Jonathan Mack: February 2010 Archives

The search for Colton's next football coach is close to reaching its next stage according to Yellowjackets athletic director Harold Strauss. The job, which opened at the end of January, will say open until Tuesday, with interviews set to take place shortly after.

"It's going well," Strauss said. "I wasn't sure how much interest we'd get because of the economy, but we have a good list going. We have 2 or 3 out-of-staters -- one from South Carolina and a couple more from the East Coast -- which is surprising."

Along with the coaching position, Strauss indicated that senior cornerback Jonathan Mack will likely take official visits to Southern Miss and South Dakota State. Mack, who committed to UNLV, has not signed yet, as the Rebels are looking to see if scholarship room can be cleared for him. In the interim, Mack is pursuing other options.

Also, junior linebacker Rodney Hardrick is receiving heavy interest from USC, Oregon and Boise State according to Strauss, with the Trojans expected to offer a scholarship at their junior day later this month.

Prior to making the death march down the 10 to LA, I was at Colton, where Colton High School put on an assembly honoring DB Derrick Malone (Oregon), K Alejandro Maldonado (Oregon), DB Jonathan Mack (UNLV), DE Michael Newton (Arizona Western Junior College) and LB Ma'alona Kiliona (University of Redlands), along with softball players April Vasquez and Jessica Lemus.

Several hundred students showed up to honor the athletes, who added to Colton's rich tradition of sending players to college.

"It's something we take a lot of pride in," Colton athletic director Harold Strauss said. "When these kids come into this program, I tell them that if they give me their all in the classroom and on the field, we'll give them our all in getting their college paid for."

Both Malone and Maldonado will be Ducks, with Malone deciding for Oregon in November and Maldonado deciding over the weekend, switching his commitment from Washington.

"It was hard to tell Washington no, but I had to go with what was in my heart," Maldonado said. "When I visited Oregon, I knew that was where I had to be. Washington was nice, but Oregon was perfect."

Malone chose the Ducks over several colleges, including most of the Pac-10 and Nebraska. While he made his decision well before Maldonado made his and was pumped about Oregon already, having his teammate with him made it that much sweeter.

"It's awesome," Malone said. "I've been going to school with (Maldonado) since middle school. Middle school, then high school, and now college together. It's going to be fun and I can't wait."

Mack might have been the happiest of the Division I signees. As of Monday, Mack was unsure if he would sign today, but he secured his ride with the Rebels Tuesday night and was all smiles when he signed his letter of intent today.

"My mom was really nervous, but I had faith that it was all going to work out," Mack said. "I'm really happy right now and it's a big relief."

Arrived at Colton High School 20 minutes ago and discovered that cornerback Jonathan Mack verbally committed to UNLV and will sign his letter of intent in a few minutes here. Mack joins safety Derrick Malone and kicker Alejandro Maldonado, who will sign with Oregon, as Division I signees.

Colton kicker Alejandro Maldonado, verbally committed to Washington since the summer, decommitted Sunday to Oregon after officially visiting the campus according to Colton athletic director Harold Strauss. The Seattle Times also wrote a story about it, which can be read here.

"He cancelled a trip three weeks ago and was just going to stay with Washington, but we told him that you need to see (Oregon) and make a decision from that," Strauss said. "He went up for a visit this weekend, loved it, and now he's going to Oregon."

Maldonado will be joining teammate Derrick Malone, a safety who committed to the Ducks in November, in Eugene. They'll be signing their letters of intent in Colton's auditorium during second period Wednesday at roughly 8:30 a.m., hopefully joined by cornerback Jonathan Mack.

Mack, who has been offered by Nebraska, Iowa State, UNLV and Utah State, is in limbo right now, as schools who have previously offered may have filled their available slots in Strauss' opinion.

"He went up for an official visit with Derrick to Nebraska in October and everything seemed good, but we haven't heard from (Nebraska coach Bo) Pelini in a while," Strauss said. "We told Jonathan that sometimes its better to reserve a spot because things fill up, but he wanted to concentrate on the season. Things are happening for him all at once right now and hopefully it will work out."