom and dad sat in the office of Gary Patterson, the head football coach at Texas Christian University, home of the third-ranked team in the nation.
"It was exactly 11 in the morning," Verrett remembered.
One doesn't forget a tipping point in which a life changes.
"I am not going to waste your time," Patterson said to Verrett, an SRJC cornerback. "I am offering you a full ride. You have a week to decide."
Patterson, a man of action if there was ever one, then sat back in his chair and waited for Verrett to say something. Come back strong and assertive and positive. That's a perfect reply to Patterson. And the coach waited for Verrett to say something. And he waited. And he waited. Verrett, a communications major, couldn't communicate.
"I was at a loss for words," Verrett said. "I shut down."
"Wow!" he thought to himself. Is this really happening? After everything?
It was just six days earlier that TCU offered Verrett a visit to its Fort Worth campus. Verrett never saw it coming. It had been eight months since TCU's last contact with Verrett, when the team's defensive backs coach came to Santa Rosa to watch Verrett work out for 30 minutes. To see if he could turn, if he had that speed burst necessary to play corner, if he had the raw skills. Then Chad Glasgow, the coach, shook hands with Verrett, wished him the best. That was it.
Bear Cub defensive coordinator Lenny Wagner had begun the process a few months earlier when he compiled a five-minute film of Verrett and sent it to TCU. It was a very basic film, showing Verrett running, lifting, training. It wasn't sent anonymously, either. Wagner and Patterson are good friends. Patterson had been Wagner's linebacker coach in 1989 and 1990 at Sonoma State. Following graduation, Wagner worked under Patterson the following year before Patterson moved up the coaching ladder.
"Wow!" Verrett thought to himself. In silence a lot was going through his mind. He had thought he was off the D1 scholarship radar. SRJC had gone 3-7, and 3-7 JC teams don't always attract a top-flight D1 program. And, on top of that, Verrett had missed the first two games of the season with a pulled hamstring. In fact, Verrett missed three months of drills and workouts because of that hamstring he pulled July 18.
"I almost gave up," said Verrett, 5-foot-10, 175 pounds.
The thought was tempting. Verrett had sat out the 2009 season as a grayshirt, which meant he was enrolled at SRJC but would retain four years of athletic eligibility. Verrett sat out because he was mentally and physically making the transfer from offense to defense.
In numbed silence, his mind was racing. Things were happening fast. Just a week before TCU extended the invitation to visit, Verrett had received scholarship offers from San Jose State, Boise State and UTEP. He was going to jump at the San Jose State offer.
Wagner told Verrett to wait. No panic. But he had gone about eight months with any solid college feelers and now all of a sudden three appeared. He didn't want to wait. Wagner told him it would be a smart move.
Verrett listened to Wagner. He had learned to trust Wagner.
Verrett had come to SRJC from Rodriguez High in Fairfield, as the school's Back of the Year on a 2008 team that went 9-3. He loved having his hands on the ball.
"I loved scoring," he said. Verrett was going to be a wideout, a slot back, a Marshall Faulk-type.
For the first two weeks at SRJC, Verrett was a slot back. Then reality, introduced by Wagner, took over.
"When colleges come to us asking if we have a wide receiver," Wagner said, "they are looking for a Randy Moss (6-foot-4). They aren't looking for someone who is 5-foot-10. I told Jason he could go farther in football as a cornerback than as a wide receiver."
Verrett said it took him a full month before he finally accepted reality. And now?
"I owe Coach Wags everything," said Verrett, who has been clocked at 4.38 seconds in the 40-yard dash.
Or to put it another way ...
"If Jason has remained a wide receiver," Wagner said, "he would be returning next season at SRJC."
As it is, Verrett will be leaving Santa Rosa on Jan. 6 for TCU.
On Dec. 4, Verrett eventually did respond to Patterson.
"It would be a dream to play for a coach like you," he said. But that wasn't acceptance. That happened the next day.
At 11 a.m. today that "Wow!" will continue. The verbal acceptance becomes an official one. Verrett will sign with TCU at a ceremony at Keith Simons' office. That Verrett has arrived at this point is not just a compliment to his physical skill. It's a compliment to a mental one as well.
Jason Verrett got to this point in his life by being patient and flexible, traits not all that common to 19-year old football players.
For more North Bay sports, go to Bob Padecky's blog at padecky.blog.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Columnist at 521-5223 or bob.padecky@pressdemocrat.com.
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