When the early signing period begins in December, college football recruiting heats up in a big way. That's especially true when it comes to the commitment of Jordan Burch.
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Playing in South Carolina, Burch is one of the top recruits in the country who would have an immediate impact for whichever school he decided to play for. Entering National Signing Day 2020, Burch was the highest-ranked recruit in the country who had yet to officially sign his national letter of intent.
The Columbia, South Carolina product is a five-star prospect, the No. 2 defensive tackle in America, and is the eighth-overall player in the country, according to the 247Sports Composite. Burch chose to stay home and verbally commit to play for the South Carolina Gamecocks back in December, but waited until NSD to ink his name.
After reaffirming his commitment on signing day, Burch reportedly didn't actually submit his National Letter of Intent to become a Gamecock for head coach Will Muschamp. According to The State, Muschamp wasn't able to publicly comment on Burch's signing because, in reality, Burch hasn't formally submitted his NLI.
"You'd have to ask them," Muschamp responded when asked about why a recruit wouldn't formally submit his letter.
Burch chose not to interview after the cryptic ceremony, and his mother didn't say if he'd actually signed a formal letter of intent or not.
Jordan Burch Recruiting
Burch chose USC from a list of five schools, four of which were from the SEC and the other being ACC's juggernaut in South Carolina:
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- LSU Tigers
- Clemson Tigers
- South Carolina Gamecocks
- Georgia Bulldogs
The 247Sports crystal ball initially projected him to stay in his home state, but chose Clemson. It wouldn't have been a huge surprise, especially with the success Dabo Swinney, Brett Venables, and the Tigers have with defensive lineman over the past decade. Burch would also join the top recruit in the country, Bryan Bresee, who is also a defensive line recruit.
He's also been heavily pursued by LSU since January.
Jordan Burch Highlights
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The scariest part about Burch is his freak athleticism at his size. Listed at 6-foot-5 and 270 pounds, he not only plays defensive end for Hammond School, but multiple positions on offense. Though that probably won't translate to offensive reps in college, it does show off his speed and agility.
According to The State, Burch racked up 53 tackles, 18 for loss and nine sacks on defense heading into the 2019 SCISA 3A Championship game. On offense, Burch accounted for 488 rushing yards, 10 rushing touchdowns and four receiving TDs.
If you want to know how good the Under Armour All-American could be, just look at the comparison 247Sports gave him. They compared Burch to Joey Bosa, which is extremely high praise considering Bosa was the third-overall selection in the 2016 NFL Draft.
This article was originally published December 9, 2019. It was updated to reflect editorial changes on Burch's press conference on National Signing Day 2020. Originally reported that Burch had signed his LOI, it actually is unclear if Burch has signed and submitted his intentions to the NCAA.
