David Coleman Jr. and Jeau-Pierre “JP” Furtado will not have to say their goodbyes when graduation time rolls around in December. The First Academy teammates, who have known each other for many years through a friendship developed at FBU camps, have both committed to play college football at Bowling Green State University.
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Coleman was first to take the plunge, pledging to the Falcons during a campus visit to the Ohio school on June 7.
“I told (head coach) Eddie George before anybody and they were all excited, ecstatic,” Coleman said. “He had the whole coaching staff come in and dap me up and stuff. It was surreal. All of the hard work I’ve put into this. Someone wanted to take a chance on me, and it worked out.”
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After that, he put on the BG recruiting push, enticing Furtado to take a visit, and the ensuing trip turned into a commitment from Furtado, as well, this past weekend.
Interestingly, the pair are also side-by-side in the Sentinel’s current 2027 Central Florida Super60, ranked Nos. 10 and 11.
“I told coach (Richard) McNutt to watch JP and to watch some of our guys,” Coleman said, “and I told JP it’s a good school, and it’s a spot where you can play early. You’re in the middle of nowhere, so there are no distractions … so he did it.
“I was excited, definitely, because that’s someone I know coming to the same school with me, so I was definitely hyped. They called me as soon as he committed, coach McNutt.”
Furtado said Coleman’s commitment certainly played a part in his decision.
“It did. He gave me the gist of it and told me I was, ‘really going to like it’ and it was going to be ‘a really good experience when you go up there.’ He put a good word out for when I went up there so I was already expecting what I saw,” Furtado said. “The main thing with my decision was the coaching staff, really.
“It’s going to be a really fun experience, especially since I’ve been knowing Coleman for years, so we’ll probably head up there and be roommates and have a good time.”
Defensive line coach Clyde Simmons and defensive line analyst Lorenzo Styles were Furtado’s main recruiters, as was McNutt.
“They seemed really excited when I told them,” Furtado said. “I’m real fired up. I can’t wait to head up there and have a good season when I get up there. It’s a lot of relief. I already know where home is, so now all I gotta do is work and keep preparing.”
Coleman said he was swayed by what second-year head coach George, the former Ohio State Heisman Trophy winner, has in store for the Falcons, who were only 4-8 last year, but the George era is in its infancy.
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“I picked Bowling Green based on relationships, and I think what Eddie George is doing over there is something special and I wanted to be a part of it,” Coleman said. “I chopped it up with Eddie George, and he’s a really good person and a good coach.”
His main recruiter at BG was McNutt, who is the passing game coordinator and secondary coach for the Falcons and Coleman is excited.
“If I could leave right now, I would go,” Coleman said. “We chop it up on the phone here and there and they are good people. The campus was surprisingly beautiful. It’s not as big as, I guess, a normal campus, but it’s a beautiful campus.”
Coleman, who transferred to TFA from Sanford Seminole before last season, said the recruiting process can be a bit frustrating at times, but the 6-foot, 165-pound cornerback said it’s all a matter of putting things into perspective.
“At first I was (frustrated), but then I realized it’s my journey. It’s nobody else’s, so that’s what God led me toward,” Coleman said. “It was most definitely frustrating, because some days it was like, ‘Dang, I know I’m better than this guy,’ but when I stopped doing that, stopped comparing, it was just … I found that was the right move.”
He said it was difficult to pick between Bowling Green, Buffalo and Appalachian State, but in the end BG stood out.
“At first it was because I didn’t really know what I wanted, relationship-wise. But they got a plan for me and they’re telling me like what their goal is for me and that’s why I picked them,” Coleman said.
Furtado, a 6-2, 290-pound defensive lineman, said he also considered the recruiting process to be a bit frustrating.
“Here and there,” he said. “But I had people in my corner who really helped me.”
The 2026 season will be the first one in the past two years that TFA players can get back to the normal goals of fighting for positioning in the FHSAA state playoffs, having been banned from competing in the 2024 and 2025 seasons for rules violations. Both players said it lends a whole new anticipation to the upcoming year.
“I’m excited, like all of our guys, we want it this year. A chance to be in the playoffs and we are fixing to make a run, for sure,” Coleman said.
It’s equally motivating for Furtado.
“I feel like we really have a good chance to go to states this year and they finally took the muzzle off, so now we’re able to go out and show who we really are,” Furtado said. “We are all excited and amped up to finally be able to make a playoff run.”
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Chris Hays can be found on X.com @OS_ChrisHays.