Florida Gators check the key boxes for Truesdell

Last week the Florida Gators picked up a big defensive tackle when Jordon Scott committed to Florida, but the Gators are in the hunt for more bodies at the position.

One of the top targets at the position is defensive tackle Tyrone Truesdell (6-3, 325, Augusta, GA Laney), who had two Gators assistant coaches come by his school this spring.

“Coach [Chris] Rumph and Coach [Geoff] Collins both came by school twice this spring together,” Truesdell said. “It actually went real good, I ended up talking to them a lot through Twitter and everything. It really means a lot, it shows that they really want me there because they came by twice.”

Rumph has made sure to sell early playing time and a need for tackles to Truesdell while recruiting the Georgia prospect early on.

“Right now, he’s telling me basically that I got a good chance of playing early there as long as I put in the work,” he said of what Rumph told him. “He said that as long as I’m willing to be coached up then I’ll be good to play. He said that I’m already used to the technique that they play because the hardest front to play in is the 3-4 and I already do that.”

The Laney prospect has played all over the defensive line in high school and he believes he’s ready for the test of college football.

“They see me as a three-technique that can also play some nose tackle,” Truesdell said on where Florida likes him. “I play three-technique at my school now so that’s natural to me. I think that the three is the hardest thing to get down so since I’ve already gotten that down then I’m pretty much straight.”

Over the last few months Florida has really turned up the heat on Truesdell and that’s due in large part to the relationship Rumph has built with him.
“We have a pretty good relationship, I can pretty much talk to him about everything,” he said on his relationship with Rumph. “It’s pretty much like a parent relationship or like a family member. The chemistry is there and it’s real easy to talk to him.”

Truesdell is a prospect that hasn’t been to Florida, but he already knows that the Gators check off his three most wanted things in a school.

“I have a lot of interest in Florida because just knowing that I can go there and be that guy is good,” Truesdell said on his interest in Florida. “I actually have family that lives in Florida and academically they’re good. The atmosphere is there too, so the main three things I look for in a school is there. Academics, atmosphere and the coaching is all there.”

The defensive tackle will change the fact that he hasn’t visited Gainesville this coming weekend when he gets the chance to meet some of the Florida coaches.

“I’m visiting Florida this Saturday coming up,” he said. “I’m trying to stay through the weekend. I’m looking forward to meeting the coaches that I haven’t met before and run into some players. I want to talk to the players to see how their experience has gone so far.”

Truesdell, who has over a dozen offers from many in the SEC, is looking to narrow things down soon over the summer months are over.

“Right now I just want to go on some unofficial visits and narrow it down to my top five,” Truesdell said. “Auburn, Kentucky, Louisville, Ole Miss and Oklahoma are schools that I want to see this summer.”

INSIDERS TAKE: Florida is in really good shape for Truesdell heading into this weekend’s visit as the Gators have shown early playing time to the big defensive tackle. Chris Rumph has also done a great job of building that relationship with the defensive tackle.

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.