Fagan’s FSU choice comes from heart
“I love the Florida State tradition. I grew up watching [the Seminoles] ... the war chant, I love that.”
Mainland junior safety Cyrus Fagan
DAYTONA BEACH — There wasn’t much surprise to the news Sunday that Daytona Beach Mainland High safety Cyrus Fagan had committed to FSU.
Sure he visited Florida and Miami on consecutive February weekends, but that was just to make sure his heart was right where he thought it was all along. It didn’t take much for him to figure out that he, indeed, was a Seminole at heart.
In fact the surprise wasn’t really about what school he was going to choose but when he was going to announce it. Long considered a solid FSU lean even before he received a scholarship offer from the Seminoles — exactly 365 days prior to his Sunday commitment — Fagan had always been an FSU fan.
“I love the Florida State tradition,” Fagan said Monday, a day after becoming the seventh member of FSU’s 2017 recruiting class. “It’s a blessing. I can go and play football for three or four years, get a free education and my mom doesn’t have to worry about nothing … just keep working to be the best.
“I grew up watching [the Seminoles] ... the war chant, I love that. Tallahassee is just a wonderful place with a lot of people and everybody is for Florida State around that school. It’s great. It’s family everywhere.”
A big part of his extended FSU family and a person with whom he has grown quite familiar and comfortable over the years is fellow safety A. J. Westbrook. When Fagan was a sophomore at Mainland, Westbrook was a senior and the mainstay of the Mainland defensive backfield. He took Fagan under his wing and showed him the ropes.
Westbrook is now at FSU, having redshirted as a freshman this past season, and he will be ready to mentor his young friend once again.
“That’s my big bro, so just to be able to play with him again is a blessing,” said Fagan, who played his freshman season at Port Orange Atlantic before transferring to Mainland. “I came out here at Mainland playing with him and listen-
ing to coach [ Travis] Ro
land yell at us for the things we did bad and appreciating us for the things we did good.
“When I was at another school, I was watching A.J. and he was just good with me, so to be able to play with him again for another three, two years, whatever it is, is just great because that’s my big bro and I’ll love to play with him again.”
At FSU Fagan will give secondary coach Charles
Kelly numerous options with his versatility. The 6-foot-2, 182-pound Fagan is extremely athletic with great length in his wingspan. He can be a big hitter or a finesse coverage defender, whatever is necessary.
“I talked to coach Kelly
and he said money, dime, corner and safety, so if he tells me I can play any one of those positions, I’m going to work my butt off to get on the field and just make plays … be a Seminole,” Fagan said.
He’ll bring plenty of excitement to the FSU defensive backfield and he’s sure to be a fan favorite once he starts making big plays at Doak Campbell Stadium.
Fagan is also excited about what playing at FSU might mean for football beyond college and he’s seen what former Seminoles’ defenders have been able to do at the next level. Guys like Terrence Brooks, Ronald Darby and P.J. Williams have made strides as NFL players recently and big-time corner Jalen Ramsey enters the draft this spring.
“It’s a stepping stone,” Fagan said. “I gotta take it all in and keep working, be like them, just to be where they are and fit in their shoes. … come in like Der
win James and be an impact freshman. That can be me one day, I’m just thinking … so I gotta just keep working hard.”
Fagan has blossomed into his own stardom at Mainland since the departure of Westbrook and cornerback Meiko Dotson after the 2014 season. Last year, Fagan was the master of the secondary for the Bucs. He managed 64 tackles as teams tried to throw away from him and run around him. With the absence of Dotson and Westbrook, teams targeted other Mainland defenders, and Fagan, who had five interceptions as a sophomore, didn’t have any picks last season.
Those numbers do no matter to Fagan, however. He’s the kind of player who will do whatever Bucs head coach Scott Wilson asks of him. Stats are not his concern. He’s played wide receiver, running back and quarterback at different times on the Mainland offense.
“It’s just a good look being able to play multiple positions and to be good at it is just a blessing,” Fagan said. “You just gotta make plays and whatever your coach tells you, you gotta do it.”
He’s happy to make his decision public as spring football approaches and he can now concentrate on working toward that elusive state title.
“I feel relieved. I can play football now and just try to win a state championship with my team,” Fagan said. “We’ve been working real hard since the season’s been over … trying to get back and get to the state championship my last year.
“We deserve it and I’m just all into this program right now, working hard.”
In Fagan, FSU fans will see a player who has no doubts in his ability to play at the highest level. He’s the No. 1-ranked player in the Sentinel’s 2017 Super60 for a reason and it’s that rung on the ladder than usually has NFL future written on it. Guys like Ha Ha Clin
ton-Dix and Christian Jones sat atop that perch and both are now in the NFL. That could one day be Fagan, as well.
He also is the second player from Mainland to be the area’s top college prospect since the Super60 started in 2011, joining Ja
chai Polite, a recent signee with Florida.
“I’m a confident dude,” Fagan said. “I’m real confident and I love my team, so if I’m not in, I’m still supporting my team, I want my team to win.
“I like to win. … national championship, that’s my big goal after high school.
“Let’s go ’Noles, Tribe to the T.”