Florida jumps into McGirt’s recruitment

Offensive line coach Mike Summers has taken an active approach in recruiting since arriving at Florida and the past two weeks he’s been on the road recruiting the top offensive linemen around the country.

Last week, Summers visited offensive lineman Emanuel McGirt (6-5, 271, Durham, NC, Hillside) for the first time and walked away impressed by him. The next day McGirt received good news from head coach Will Muschamp.

“Florida offered me last week, it was Coach Muschamp the head coach who offered me over the phone,” McGirt said. “Coach Muschamp said that I was a high priority to them and that they were going to recruit me hard. He said that I’m high on the board and that they want me and he said that I could be a future All-American at Florida.”

The offer didn’t surprise McGirt though because he had already heard the news was coming from Summers the night before when the two spoke over the phone.

“I really knew the night before that I was going to get the offer because Coach Summers told me over the phone,” he said. “He came to see me in practice on Wednesday and he said that I did good and that I looked bigger than they thought I was because in my film I was only like 250 pounds but now I’m 275-pounds.”

When McGirt spoke to the veteran offensive line coach he found out where the Gators would like to see him play in college.

“Coach Summers said that he sees me fitting in at left tackle and at worst at right tackle,” McGirt said. “He said that he wants me to know both positions in case something happens and I have to move. Overall they want me as a tackle though.”

The Hillside prospect respects the message Summers had for him and says that the offensive line coach is an old school type of coach with a laid back personality.

“He was a real cool coach and an old school kind of coach,” McGirt said. “When he was at my school he went around to all of my teachers and counselors asking them about me and then he talked to my coach about me. He wanted the whole schools opinion of me as a person.”

With Summers leaving a good impression on McGirt he says that he plans to visit and he has one player in particular he would like to meet.

“Yes, for sure I’m going to visit Florida either for a visit or for a camp,” McGirt said. “My favorite player is D.J. Humphries so I want to go down there and see him and see Coach Muschamp in person.”

Now that McGirt has landed an offer from the Gators his plans to stay instate have changed a little and he says that three schools are recruiting him the hardest.

“Florida, North Carolina, North Carolina State are the three schools standing out to me right now,” McGirt said. “At first I thought I wanted to stay in state but once Florida offered me then I said I couldn’t turn them down just for staying in state. Florida is a good program and I need to at least visit them to see if I like it.”

Florida may end up having the last chance to impress McGirt as he says he will visit Gainesville in June and maybe commit following the visit.

“I want to commit sometime in June,” McGirt said. “Maybe after I visit Florida.”

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.