Florida Gators pick up a commitment from 2019 safety

The Florida Gators hosted several big name prospects on campus on Saturday and they picked up a commitment from a prospect that is still three years away from signing.

2019 safety Jaleel McRae (6-1, 185, New Smyrna Beach, FL High) committed to Florida on Saturday after receiving an offer earlier in the day.

“I always wanted to play for Florida so that’s why I committed so early,” McRae said. “I went up there today [Saturday] and the coaches treated me like I was their son and it felt like home. I think the coaches will be a father figure to me when I get up there to play.”

Florida Gators head coach Jim McElwain was the coach that offered McRae and gave the 2019 athlete some solid advice.

“Coach McElwain, he just told me to always keep God first,” he said. “He said to always do good in class because he wants me in Gainesville. He told me that he was excited to have me and he was glad to offer me.”

McRae also got the chance to meet new defensive backs coach Torrian Gray and the safety likes what he saw out of the Gators coach.

“I got to meet Coach Gray when I first got up there for the visit,” McRae said. “Coach Gray said he was proud of me and proud that I committed. He keeps it 100 with you and I like coaches that keep it 100 with you. He told me that he likes me at safety so that I can come down and hit someone.”

Growing up McRae went to Florida games with his dad and he’s happy to be joining the Gators in a few years as a defensive backs.

“It means a lot for me to join DBU [Defensive back university] now,” he said. “I’m very excited to be the newest member of DBU. I loved the campus and everything about Florida. To play in front of 92,000 people for DBU is going to be amazing.”

McRae has his commitment behind him and now he’s focusing on getting some guys to join him in Gainesville.

“I’m going to start recruiting for Florida,” McRae said. “I’m going to start recruiting James Cook and try and get him to come to Florida with me.”

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.