Florida leads for Alabama cornerback

The state of Alabama suffered through rough weather on Tuesday but Florida assistant coach Coleman Hutzler braved the conditions to visit one of Florida’s top targets at his school.

That prospect was cornerback Jalen Thompson (5-11, 170, Mobile, AL St. Paul’s)who was glad to see the Gators at his school even though it was a short visit.

“Coach Hutzler of Florida came by my school on Tuesday,” Thompson said. “It went well, I couldn’t talk to him that much but I got the chance to call him after school. He told me that he liked the way I handled myself and that everyone had good things to say about me. It was great to see him though.”

Even though Hutzler was the first coach to visit Thompson, he isn’t the coach that speaks with the cornerback most frequently.

“I talk to Coach T-Rob a lot on the phone actually,” Thompson said. “He tells me that I fit into the defense well. He tells me that I could play the nickel back or the blitz backer. He says that I can get on the field earlier as a freshman at that position.”

Thompson has tried his best to visit Gainesville over the last two months but due to baseball the talented corner has been unable to. He hopes that will change soon.

“I’m going to visit Florida after spring practice finally,” Thompson said. “I want to see how good the campus is and the facilities. I just want to see how everything is down there and how well I interact with the coaches.”

Despite never visiting Florida before, the Alabama cornerback grew up rooting for Florida and that gives the Gators the early edge in his recruitment.

“Florida is my leader right now still,” Thompson said. “I’m going to visit Florida, Auburn again, Alabama, Georgia and Miami this summer. I still plan to make my decision in August before my senior year this year.”

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.