TAMPA — Freedom senior defensive back Nate Godwin, who committed to Minnesota in October, announced Friday that he received a scholarship offer from USF.
"Coach (Willie) Taggart from #USF just offered me a scholarship! 2nd offer from USF!" Godwin said via his Twitter account.
Godwin, ranked No. 40 in the Tampa Bay Times' HomeTeam 100, had 47 tackles, five passes defensed, two interceptions and three touchdowns for the Patriots (3-7) this fall.
"Very excited about my 2nd offer from my hometown school," Godwin said via text message Friday night. "Makes me happy the new coach is interested. Taggart is a good guy."
At 6-foot, 190 pounds, Godwin was a consensus three-star recruit who also had offers from West Virginia, Iowa State and Alabama-Birmingham, among others. He had been offered a scholarship by USF's previous coaching staff and from Taggart while he was at Western Kentucky.
Godwin, who lists himself as a "Minnesota DB commit" in his Twitter biography, has been coy about his pledge to the Golden Gophers in the week since Taggart was hired at USF. The day after Taggart was announced as USF's new coach, Godwin cryptically wrote "decisions, decisions" on his Twitter account.
He went on his official visit to Minnesota earlier this month, saying, "I was freezing on my #minnesota visit" and then posted a picture of himself in a Golden Gophers jacket and winter cap.
Current USF commitments have been pressuring Godwin to reconsider USF, including Tampa Catholic receiver Zach Benjamin, who told Godwin to "join the fam" on his Twitter account.
Taggart currently has a class of 16 commitmets, including Benjamin, Plant's Mitchell Wright, Robinson's Bruce Hector and Conner Rafferty, and Jesuit's Robert Garcia and Cameron Ruff.