Florida Gators take the lead for Perry

Over the next month or so the Florida Gators will host prospects on campus for unofficial visits nearly every weekend for either a junior day or for a spring practice.

Last Friday was a rare day in February for the Gators as they hosted safety Spencer Perry (6-3, 202, Bradenton, FL IMG Academy) who brought along a family member with him as the Gators have jumped up Perry’s recruitment board.

“I went to Florida on Friday for a visit with my dad,” Perry said. “It was a good visit and Florida leads for me now but all of the coaches wasn’t there so I just met with special teams coordinator [Greg Nord] and he took us around the school and around the football facilities so it was a fine visit.”

Florida’s facilities have taken a hit as of late but Perry says that the Gators facilities were nice and he enjoyed the tour.

“The facilities were great,” Perry said. “They have some of the best facilities around and they have the new indoor practice facility going up soon so it should be nice. I got to see the plans for that facility. It’s going to be new and the best of the best.”

One thing that stood out to Perry and his father was the trip to see Ben Hill Griffin stadium, a stadium, Perry says, he has wanted to visit for some time now.

“The Swamp is a pretty stadium and is huge,” Perry said. “I think they hold close to 90,000 but the one thing that is unique about it is that the sideline seats are really close. Fans can basically touch the players so I think that’s what makes the stadium so unique. I loved getting to see the stadium though.”

Head coach Jim McElwain was out of town with family on Friday so Nord was responsible for taking Perry around on the tour and according to the IMG prospect Nord impressed Perry and his father.

“He was telling me how about how great the program was why we were going around,” Perry said. “He was talking to my dad and just showing us what Florida was all about. My dad was really impressed by everything he was talking to us about and he loves Gainesville and the Swamp.”

After the tour was over Perry got to sit down with defensive backs coach Kirk Callahan to talk about the Florida’s plans for him.

“I talked to coach Callahan about everything too, we are building a good relationship with each other,” Perry said. “He said that I would fit in well and that they have a great system in place. I know he has produced some great defensive backs in the past so I could fit in there. I like coach a lot so far.”

McElwain missed last week’s visit from Perry but the IMG safety says he will be back in Gainesville soon to meet the Gators head man.

“I’m going back up to Florida this weekend for a visit,” Perry said. “I want to meet with all of the coaches and meet coach McElwain and talk to him about everything Florida has to offer.”

 

INSIDERS TAKE: Florida has taken the lead for Perry early on but Auburn is likely to be a factor for him because he’s from there but the Gators are definitely doing a great job on him.

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.