Exclusive: Ocoee DB Zachary Tobe announces his college decision

Editor’s note: Ocoee rising senior defensive back Zachary Tobe has written the following first-person story to announce where he’ll play college football. 

The 6-foot-1, 175-pound Tobe is a three-star recruit, the No. 69 safety in the nation and the No. 124 overall player in Florida on the 247Sports composite rankings. Tobe received more than 15 Power 5 offers and verbally committed to North Carolina in June. 

Tobe had 31 tackles, two tackles for loss, two interceptions, forced a fumble and recovered another in nine games in 2021.  

Honestly, this decision did not come easy. It took a lot of thinking and time to figure out what the best decision for me is.

Committing is fun and cool, but you also have to sit down and figure out that you have to live there and be there for four years. I knew I would be doing myself a disservice if I didn’t make the right choice for me.

I’m very appreciative to the University of North Carolina staff and all they did for me from when they offered me in January. They became like family to me. They didn’t treat me wrong or anything like that, this is just me doing what is best for me. It didn’t have to do with the school or the coaching staff or anything like that. Having said that, I’m officially decommitting from the University of North Carolina.

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I just thought to myself, ‘If I had to sign tomorrow, would I be comfortable?’ The answer kept coming back, ‘No.’ I know it doesn’t look good for me, decomitting, but I have to do what’s right for me.

I’m committing to the University of Illinois.

Why I chose my pick for college

For me, I have to go where I feel most comfortable. Somewhere that I feel I can stand out and be different. Choosing Illinois isn’t an easy decision at all, but I have to use my head. I’m thinking about who I’m going to be, who I’m going to be with, how many guys they’re recruiting at my position and what the culture is there.

With coach (Ryan) Walters, he can really develop me. Last year, they had a player at my position who got drafted and it was his first year playing safety. That shows the kind of coach he is and what can do with me when I get up there.

Coach (Aaron) Henry, the cornerbacks coach up there, I connected with him as well. I’m going in as a corner, so being able to connect with both secondary coaches really stood out to me, too.

My official visit there was everything I could imagine. It was my first time being in Chicago. All I heard before I got there is that it was cold and snowed all the time. But it was the nicest school I’d been to. Everything -- the coaches, the players, the relationships I built with other recruits – everything made me feel like I was at home.

I do want to thank my dad for always being there for me, for training me since I was five and believing in me when other people didn’t. I also want to thank my mom for being there for me outside of sports and making sure I was well-balanced. I want to thank coach Shep (Ocoee head coach Aaron Sheppard) and all my coaches for getting me to this point and I also want to thank all of my teammates.

I’m done with my recruiting. I’m completely shutting it down.

#FamILLy

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Ocoee DB Zachary Tobe discusses his college choice | Exclusive