Georgia Football Target Spotlight: Nyland Green
Nyland Green is a player that has burst onto the national scene. Since October of 2019, it has been an unbelievable barrage of Power 5 offers coming the way of the Newton Ram. Located in Covington, Georgia, Green and his Rams have undergone a change in fortune over the last year with the addition of new Head Coach Camiel Grant. Bulldog Maven recently caught up with player and coach to talk about Green's tremendous talent, recruiting, Georgia and of course the state of their program.
"It's been really crazy, it's been fun. Just an incredible experience, going from down toward the bottom, to up around the top," said Nyland Green of the 247 Sports reranking that occurred on February 20th. In that reranking, Nyland Green jumped from the 137th prospect in the 2021 class to the 27th overall ranked prospect. Green also went from the 13th ranked cornerback in the country to the 3rd.
According to Newton Ram Head Coach Camiel Grant, "This definitely wasn't a surprise for us. We see him every day and see the type of young man he is and know the ability to he's been blessed with... The great thing about it is, you would never know any of this stuff was going on. He's the same as he was when he walked in here as a 9th Grader. It hasn't changed his approach at all."
Despite coming off his first year as Head Coach, Grant is no stranger to Green or Newton. He'd been an assistant at the school for 12 years prior to taking over the Head Coaching duties and attributed a lot of the improvement from 2018 to 2019 to the feel that he had for the community, and of course the outstanding play of players like Green. Nyland Green is the 3rd ranked cornerback in the country, but he made a ton of plays at receiver for the Rams on their run to the playoffs a year ago.
In fact, when asked how highly he thought Green could be ranked in the country as a receiver, Grant stated, "If you watch him at receiver, he didn't play a lot of it as a sophomore, but if you look at it just from last year, he could definitely be one of the top receivers in the country as well."
Green attributes his receiver play to making him a better corner and allowing him to, "tell what the receiver is going to do. I can anticipate things and know what I would do as a receiver. It helps me on both sides of the ball."
In 2018 the Newton Rams were very close to where they wanted to be. They lost several close games and some games that they felt they should have won and ended up with a (4-7) record. In 2019, the breakout year of Green and the emergence of other incredible talents like class of 2023 defensive end Justin Benton (also a Georgia target), helped the Rams go (7-4) and make the GHSA playoffs.
According to Grant, the Rams lost a lot of seniors from that team, but there are a lot of young and talented guys that will be expected to produce in 2020. What Grant might be the most excited about is, "there is going to be an opportunity for guys like Nyland to lead even more. Also, with his ability to really understand what we do defensive and his playmaking ability, we can line him up at different spots. He is going to have a special year. We also have a lot of young guys that are very talented and are going to get a chance to produce."
As Coach Grant mentioned, Green played all over the field for Newton. He lined up at various offensive positions, he played safety and corner on defense, but Green has made it clear that he wants to be a corner at the next level. "I want to play corner. I'm 6'3" and can run the routes with the receivers. I just feel like there are not a lot of guys that can do what I do there." Georgia is recruiting Green as a corner and offered him a scholarship all the way back in November. Since then, Green has visited Georgia on junior day back in late January, and on early February weekend.
Overall Green describes the Power 5 attention he's received since last October as, "A blessing a God that he has given me the ability to play football and to be able to play well enough to get offered from different coaches all over the country. I'm just thankful for it." As far as Georgia specifically, Green indicated that there is a good relationship with the Bulldogs' staff.
When asked of the recent visit Green said, "It was good, all the coaches are tremendous. They are hilarious too! Coach Warren, Coach Smart they are all funny. Also, they're going to help me develop a football player, but as a young man and what they'll help me do outside of football and in what I'll do after football. It's a good educational program at Georiga, great facilities and great all-around people there."
Coach Charlton Warren is Green's main recruiter and Green described the conversations he has with Warren as less coach and recruiter and more, "like two best friends just talking about life. He's asking questions about me and my family and we are getting to know each other. It's not all about football." This type of relationship and the feeling that Green gets from all the personnel at Georgia makes it a special environment according to him. "It's a different, special place. It has a different vibe. Everybody is happy and smiling and it's just great!" said Green. Green is also able to talk to current Georgia Bulldog Eric Stokes who is a Covington, Georgia native as well and tells Green how much, "he loves the place."
CB, Eric Stokes
These types of relationships are important to Green. He stated that when narrowing down his choices going forward he'll be, "looking for the schools that really care for me. The ones that care for me outside of football." Green hasn't made a decision of when a top group will be coming, but he and his family and Coach Grant are working on a list and trying to line up official visits. Green is also trying to convince his mother to let him early enroll, but that decision hasn't been made yet.
One thing is for certain, Green is enjoying things and not getting stressed out. When asked what he likes to do to get away from everything and what he likes to do outside of football, Green responded, "play the game, take a nap, and eat!" The superstar from Newton is going to keep things that simple.
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