Osceola’s Bell had 6 interceptions this season, but no offers
There is really only one thing a college football recruiter needs to know about Jalen Bell. The senior linebacker/safety at Osceola High had an impressive six interceptions this season, and he’s ranked in the top 20 among the state leaders, according to MaxPreps.
Couple that with Bell’s size (6-foot-2, 190 pounds) and I would think any college recruiter would be scrambling to hit his computer to look for Bell’s Hudl film. Apparently, no one has. He has no Football Bowl Subdivision scholarship offers, and it leaves me and his coach equally baffled.
“We’ve been trying,” Osceola coach Eric Pinellas said. “We have no idea what the deal is.”
There are no strikes against Bell. His has good grades with a 3.3 GPA and made the school honor roll. He seems to be a young man of good character, and he can darn sure play some football. He comes advertised as a linebacker, for the most part, but this dude can play almost anywhere on defense.
Pinellas has moved him around, from linebacker to safety to corner. Against Jones this season, Bell was playing linebacker and the Kowboys kept getting beat on the boundaries by the wide receivers. Pinellas switched Bell to cornerback and the result was two interceptions in that game against Vernell Brown III, one of the top receivers in Central Florida.
Bell has some lowerlevel options for college, but he’s much better than that. So far he has offers from Long Island, Duquesne, St. Thomas and Keiser.
“It’s a little frustrating,” Bell said. “When you put a lot of hard work in and you don’t get a lot of the attention that you feel like you deserve, that’s just life and you’re going to be overlooked sometimes.”
Bell, the No. 10 player in the Sentinel’s 2024 Central Florida Super60, is waiting out the process, but he admits it’s difficult. He is, however, optimistic that something is going to break.
“I feel like I have a lot of big opportunities coming in real soon,” Bell said. “I’m just putting it in God’s hands to guide me through the whole process. I got until February, until the second signing day. That’s when I’m going to sign.”
By then things will likely shake out for many prospective college football players, as colleges see where they lost or gained from the transfer portal.
The issue for Bell, I suspect, is a matter of position. Coaches consider him a “tweener,” which means that they can’t decide whether he’s a linebacker or a safety or corner or maybe even an edge rusher. Today’s viewpoint from many college coaches is that a linebacker has to be 6-3, 235 pounds, and Bell doesn’t make that cut off.
There are plenty of comparisons that can be made throughout recent college football history. One of those would be former Wekiva High defensive tackle Tyler Davis, who has been a first team, All-ACC selection in four straight seasons at Clemson. The senior was between 6-0 and 6-1 in high school and several coaches did not think he could get the job done. Obviously, they were wrong.
If nothing else, Bell would be a perfect nickel back and there is no doubt in my mind that he can play in a Power 5 conference. He has incredible eyes for the ball and he flies to it. He’s has great hips and can turn and cover with ease, and he has tremendous game speed. Bell also had 60 tackles, a fumble recovery and, remarkably, he blocked four kicks and punts this season.
“I mostly played linebacker the whole year and I’m a little bit undersized,” Bell said. “But I have film at corner and safety, so I don’t see why they can’t see me as that as well. I can play nickel, D-line, corner or safety. It doesn’t really matter. I’m just very versatile.”
He’s taken on a leadership role and is proud of the season he had.
“I feel like I’ve grown a lot as a player this year,” Bell said. “Last year was kind of my breakout season, but this year I feel like I really put my name on the map a little bit. Six interceptions is a lot, especially coming from a supposedly linebacker position. … I’ve just been all over the field.”