Florida’s #1-ranked basketball team is a benefit that football coach Will Muschamp and his coaching staff are taking advantage of. When the Gators finished their regular season with an 18-0 record with a win over Kentucky Saturday, defensive end Mekhi Brown (6-4, 230, Columbus, GA Carver) was there on an unofficial visit, soaking up the atmosphere.
“The visit was pretty good,” Brown said. “We got to go to the basketball game and after that we got to meet with the football coaches and then they took us on a tour of the campus and the football facilities after that.”
A sold-out and very loud O’Dome made a very good impression on Brown and it made him wonder what it’s like on game days in The Swamp.
“The basketball game was crazy because of the fans,” Brown said. “I can’t imagine how it would be for a football game if the fans get that much into the basketball game. The students have a lot of school spirit and they support their team.”
After the basketball game was over Brown headed over to the football complex where he sat down with Muschamp who talked to him about the future.
“Coach Muschamp was asking me about my long term goals and asking me if I was coming down for a spring practice or not,” Brown said. “He made a good first impression on me and he’s a real good coach that has a good track record of having good defenses.”
When Brown was finished talking with Muschamp he headed over to defensive line coach Brad Lawing’s office to watch film.
“I got to talk to Coach (Brad) Lawing after Coach Muschamp,” Brown said. “We got to watch film together and he showed me how I would fit in if I came to Florida. He said that I would fit in perfectly at the BUCK end position and that he knows how to create mismatches for his linemen.”
Brown came away with a very good impression of Lawing, who formerly coached at South Carolina.
“I heard that (Jadeveon) Clowney had a lot of good stuff to say about Coach Lawing by saying that he was the best coach he had ever had,” Brown said. “Coach Lawing shows that he knows what he’s talking about and I know he’s coached almost 40 years with a great track record and he’s just a real good coach.”
Despite the good visit to Florida this past weekend the defensive end remains solid in his pledge to Alabama but admits to having four other teams in the mix.
“I’m still solid to Alabama,” Brown said. “I have a top five now of Alabama, Florida, UGA, FSU and Stanford and those are the schools that I’m going to focus on but I’m going to give everyone a chance.”
Next up for Brown will be to visit colleges to watch them go through spring practice and two SEC schools are on the agenda.
“I plan to visit Alabama next weekend and after that I plan to visit Florida again for a spring practice,” Brown said.