Monday was a busy day for the Florida Gators coaching staff as several 2018 offers were sent out as the staff closes out the evaluation period this week.

Linebackers coach Tim Skipper was one of the coaches who offered a prospect when he offered linebacker Richard Jibunor (6-3, 206, Athens, GA. Christian) after visiting his school.

“It was Coach Skipper, the linebackers coach,” Jibunor said of the coach who offered him. “He just said he likes the way I move and how fast I am and he likes my size. He’s just watched my film and he just loves me a lot and saw me today he was very pleased with what he saw and he was just so happy. He was really recruiting me hard. He said he wanted me to come there one hundred percent.”

Jibunor plays some linebacker and defensive end in high school but Skipper explained how Florida would use him if he chooses the Gators.

“He’s recruiting me more as an outside linebacker,” he said on where Skipper wants him to play. “He told me someone that’s I’m an outside linebacker and someone he could blitz a lot and use as a defensive end from time to time. That’s what I want to play, so he told me the right things.”

Receivers coach Kerry Dixon is the area recruiter for Jibunor and visited him earlier this spring and explained that the Gators have been watching the linebacker for years now.

“When he came he said they’ve been watching me since my sophomore year. They hadn’t really met me but they’ve been pulling my film and watching how I play every game, “ Jibunor said of what Kerry Dixon has told him. “ He was impressed by my size. He said I was bigger than what he was expecting. They were very impressed by my speed and everything and he was like he couldn’t wait to go back and tell the coaches about what he saw and he was happy.”

“ He was like, “Hey I would be happy if you wanted to switch to wide receiver’. So I told him ‘no I don’t want that’,” he said of Dixon. “He went back and told the linebackers coach and everything. Coach Skipper, we’ve been talking every day before he came to see me today. We talk on the phone, we talk on Twitter, we talk all the time. He came today and it was the first time he saw me and he was very impressed by what he saw.”

Monday was the first time for Skipper and Jibunor to meet but the relationship has been going strong for a while now.

“He’s awesome,” he said on his relationship with Tim Skipper. “It was awesome seeing him today, because it’s just surprising that we’ve been so close and I’ve never met him, so seeing him today was something very nice. I was like ‘Wow, this is the coach I’ve been talking to a lot’. He just laughed and was like he can’t wait to get me over to Florida this summer. I’m definitely planning a visit to Florida.”

Jibunor has had several big name schools offer him lately but he admits that Florida was a school he was waiting on.

“It means a lot to me,” Jibunor said on what the offer meant to him. “I was about to release my Top 10. Florida was definitely in it and I was just waiting for them and then when it came up I was very happy because Florida is one of the schools I’ve been looking at.”

This summer, Jibunor plans to see the Gators and several of his other top schools when he takes several visits.

“Yes sir, this summer,” he said on when he plans to visit Florida. “I’ll be seeing Alabama, South Carolina, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Auburn again, and Florida. I really haven’t made up my mind yet on other visits. I just finished my exams so I’m going to spend the next few days planning my visits.”

After the summer trips, the linebacker hopes to have a better idea of where he wants to attend school.

“I want to decide before signing day,” Jibunor said on when he wants to decide. “I just want to get everywhere and see what I’ve been talking and hearing about and once it’s all done I’ll go to the right place I want.”

INSIDERS TAKE: Auburn seems to be the front-runner for Jibunor because he has a close friend playing for the Tigers but Skipper has done a good job of getting him interested in the Gators. Getting Jibunor on campus this summer could help Florida out a lot and the linebacker is also a big fan of current Florida linebacker Vosean Joseph.

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.