Over the last few weeks the Florida Gators have handed out a select handful of offers to some highly rated prospects that have risen up recruiting boards this summer.
One of those prospects is defensive end Terrell Hall (6-5, 251, Washington D.C., St. John’s College High), who spoke to Florida Gators linebackers coach Randy Shannon two weeks ago about an his offer from the Gators.
“Coach Shannon was the one that offered me from Florida,” Hall said. “Florida had been telling me through Twitter that they were going to start recruiting me hard and then I got to speak briefly to Coach [Jim] McElwain and he pretty much told me the same thing, that they wanted to start building a relationship with me and then go from there.”
Hall has never visited the Gainesville campus but McElwain has talked to him about getting him down to the University of Florida.
“Coach McElwain said that he wanted me and my teammate [linebacker] Aaron Hansford to get down there for a visit this fall,” he said of McElwain’s message. “They are recruiting me really hard since we talked and I want to get down there for a visit.”
When the defensive end spoke to Shannon on the phone, Hall was told how the Gators could use him in their style of defense.
“Coach Shannon said that he wants me to duplicate what Dante Fowler did at Florida,” Hall said of Shannon’s message to him. “They want me as a strong side defensive end in the 3-4 so that I can kind of move around the line a little bit. They want me to have my hand in the ground some and me stand up some too.”
The Gators have a couple of things working in their favor and one of them is that Hall is close to a current Florida Gators player.
“I use to be a real big fan of Florida so I’ve always paid attention to Florida and I know a lot about Florida,” he said. “I know that one of my old friends Jalen Tabor is there now so that’s good that I know someone there. I know that Florida is in the best conference and I know that Florida is a good school.”
One thing is for sure and that is that Hall is hoping to get down to Gainesville for a visit, because of the things that he’s heard about the campus.
“I’m not sure when I will be able to get down there but I would love to visit them and it will probably be for an official,” Hall said of possible visits to Florida. “Everyone has told me about how beautiful the campus is so I want to check it out for myself.
Hall recently decommitted from the Ohio State Buckeyes and he says that several teams are coming after him hard now that he’s back on the board.
“Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Notre Dame are staying in contact and recruiting me hard,” he said. “I wouldn’t say I have a favorite but after the Alabama visit I think it made me say that I needed to open my eyes and explore all of my options and visit more schools. Ohio State was the biggest school I visited when I committed but now I know that I need to visit some more SEC schools and explore everyone.”
Over the next couple of weeks Hall plans to narrow down where he will take visits to this fall, but right he knows three schools that he will likely take officials.
“I haven’t booked any officials yet but right now if I had to pick the schools that I will take officials to then Alabama, Florida and Texas A&M would be them,” Hall said. “Those are the few schools that are staying in contact with me and recruiting me the most right now.”
INSIDERS TAKE: Hall seems like he’s open to several different schools right now but I still feel as if the Alabama Crimson Tide are the team to beat. Florida needs to get Hall on campus before you can really take his interest in the Gators seriously.