Loyola's Jordan Floyd talks UConn commitment

Any questions Jordan Floyd may have had about the Connecticut football program had been answered long ago.

The Loyola safety and wide receiver saw a Huskies spring practice last April, and was comfortable with the coaching staff's plans for him in their secondary.

But before Floyd could offer his pledge to Paul Pasqualoni's program, he needed a little more information about what Connecticut had to offer off the field.

"My parents and I had a couple questions academically. We went up there [Friday] and talked to the academic advisers," Floyd said. "They don't have a criminal justice major, but you can individualize your major, which is basically … [putting] a lot of classes together and creating your own major, which is what I really want to do. … They answered all of our questions. After that, it was a done deal."

Floyd committed to UConn before its 24-20 loss to Iowa State on Friday night. The 6-foot-2, 207-pound senior picked the Huskies over offers from Marshall, Maryland and Temple."It feels great," Floyd said Sunday. "It's a weight off my back. It's nice to just have a home."

A 2010 Baltimore Sun second-team All-Metro selection, Floyd was fairly unfamiliar with the Huskies' football program before they started recruiting him during his junior year. During his visit last spring, however, he was disavowed of the notion that UConn was strictly a "basketball school."

"I sat and watched a practice, and I knew it would be a place I could see myself at," he said. "I had never been up there before. It's a really nice campus. It's big, which I like. It's a beautiful campus."

Floyd said he bonded with his recruiter, quarterbacks coach Joe Moorhead, and safeties coach Darrell Perkins.

"[UConn has] a lot of great coaches," he said. "Coach Moorhead, we talked a couple times a week. It wasn't even always about football, which really sold me. He's just a really good guy. He was straightforward from the beginning. There was never any deception. He's like a friend basically. Coach Perkins, I talked to him a lot on Friday. I got to know him pretty well. He's a very good guy, and a great coach."

Floyd, a three-star prospect and the No. 46 safety in the country according to Scout.com, was recruited by some schools as a wide receiver. But playing on the defensive side of the football was OK with him.

"They basically said that for what they needed, I'd probably see the field at safety first," Floyd said. "That's fine with me. I love football, so whatever I play is great. … They said they like my size and speed. They're going to put me at strong safety. They like to blitz their safeties a lot."

Floyd said the response to his decision from friends and family has been extremely positive. He's happy to be able to focus his attention entirely on the Dons' season, while also planning for his future in Storrs.

"I hope to just bring intensity and passion for the game," Floyd said. "I want to be a big-play threat on defense and just make their whole team better."

Photo by Steve Ruark of Jordan Floyd / Special to The Baltimore Sun / Sept. 3, 2011