“All love for the Florida Gators” for Copeland

Spring football is coming to end, which means the spring evaluation period for the Florida Gators coaching staff is close to being finished.

On Friday, the Gators had coaches watching several spring games including two of them who were watching receiver Jacob Copeland’s (6-0, 192, Pensacola, FL. Escambia) spring game.

Florida was joined in Pensacola by coaches from Alabama and Ole Miss and that was something Copeland noticed.

“It means a lot because all of the coaches stay on me and let me know they want me,” Copeland said of all the college coaches at his game. “All of those coaches promised me that they were going to show up and they all made it, that show me that they want me.”

Linebackers coach Tim Skipper and receivers coach Kerry Dixon was in town representing the Gators and Copeland says that he’s always hearing from Florida.

“Just knowing that they showed up means a lot, they’re always showing me love,” he said on the Florida coaches showing up. “Just knowing that they came all the way to see me even though I didn’t do too much was good. I liked that and all love for the Florida Gators.”

Copeland visited Florida for the Gators spring game last month and he says things are still going well between the two parties.

“Everything been good and I’m just going to stay talking to them,” Copeland said of his talks with Florida. “They’ve been talking to since my freshman and things are still good. Everything is going good with them and they keep me updated on things.”

Last year offensive line coach Mike Summers was the area recruiter for Copeland but he says having Skipper as that guy this year has helped Florida.

“We have a good relationship, it has made things better with them because he’s a cool coach,” he said of his relationship with Tim Skipper. “Me and Coach Dixon have a good relationship too, it’s like a father figure/brother relationship. We talk and clown around a lot with each other.”

Dixon and Copeland talk a lot over the phone and the receiver’s coach is just sending a message of how important the receiver is to Florida.

“He’s just telling me that they need me,” Copeland said of Dixon’s message to him. “He says that I’m a big time player and that Antonio Callaway is going to leave so he needs a big-timer like me to step in.”

Copeland has a lot of teams trying to get him on campus this summer but he only has one visited set up right now.

“I’m going to take some visits this summer, so far I know I’m going to Auburn on June 3rd,” he said of summer plans. “After that I will set more up to see my top five schools. Florida, Auburn, Alabama, Ole Miss, and Tennessee.”

 

INSIDERS TAKE: Florida has been recruiting Copeland the hardest since his freshman year and that continues. Right now the Gators have positioned themselves in a good place with Copeland as they head into summer visits.

Andrew Spivey
Andrew always knew he wanted to be involved with sports in some capacity. He began by coaching high school football for six years before deciding to pursue a career in journalism. While coaching, he was a part of two state semifinal teams in the state of Alabama. Given his past coaching experience, he figured covering recruiting would be a perfect fit. He began his career as an intern for Rivals.com, covering University of Florida football recruiting. After interning with Rivals for six months, he joined the Gator Country family as a recruiting analyst. Andrew enjoys spending his free time on the golf course and watching his beloved Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewSpiveyGC.