Francois to officially visit the Florida Gators

Head coach Jim McElwain and the Florida Gators are searching for a quarterback in the Class of 2015 after Sheriron Jones decommitted from the Gators last weekend.

On Thursday McElwain visited with Florida State quarterback commit Deondre Francois (6-0, 191, Bradenton, FL IMG Academy) as he wanted to be the first coach to meet with Francois.

“I had a good visit with Coach McElwain on Thursday,” Francois said. “I thought he was a funny guy. He’s a cool guy that seems like an honest person too. He wanted me to know that I still had an offer from Florida and that he thought I could be successful in his offense.

McElwain explained to Francois that he knew he was committed elsewhere but that the Gators were going to continue to pursue him.

“Coach McElwain said that he wants me but that he isn’t going to pressure me because he knows I’m committed to Florida State,” Francois said. “He said that he’s going to continue to recruit me hard and he hopes that I’m interested in Florida.”

Francois, who has a really good arm, has watched the McElwain’s offense in the past and he believes that he can be successful under his system at Florida.

“I know he has a nice offense system and his offense is one that I would like to play in,” Francois said. “He won a few national championships at Alabama with his offense and it seems like his offense would be a good fit for me. Coach McElwain says he thinks I’m the best fit for his offense.”

The quarterback still remains solid to Florida State but he does plan to take three official visits in January.

“I plan to take an official visit to Florida in January,” Francois said. “I also plan to take an official to Florida State and Tennessee in January. I’m not sure if I’m going to take anymore officials or not.”

 

INSIDERS TAKE: Florida has a decent shot at flipping Francois because FSU has three quarterbacks committed to them, plus Francois grew up pulling for the Gators. Francois didn’t like the offense and the way things were going under Will Muschamp, so that turned him away from Florida originally. Getting Francois on an official visit in January would be huge.

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.