MU Coach Profile: JaJuan Seider is Recruiting Ace

When head coach Doc Holliday decided to come to Marshall and brought JaJuan Seider with him to be his recruiting coordinator and running backs coach, it’s easy to see why some people on the West Virginia coaching staff might have been upset.
A very naturally gifted recruiter, Seider is one of the true rising stars as far as college football coaching is concerned.
While the Herd might be struggling out of nfl jersey
the gates this season, it’s certainly not because a lack of effort on the recruiting trail by members of the MU staff, especially Coach Seider.
There are few coaches across the country who can connect with the talented prospects in the South Florida area the way he can. His extensive ties and connections to the area run very deep.
From his high school playing days to his collegiate playing days of dominating the gridiron for the Florida A and M Rattlers, JaJuan Seider is a well-known man in the Sunshine state.
Originally recruited to play at West Virginia by Doc Holliday in 1995, things didn’t work out for Seider at WVU.
After transferring from West Virginia to Florida A and M, Seider put together a sparkling senior season, tossing for 2,512 yards and 27 touchdowns.
His gaudy stats allowed him to pile up the post-season hardware, including All-America honors, National Offensive Player of the Year Award, and the Jake Gaither award—which is considered the Heisman Trophy of black colleges.
Selected in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers, Seider can even add NFL experience to his sparkling resume.
A former standout on the gridiron for the Glades Central Raiders in Belle Glade, Florida, Seider returned to his alma mater to coach the running backs from 2001-2002.
The former signal-caller also became the offensive coordinator at Palm Beach Lakes high school from 2003-2005, where he helped the team reach the 6A regional finals in 2003 and 2004.
He was the quarterbacks coach at Lake Worth high school in Lake Worth, Florida from 2006-2008. One of his prized pupils there was former Elite 11 and U.S. Army All-American game selection Star Jackson (2007).
He hasn’t even had a full year under his belt as a staff member in Huntington, but Seider has already proven his value as a dominant recruiter to the MU program. Marshall already has a great chance with plenty of prospects in the South Florida area, thanks to their recruiting ace—Coach Seider.
His hard work and efforts should be applauded.
HerdNation’s Wade Peery caught up with the former signal-caller at media/fan day back in August in Huntington.
Below is the interview:
Interview with Jajuan Seider
I know that Florida’s the hot spot for you, especially Glades Central. How much confidence do you have going down there and getting some of the top-notch prospects in the country that Marshall otherwise wouldn’t have a shot at, with your connections?
Well, you hit it right on the head. You said connections. In Florida, you’ve gotta be smart. You’ve got to target the guys you know you can get that are the same guys that you want. The thing about me, a guy from Florida, I know kids who can play. The bigger guys will get caught up in a kid because he’s a five-star. There’s often a three-star that nobody knows about that’s just as good as that five-star. I go home to the Glades, Pahokee, Palm Beach County, where guys know me and they know I’m going to treat their kids right. The kids know me from coaching and playing down there. First off, it’s a trust factor. They gotta trust that’s the guy I want to be with, because at the end of the day, when you go to college, it’s all about the coaches you’re playing for. That’s the biggest selling point.”
I know that you were the Heisman Trophy winner from Division I-AA. Do you always have good memories when the fans of Florida A and M talk to you?
“They do. That one year was a special year for me, coming from West Virginia going to a situation like that, because transferring is never easy. Then you go to a place that loved you and opened up to you like family. Everywhere I go, people still talk about me and that one season. So, I like to think I did pretty good up there.”
I always like to see what coaches look for in a Division I prospect. What kind of things do you look for on film? I know quarterback is your area of expertise. What kind of things do you look for in a quarterback when you’re watching them on film and breaking them down?
“Well you try to see how he leads if you can find it on film. Can you see something that says that kid is a good leader, first of all. Does he drive the ball? Is that back foot in the ground when he’s driving the ball forward? Is the release clean? Sometimes you can see it, sometimes you can’t. The quarterback position is so key. That’s a position you have to go watch that kid throw live. You have to do research. What type of kid is he? Is he a leader? Because if that guy isn’t the guy for you, you’re not going to win too many games. That guy has to be the trigger guy. He’s gotta be a leader. We got real fortunate last year we got in here late and we were able to go get a guy like Eddie Sullivan. He’s everything you’re looking for in a leader as a freshman that’s willing to take charge. That’s the Dallas Cowboys jersey
pinnacle of what you look for when you go get a quarterback.”
In terms of recruiting, how long have you been coaching the running backs for?
“It’s been my first year here, this year (fall) and spring. I did it before in high school. I played quarterback. I played on every level. There isn’t too much of offense I don’t know. There’s a little adjustment, sure, but you know at the end of the day, you don’t overtrain a running back. He’s got vision. You tell him what he’s reading so he can get to that place he’s going a little bit sooner and you really just tell him where he’s blocking. People think you’re gurus. You’re not gurus. You let those kids be who they are. You go recruit that guy who’s a natural runner and get the heck outta his way. That’s the best thing you can do. We always do drills to quicken up their feet. The biggest thing we were talking about recruiting, the biggest thing we look for is what type of guy is it? Is it a guy that fits out scheme and what we want to do offensively. We may not take a big tailback that’s a downhill runner because he can’t change direction like we want. We may want a guy more like Andre Booker that’s a slasher, using that as an example.”
What’s your biggest selling point for Marshall football?
“Well, the selling point for us, is the movie, “We Are Marshall,” everybody saw that movie. The biggest thing I tell the kids in South Florida—Randy Moss. Every young wide receiver that makes a catch and jumps over a guy’s head, they say, ‘We Mossin’. So you know what, I go down, I talk about those things that are relevant that those kids talk about. Chad Pennington, Byron Leftwich played at Jacksonville. Those guys (the prospects) know who those guys (the Marshall legends) are and people know who Marshall is. There’s a lot of history. There’s a lot of Chargers jersey
guys that have played here that’s back down in that area coaching that want to see this program get better. The older guys I’ve met are so passionate about this program. It’s kind of like a miniature University of Miami deal where everybody always comes back and they are real supportive. That’s what I get when I go down to South Florida.”