On Saturday the Florida Gators had several big prospects on campus to watch spring practice and that included a few players from the state of Georgia.
Defensive end Colby Wooden (6-4, 230, Lawrenceville, GA. Archer) was one of those guys on campus and he enjoyed getting to see everything at Florida.
“It went good, I enjoyed it,” Wooden said of his Florida visit. “I got to tour the campus, see the facilities and watch spring practice as well get to have some one on one time with the coaches and the players.”
While on campus, Wooden got the chance to talk with several coaches including head coach Dan Mullen.
“I talked with Coach [Dan] Mullen, Coach [Todd] Grantham, Coach Otis [Yelverton] and Coach [Christian] Robinson,” he said of the coaches he spoke to on the visit. “I got to spent a lot of time around those guys.”
Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham spent the most time with Wooden on Saturday as explained why the Gators need the defensive end.
“That they need somebody with my skill at my position,” Wooden said of Grantham’s message to him. “He said he needs my skill level at the BUCK position where I can roll down to defensive end or drop back to outside linebacker.”
Wooden who plays defensive end in high school was excited to hear about where the Gators want him to play in the Florida defense.
“I’m excited to play that, that’s somewhere I want to play in college,” he said of his thoughts on the BUCK position. “They got after the quarterback there during practice and didn’t leave the quarterback with much time back there. I liked the scheme.”
Mullen also spent some time with Wooden on Saturday as he explained what he wants out of his players.
“He was just telling me about to what expect at Florida,” Wooden said. “He said that if I’m willing to work hard and trust in the process than Florida is the right choice for me but if I’m not willing to work hard than Florida isn’t the place for me.”
This was Wooden’s first visit to Gainesville and he enjoyed his two-day trip in Gainesville and what all Florida has to offer.
“I enjoyed everything, the warm weather is nice,” he said on his thoughts on Florida. “The facilities were nice and the history of winning and the tradition there. I enjoyed myself.”
After the visit to Florida, Wooden didn’t want to name leaders but admitted that the Gators helped their chances with him this weekend.
“Yeah it definitely helped,” Wooden said on if this visit helped Florida’s chance. “Right now I’m just taking everything in with everyone but Florida, Clemson, UGA, Auburn and Tennessee are recruiting me hard.”
INSIDERS TAKE: Wooden said he plans to return to Florida for another visit but he isn’t in any rush to make a decision.