PITTSBORO — The College Football Playoff may soon be adding a little bit of Northwood flair.
Charger long snapper and all-conference linebacker Jake Mann, originally committed to Florida State, flipped his commitment to the University of Oklahoma on Feb. 3. He’ll compete for the Sooners’ starting long snapper position over the next few seasons.
Mann, who has snapped for the Northwood Chargers for two of his three seasons, is ranked as the number one long snapper in the 2021 recruiting class (five stars) by Kohl’s Professional Camps, one of the most respected specialist training organizations in the country.
“Within those camps, they rank people and I’m fortunate enough to be ranked number one,” said Mann. “It was exciting when things started to show up, offers and things, but there were times when it was a little overwhelming. It’s just good to get it over with.”
No stranger to specialist camps — including Kohl’s, Rubio Long Snapping (which ranked Mann ninth in the 2021 class), One-on-One Kicking, among others — Mann has used these opportunities to both hone his talents and showcase his abilities over the last couple of years.
“We have a lot of talent (at our camps), so what helps all of them out is that they’re constantly pushing each other,” said Worth Gregory, former all-conference punter at East Carolina and coach at One-on-One Kicking Camp in Raleigh.
Gregory, who met Mann while coaching special teams at N.C. State a couple of years ago, was coached by now-Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley while he was the offensive coordinator at ECU, along with Ryan Dougherty, who is now also on the Sooners’ coaching staff.
Gregory said he made some calls to Dougherty and put in a good word for Mann, but Mann’s skill is what earned him offers from Oklahoma, Florida State, Arizona State and a few other major programs.
“I had a connection enough to where I gave (Oklahoma) a call and helped push them, but at the end of the day, they watched his film for three seconds and they were like ‘We’ll take him,’” said Gregory. “Showing a coach three clips of him snapping the ball is like showing a receiver running a 4.3(-second 40-yard dash). They don’t need to see much more.”
If a Division I coach made a list of what they wanted in their ideal starting long snapper, Mann would check every box.
A 2019 all-conference player in both football and lacrosse, Mann is the dictionary definition of an athlete.
At 5’11” and 222 lbs, he has the size and blocking ability to not only protect his kicker or punter, but also get down the field and make tackles when necessary.
“A lot of times, in games, teams don’t block the snapper because they want to worry about the other guys on the field they see as bigger threats,” said Gregory, “but if you’re able to run downfield and make a tackle, people have to worry about you now and they’ve got to start blocking you, which opens up another guy.”
In addition to his athleticism, Mann’s snapping speed is another major plus in his arsenal.
Snapping speed is measured by the time it takes for the ball to leave the hands of the long snapper and enter the hands of the punter or holder.
An average high school long snapper has a snapping speed between 0.90 and 0.95 seconds. For a Division II or Division III player, it’s 0.85 to 0.90 seconds. For Division I, it’s typically 0.72 to 0.77 seconds. Mann ranges from 0.66 to 0.70 seconds. According to Gregory, “That’s what you see in the NFL.”
As great as athleticism and snapping speed are, arguably the most important quality to have in a long snapper is consistency.
It’s another area in which Mann excels.
“I would say I’m very consistent and I snap a very good spiral with good location and velocity,” said Mann. “I think I do it all pretty well, but I can definitely improve on every aspect.”
Mann was originally set to attend Florida State but flipped his commitment to Oklahoma primarily because of better scholarship opportunities.
While he likely plans to redshirt his freshman year and sit behind the Sooners’ fifth-year senior starter Kasey Kelleher, he said he hopes that he can start competing for the starting role beginning in 2022, which would help him earn a scholarship earlier than he could at FSU.
Oklahoma is widely known as one of the premier college football programs in the nation.
Since the College Football Playoff held its inaugural season in 2014, the Sooners have been selected four times, tied for the third-most of any school with Ohio State, just behind Alabama and Clemson (six each).
At Oklahoma, Mann will have a realistic shot to play in the College Football Playoff, and potentially, for a national championship.
That is, if he wins the starting spot.
“It’s just working hard, whether it’s in the weight room or in the classroom,” said Mann. “I have to have the mindset like I am the starter, not, ‘Oh, this is a year I’m not going to play so I don’t need to work as hard.’ I definitely need to prove to them that I can be the guy.”
Mann will have one final season at Northwood, starting later this month. He’ll have to balance both lacrosse and football because of the overlap in the two sports’ calendars.
Though he’ll be moving from Pittsboro to Norman, Oklahoma, in less than six months, this upcoming season is not lost on him. Despite a 4-7 year for the Chargers in 2019, the expectations remain high.
“The ultimate goal is to win a state championship,” said Mann. “We have a really good team and hopefully we can go all the way with it.”
Reporter Victor Hensley can be reached at vhensley@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @Frezeal33.