Cowart will continue to play the game, showing up to Under Armour week in Florida State shorts and carrying a Chucky doll, a tradition that has become synonymous with first-round defensive linemen at Florida.
But Cowart says that's more about showing two schools he really likes some love.
"I can't have any favorites," Cowart told 247Sports' Luke Stampenis. "I'm still considering Florida State, and the Chucky doll is just to scare other people and make them think I'm weird or something.
"Really I like the doll, because I look up to players like (Ndamukong) Suh and stuff and they're crazy, violent guys. Then once I realized where (Dominique) Easley got the doll from, his thing was 'kill the quarterback, kill the quarterback' or anybody with the ball. So I'm like, 'hey, I think the same way, so get me a doll too.' I don't know if you saw my tweet, but I might spray dye my hair gold too. We'll see."
Trying to sort through the flashy 'signs' Cowart's putting out to find out where he's leaning certainly isn't easy.
In fact, his decision may very well boil down to whether he's willing to take a leap of faith on Florida, the school he has been most closely associated with the last few years. With a new coach and defensive coordinator and no current high-level on-the-field success to show, going to Florida would be about Cowart building his own legacy.
New Florida coach Jim McElwain has been trying to sell Cowart on recruiting for the Gators and being the leader of a turnaround at a once-elite program.
"Hey, I'm confident in what I do, 10-2 at Colorado State," McElwain told Cowart, the five-star lineman explained. "I feel like I can go to Florida and get the train running."
McElwain's pitch was simple: We're not far away. Bring a few studs with you and we can win big.
"The only thing he asked from me is recruit," Cowart said. "I want to play with other great players too. That's the thing with Florida State, all my guys are already established and they're already committed to Florida State. So now it's like, do I make my own squad? I have a lot of guys that are willing to make that move. Or do I just stay with the team that I've been with and keep it going and win rings and all that stuff? It's a win-win."
Cowart said Auburn also remains in the hunt with Muschamp there now, and he plans to take an official visit there on the weekend of Jan. 16.
His other official visits, tentatively, are to UCLA on Jan. 23 and Florida State on Jan. 30.
"I know I want to do Florida State, they want their visit to be the last visit," Cowart said. "I want to do UCLA with Jeffery Holland and Ryan Davis, we all want to go to UCLA. We'll do Auburn on January the 16th. Florida's in there, but I go there a lot. It might be an unofficial. I might not do an official to Florida, because I only have three left."
There's enough uncertainty that Cowart pushed back his initial commitment timeline from the Under Armour All-America Game this week.
"I didn't commit during this game because I didn't know," he said. "If I would have known, then no doubt I would have went to the school I was comfortable in that I knew where my heart was. But I'm having a hard time figuring that out because this is a lot of stuff going on."
One is just where he stands on new Florida defensive coordinator Geoff Collins. It's hard to build relationships quickly, but he has liked what he's seen and heard from the former Mississippi State assistant so far.
"I talk to him a lot, he's a great guy. I asked him, 'Well hey coach, can I trust you? Because I'm going to narrow this thing down. I know you're new,'" Cowart said.
"My thing is I attack coaches, like I go at you with questions and how I feel and what I want done. I'm looking to get out of there in three years. I will run through a wall if you tell me that's going to get me to the next level. I'm loyal to the game, I'm loyal to who's coaching me, so are you willing to be real with me and tell me what's up?"
Whether Collins can convince Cowart, one of the nation's most coveted players, that he's the coach who can get him to the NFL as a high draft pick remains to be seen.
Collins' track record as Mississippi State has caught the Armwood star's eye, though.
"He has a lot of guys. I can't remember the names, but a lot of guys at Mississippi State that play that Dante Fowler position. That's what I call it," Cowart said. "Lot of people call it the hybrid, stand-up defensive end position. But he has a lot of guys that played that position. Third down, he sees me getting in there, rushing the quarterback and standing up. He's like a young Muschamp, that's the rumor going around."
The Gators need a star in the 2015 recruiting class, and if they can land Cowart, he can go a long way toward building his 'own squad' and bringing in the talent to help Florida compete on a national level again.
