Floridian Bernhardt planning to pull switch
Lake Brantley graduate will play D-II football instead of D-I lacrosse
Former Lake Brantley two-sport standout Jared Bernhardt, a first-team lacrosse All-American for Maryland, said this week he is planning to use his fifth year of college eligibility as a grad student to play football for Ferris State of Michigan, a Division II program.
Bernhardt was an Orlando Sentinel AllArea quarterback and the lacrosse player of the year as a senior. He was honored as the area boys athlete of the year for 2015-16.
Bernhardt’s fourth year of college lacrosse ended prematurely in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
An NCAA waiver granted to spring sports athletes would allow him to stay on with the Terrapins for another season and likely break Maryland’s all-time record for goals scored. But Bernhardt put his name in the NCAA transfer portal last summer so he could gauge what football options he could have.
“As of right now, I’m planning on going to Ferris State University to play football in the fall [for] coach [Tony] Annese,” Bernhardt said in a digital interview posted by the NCAA on Sunday.
The Baltimore Sun reported that Stony Brook, a Football Championship Subdivision
school in Long Island, expressed interest in signing Bernhardt as a wide receiver, but Ferris State offered him a chance to compete for its open starting quarterback position.
“It’s a really good feeling,” Bernhardt said in an interview with Edwin Lee of the Sun. “I haven’t played [football] since high school, but it’s definitely exciting. I was trying to find a place and luckily Coach Annese said he would give me an opportunity, so I’m definitely really excited to pursue that.”
Ferris State went 12-1 and reached the DII final four last season, losing 28-14 to national champ West Florida in a semifinal. Its triple-option attack is similar to the offensive scheme Bernhardt ran at Brantley.
“I expect him to be great in a very short fashion,” Annese told the Sun. “From what I know of him, he’s a high-character kid, he’s a competitor, he’s a winner, and when you’re all of those things I’m anticipating an easy transition. I anticipate him to be very good very quickly.”
Bernhardt, who is listed at 6-foot-1, 195 pounds, was recruited by Navy as a quarterback out of high school. He had to make a difficult decision and opted to follow the path of his two older brothers, Jake and Jesse, to Maryland lacrosse. All three were Lake Brantley quarterbacks.
In the NCAA interview Bernhardt said it was a great honor to be listed among the top lacrosse players in the country as a product of a state that is not regarded as a hotbed for the sport. He thanked his parents and siblings.
“Football was the first sport I actually played, and my dad was the coach,” Jared said. “I’ve always had the passion for football. I’ve always loved it.”
Jim Bernhardt, who died at 63 last year, played college lacrosse and football at Hofstra and taught his sons both sports while working in a long football coaching career. He was a college assistant at Hofstra, Brown, UCF and Penn State and also was a high school head coach at Dr. Phillips and Seminole.
He finished in the NFL as a three-year assistant to head coach Bill O’Brien with the Houston Texans. Bernhardt retired from that post following the 2017 season.
Jesse is an assistant coach for Maryland and is set to play professionally for the Chrome Lacrosse Club of California in the Premier Lacrosse League this year.
Jake is an assistant for Vermont. He is on another PLL roster as a midfielder for the Whipsnakes, also a California club.
That PLL is scheduled to open its season July 25.