Jawaan Taylor: Florida Gators Class of 2016 signee

Jawaan Taylor

School: Cocoa High School

Hometown: Cocoa, FL

Height: 6-4

Weight: 330

Position: Offensive Line

Rivals Ranking: 3-star

Recruited by: Mike Summers

Notable: The big offensive lineman worked hard to get his Florida offer, perhaps harder than any other recruit in the class. Taylor grew up a Florida fan and dreamed of wearing the Orange and Blue but he had a problem. The Florida coaching staff asked Taylor to lose weight before they would offer him a scholarship. Taylor weighed around 380-385 pounds when he showed up on Florida’s campus for a camp and took the staff’s comments to heart. He dropped nearly 60 pounds to get into a more manageable frame and earned a scholarship from the Florida staff. That’s commitment.

Quotable: I knew I wasn’t at the right weight, so I basically knew after Florida told me I needed to cut down that I had too,” Taylor said. “It was motivation and that’s why I lost 50 something pounds since this summer, because I wanted to be in better shape for college. I weigh 330 now and I was 383 this summer.”

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC