It has been a very busy spring for the Florida Gators coaching staff that has included thousands of miles traveled and dozens offer handed out and that continued last week in Georgia.

Defensive backs coach Corey Bell was in Georgia last week and after watching Minnesota cornerback commit Terell Smith (6-0, 170, Snellville, GA. South Gwinnett) practice he delivered some good news to the corner a day later over the phone.

“Coach Corey Bell offered me over the phone,” Smith said. “He was just asking me what position do I prefer and asking me like just questions to get to know me a little better. After that he let me know he was offering me.”

Smith has some schools recruiting him to play receiver and some recruiting him as a corner and Bell told him where the Gators want him to play.

“I told him cornerback is what I prefer,” he said on what position he wants to play. “He said that they were offering me as a cornerback too.”

Bell also explained to Smith that the corner’s game fits what the Gators like to do on defense.

“He said that he likes the way I play the game,” Smith said on what Bell likes about him. “He said that I’m long and fast and that my game is press man and that’s what he likes and what they like to do at Florida.”

Florida has multiple coaches recruiting Smith to Gainesville and the Gators receivers’ coach has shared a message with the cornerback as well.

“I’ve been talking to both Coach Bell and Coach Kerry Dixon,” he said of the coaches from Florida he talks too. “He [Kerry Dixon] just told me to bring that speed down to Florida. We’re still building a relationship so he hasn’t said much.”

Smith has seen his recruitment really take off this spring with several big offers and he explained what the Gators offer meant to him.

“It’s a big offer to me,” he said of the Florida offer. “I don’t really know much about them besides they’re a very successful program and they get a lot of defensive backs to the NFL.”

Despite the big offer from Florida, Smith says he’s still all in with Minnesota.

“I’m solid to Minnesota but I have some interest in them,” Smith said of Florida.

 

INSIDERS TAKE: Florida is trying to get Smith down on campus this summer and so is Georgia. Those are the two schools that are the biggest threat to Minnesota at this time but a lot of schools are just now offering Smith.

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.