After the early signing period, the Florida Gators filled a lot of needs but there’s still a big need for defensive linemen in this class with just a month left before signing day.
One defensive line target the Gators are after is JUCO defensive end Dorian Gerald (6-3, 260, Florence, SC. College of the Canyons JUCO) who says Florida is after him hard right now.
“Everyday,” Gerald said on his talks with Florida. “They’ve been on me real hard and telling me they want me. I would say Florida and a couple of other schools but really Florida has been making a huge push to have me.”
New defensive line coach Sal Sunersi reached out to Gerald very quickly after he got the job with Florida and had a message for the lineman.
“He said I was one of the first ones he talked too,” he said on his talk with Sunseri. “He said I was a huge part of this class and he wants me. He said that I could come in and make an immediate impact because of the high qualities that I have. He thinks that I’m a difference maker.”
Sunseri reaching out to Gerald so quick was a gesture that the lineman didn’t take lightly at all.
“It means a lot, it just shows that I’m a priority,” Gerald said of Sunseri talking to him early on. “It really means, right now because I didn’t sign early and getting advice from people you really know how bad a school wants you by how hard they recruit you. Florida is really going hard.”
The first conversation between Gerald and Sunseri was also a chance for the two to get to know each other as the lineman didn’t know much about the new Gators assistant coach.
“I didn’t know who he was until they told me but now I know who he is,” he said on Sunseri. “He knows what he’s doing and he knows what it takes to get to the NFL so for him to think that I have the qualities to come in and help a program like Florida it means a lot.”
Sunseri and Dan Mullen have told Gerald that the Gators have a plan on how they want to use him if he chooses Florida.
“They told me that I would move around,” Gerald said. “They said I would play some defensive tackle and some defensive end.”
Mullen has also made sure to deliver a message that is stick with Gerald and the message has come up a lot.
“I feel like they all give me the same message that they need me,” he said on Mullen’s message to him. “One thing that I’ve heard and heard a lot is that this class want me complete without you. That’s really the message they bring and the line they tell me almost everyday.”
The Gators are just one of a few schools trying to get Gerald on campus in January but he only has one visit set up for sure at this time.
“I’m setting up my visits now,” Gerald said. “Miami wants me to come out so I think I may go out there, the week after that Texas A&M wants me to come out. I’m still working on that. Florida of course will be the last weekend. Arkansas wants me to come out too. I’m going to for sure go to Florida.
INSIDERS TAKE: Heading into visits, the Gators have a lot of momentum with Gerald and Florida plans to see the defensive lineman as soon as the dead period ends when they visit him in California.