Florida Gators move up for Miami Hurricanes DE commit

Not only did the Florida Gators land five commitments from Friday Night Lights but they also offered several prospects that worked out during the event.

One of those prospects was Miami Hurricanes defensive end commit Josh Uche (6-1, 217, Miami, FL Columbus) who received the news from Florida Gators linebackers coach Randy Shannon.

“Coach Shannon was the coach that offered me,” Uche said. “He said that they really liked me and they have been wanting to recruit me.  He said that they liked me but wasn’t sure if I was interested in them. Since I had went up to the camp they figured I was interested so they are going to recruit me again.”

When Uche received the news from Shannon on Saturday the Miami commit guessed that Florida wants him to play multiple positions.

“I’m guessing they are recruiting me as an outside linebacker,” he said. “I worked out as a defensive end with Coach [Chris] Rumph on Friday and then I went and worked out as a linebacker with Coach Shannon for a few reps too. I’m guessing they see me as both.”

This was the first time for Uche to work with Shannon and he walked away impressed by the Gators’ linebackers coach.

“The camp was great with a lot of good competition,” Uche said. “I liked working with Coach Shannon. He’s very down to earth and a cool guy. He’s real as a coach.”

One of the biggest moments of Uche’s visit was the chance he had to meet Florida Gators head coach Jim McElwain.

“Coach Shannon took me to meet Coach McElwain on Saturday,” he said. “He was a very energetic guy and I liked that about him. He told me that I needed to be a Gator and stuff like that.”

Now that Florida has offered Uche the Gators are a team in the mix for him but they aren’t alone, another SEC team is coming on strong as well.

“This is a big offer for me,” Uche said. “They are a big SEC school and a lot of people are committing there. A lot of kids I know are starting to shift towards them, so it does mean a lot. Miami is still in the lead but nobody is out of it for me. Florida is number two for me. Alabama is up there too.”

 

INSIDERS TAKE: Uche earned offers from both Alabama and Florida after working out at the camps there. He’s kind of in-between guy who probably ends up as an outside linebacker/rush end kind of guy in college.

 

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.