Cooper Dawson loves atmosphere at UCF
UCF welcomed a pair of official visitors this past weekend, including Cooper Dawson, a 6-foot-6, 245-pound defensive lineman from Hanahan, S.C.
Dawson had previously visited unofficially during the summer, but this time he got to experience a full game weekend, taking in UCF's victory against the Naval Academy.
Dawson recapped the action-packed weekend.
"We were supposed to arrive Thursday night, but a bunch of stuff went wrong with the plane so we didn't arrive until Friday morning," Dawson said. "The first thing we did is go to practice on Friday. We had lunch after that at Burger U, then we went to Spirit Splash. That was pretty cool being able to see it in person. Then we had a campus tour, rode around on golf carts. I had visited earlier this summer so I already had a sneak peek and was familiar with some of the stuff. We had an academic meeting, talking about grades and stuff. We had a photo shoot which was pretty awesome. I go to put on the space uniforms from last week. That was pretty cool. I had a position meeting with Coach (Shane) Burnham and then met with the strength coaches and the training staff.
"After that, we had a little rest time in the hotel and then we went out to dinner at Bonefish. We saw the fireworks show on campus that night. It was a full day."
Dawson expanded more on his meeting with Burnham, who would be his position coach.
"We had a one-on-one meeting and he showed me some game film," Dawson said. "He pretended like I was the guy in the film, then he'd bring in clips from my highlight tape showing how I did and related that to what I'd be doing. He told me there's an opportunity for me to play early. They don't have many d-tackles. He said he wants to bring in some JUCO d-linemen too that are more prepared for next year. That would be good news for me. UCF is doing phenomenal as a football program. I want to go somewhere where they need me as much as I want them."
His player host was true freshman defensive end Landon Woodson. Both Woodson and Dawson are dealing with summer knee (ACL) injuries and currently in recovery mode.
Saturday's activities revolved around the homecoming game with Navy at 12 noon.
"We woke up and had breakfast at the hotel," Dawson said. "Some of the coaches were there. The players had already gone off doing their stuff. We arrived to the stadium and watched the Knight Walk. I got to watch warmups. The game was cool. For halftime, we went inside and had meals. Official visitors had our own little area with steak, shrimp, chicken salad sandwiches. A lot of good stuff.
"The game was awesome. I've been to a couple games at other places and one thing I really noticed at UCF is the band is pretty cool. Everybody has got their game chants and stuff, but rarely do you have bands like FSU that will get you fired up. They had some pretty cool music and the crowd gets involved. I like how on third down on defense 'Hells Bells' comes on. I'm a rock guy. I like that. I thought the defense held up pretty well against Navy. Coach Burnham told me before the game they thought they were going to do well, but you're always kind of nervous with the option."
The Saturday night dinner was held at Cooper's Hawk with the recruit families, coaches and player hosts (Landon Woodson and McKenzie Milton).
"We got to hang out with McKenzie after dinner," Dawson said. "We went to Tropical Smoothie and had some smoothies. We picked up a smoothie to give to D-Mack (Darriel Mack Jr.) and we met his dad, then McKenzie dropped us off."
Dawson spent more time with Landon Woodson that night where he introduced him to several more players, including Issac Walker, Titus Davis and Kyle Back.
"On Sunday before we left, we had breakfast with Coach Burnham, Coach (Ian) Scott and Coach Heup," Dawson said. "We talked about life, not much football. I just asked them how he'd feel about me wearing No. 15. We said our goodbyes and then headed to the airport."
As a December graduate, Dawson plans to make a decision in the coming weeks. He visited Army prior to UCF and has visits upcoming to Tulane (Nov. 24) and Vanderbilt (Dec. 7). Clemson has also been in the mix.
Clemson is recruiting him as an offensive tackle, while the other schools like him for defense. Dawson prefers to be a defensive player in college.
"It 100 percent makes a difference to me," he said. "Clemson is the school of my dreams. I grew up going to games and idolizing the players. My family was surprised when I didn't commit on the spot. I just want to be a playmaker. Clemson is still one of my top schools though.
Dawson didn't want to say if he had a frontrunner, but UCF definitely is among his top schools.
"UCF really feels like home," he said. "One of the things I noticed before I even came on the visit was just how involved the fans are. I tweeted about getting an offer and all the fans are tweeting back at me, stuff like 'UCF fans want you.' I love how involved they are. It's a great atmosphere. UCF has really made a name for themselves. I think they're only going to get better. All this focus on them is going to bring in a lot of good recruits. I really liked the players I met too. Very welcoming."