Spanish Fort senior slot receiver Jacob Godfrey impressed at the Bryant Vincent Prospect Camp at UAB July 28, earned an offer and pledged his commitment to the Blazers.

Although only listed at 5-foot-9 and 175 pounds, Godfrey said he has always played bigger than his frame.

“I feel like a lot of people would think speed but my mom, she always taught me I may be 5-9 but I play like I’m 6-5 so I feel like that’s my biggest strength,” he said at the Baldwin County Media Day July 13.

He backed that up in the weight room this offseason where he recorded a max power clean of 300 pounds and maxed out in the squat rack at 500 pounds in March.

It was Godfrey’s understanding of The Toro Way that helped him reach his current level of play and it was Vincent who establish that tradition in Spanish Fort.

The newly named interim head coach of the UAB Blazers was the head coach of the Toros from 2007 to 2010 where he turned around the program and won the Class 5A state title in his final season. On his coaching staff was current Spanish Fort head coach Chase Smith.

“The strength that I knew coming in was the standard and the epitome of what it is to be a Toro, what we say is The Toro Way, which I was blessed to be a part of starting that years ago,” Smith said at the media day event. “These kids, their mindset, their standard of excellence and what they bring every day with their commitment and the competitive nature and grit of what it means to be a Toro.”

That background helped Smith earn the trust of the locker room when Godfrey said he established his true colors right off the bat.

“When he first came in, one of the first things – I’ll never forget – he told us, was that he is a Spanish Fort Toro at heart,” Godfrey said. “I think since us knowing he is a Spanish Fort Toro, it gave us a lot of confidence. It wasn’t like an outsider was coming in.”

Godfrey said he has liked the way the Spanish Fort offense has been coming together in the offseason with a new quarterback in Brayden Walker.

“I’m really excited about our offense; I feel like we have a lot of athletes who can play multiple positions. I’m excited about Brayden, our quarterback, I think he’s really poised and a great leader,” Godfrey said. “Being behind our old quarterback (Brendon) Byrd, I think he learned a lot and I think that pushed him to be the best version of himself.”

The Toros open the regular season Aug. 19 at Fairhope.