Monday was the first day the Florida Gators football coaches hit the road to do some recruiting during the bye week and the Florida Gators recruiting efforts were spent wisely as the coaches hit as many schools as they could.
Linebackers coach Randy Shannon spent most of his Monday afternoon by watching Miami Hurricanes defensive end commit Josh Uche (6-1, 217, Miami, FL Columbus) practice.
“Coach Shannon was at my practice on Monday, watching me and talking to my coaches,” Uche said. “We aren’t allowed to talk to him, but he talked to my coaches for a good bit. They said that Coach Shannon really liked me though.”
Despite Uche not being able to talk to the Florida Gators coach on Monday, Uche has gotten to the Hurricanes commit quite well over the phone.
“I’ve been talking to Coach Shannon a lot over the phone for the last few months,” he said. “He said that he likes me a lot and that I can play linebacker for them but on third down he was wants me as a rush end so that I can go and get the quarterback. He said that I’m a hybrid type of player and I like that.”
Uche plays mainly defensive end in high school but Shannon wants him to move around in college. That’s something Uche believes he can do with the right coaching.
“I know that I will have to work on my coverage skills some but overall I’m comfortable as a linebacker,” Uche said. “I need a coach that can really teach me some things and work with me on it because I’ve only gotten a little practice as a linebacker. I just need to rep it more.”
One thing going in the Florida Gators favor is that Uche has a good relationship with Shannon and he believes in the Gators linebackers’ coach’s ability to coach the position.
“I like Coach Shannon because he’s from down here in my area and he’s down to Earth,” he said of Shannon’s personality. “I know he has coached some of the best linebackers to play the game so he knows what he’s doing. He’s a guy that I would like to play for.”
Uche has been committed to the Miami Hurricanes since last March but he says that instate rival is recruiting him the hardest at this point in his recruitment.
“Florida is the school that is showing me the most interest right now,” Uche said. Florida and Alabama really have been talking to me the most and they’re also having the most success. They have both have really good defenses and good coaching.”
This summer Uche visited Gainesville for a Florida Gators recruiting camp and that’s where he earned his offer and he says he will return to Gainesville soon.
“I’m going to take an official to Florida and I’m going to visit Florida for the Florida State game too,” he said. “I’m also going to take officials to Alabama, Boston College, Miami and to USF.”
INSIDERS TAKE: Florida has a great shot at flipping Uche if they continue to push for him as he really likes Randy Shannon. Uche is a guy that can play well as an outside linebacker and also is a really good pass rusher who had really good camps at Florida and Alabama.