The Florida Gators are hoping to rebuild their defensive backfield in the class of 2017, as the depth in Gainesville is getting low and will only get lower after the 2016 football season.
Last week new defensive backs coach Torrian Gray paid a visit to one of the Gators top targets when he visited athlete Markquese Bell (6-3, 190, Bridgeton, NJ High) at his school.
“Coach Gray came by on Wednesday and just watched me practice, it was good to see him,” Bell said. “He couldn’t really talk to me, but it means a lot that he came that far just to see me. It shows that they want me real bad.”
While Bell and Gray didn’t a get a chance to talk last week the two communicate a lot over the phone and through Twitter, according to the athlete.
“I talk to Coach Gray, he’s the main person that I talk too,” he said. “He hits me up about every other day and he just wants to get me down there on a visit. He wants me to see the rest of the campus that I wasn’t able to see the last time I was down there.”
If you have been following recruiting since Gray was hired then you know that he likes long, athletic defensive backs and that’s a message that he’s giving to Bell on a daily basis.
“He said that I could make an early impact on the team if I was to choose Florida,” Bell said of Gray’s message to him. “He said that they need big, long athlete safeties and corners and that my size fits that. He thinks that I can play early there.”
Bell visited the Gators in March but didn’t get to spend a whole lot of time in Gainesville. He plans to return soon to get a better feel for what the Florida Gators have to offer.
“I have a lot of interest in Florida but I want to get back down there and see the stuff I didn’t see before,” he said of his interest in Florida. “I like how Florida just produces good defensive backs and I think I fit in well there. I’m planning on visiting Florida this summer and I hope to see learn more then.”
The New Jersey athlete has yet to cut his list or a name a top team in his recruitment, but he knows one team that will make the cut.
“I haven’t narrowed my list yet but Florida will be one of the teams that makes my cut,” Bell said. “I have a lot of schools hitting me up on a daily basis so I just need to narrow it down so I can make my decision after football season is over.”
INSIDERS TAKE: Bell is a big target for the Florida Gators and the New Jersey athlete says that the Gators are making him a priority right now. Bell is an athlete that can play either safety or cornerback in college.