Flipper wants a UNC commit

Last week the Gators visited several spring games to continue evaluating prospects in the 2015 recruiting class. One game they visited on Friday was to see North Carolina offensive line commit William Sweet (6-7, 280, Jacksonville, FL First Coast) in action against CeCe Jefferson.

“Florida was by my school last Friday for our spring game against Baker County,” Sweet said. “It was Coach [D.J.] Durkin that came by the school. It went good, real good actually. Florida has been recruiting me hard so it was nice to see them out there.”

Despite his recent commitment to North Carolina, Sweet admits that he continues to talk to Florida a good bit and that a strong message has been delivered to him.

“I talk to Florida pretty often actually,” he said. “I talk to Coach Durkin, Coach [Brian] White, Coach [Mike] Summers, Coach [Drew] Hughes, Coach [Derek] Lewis and I also talk to Coach [Will] Muschamp. I usually talk to one of them every few days. They all are telling me to do my research and just pray on everything and think about Florida.”

One thing that Will Muschamp has been preaching to Sweet  is the weight that a degree from Florida carries and the honor of playing instate.

“Coach Muschamp said that I’m a Jacksonville kid and that people would recognize me at Florida,” Sweet said. “He said that returning back home after playing for Florida and graduating will open up a lot of opportunities for me with my degree. Coach Muschamp always says that if I go to Florida that my parents will be able to see me play every week.”

Three weeks ago Sweet was on campus in Gainesville to see his cousin graduate and he walked across the street to see Will Muschamp and the staff after the ceremony.

“I visited Florida a few weeks ago when I was in town for my cousin’s graduation,” Sweet said. “I went down there to check out her graduation and just stopped by the football office to check in with everybody and say hello. It wasn’t a long visit but it was a good one.”

Florida isn’t letting Sweet rest easy on his commitment to the Tar Heels and the Gators still have an opening for him according to Sweet.

“I’m solid to North Carolina, I’m a Tar Heel,” Sweet said. “I’m a Tar Heel but I’m honored to be considered to be a Florida Gator and I’m still interested in the Gators. I’m not sure about visits yet but I do know that I want to take some official visits this fall.”

Not only is Florida doing a great job of recruiting Sweet but one of his teammates and a Gator commit is also recruiting him to Gainesville.

“Tristan [Payton] is always recruiting me to Florida,” Sweet said. “He’s my boy and he wants me at Florida. Let me tell you something about Tristan he’s a freak of nature. You can let him play any sport that he’s never played before and you can explain to him how to play and in a few minutes he will be doing great at it.”

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.