Payton has started recruiting for Florida

The Gators currently sit at five verbal commitments in the Class of 2015. One of those commitments was on campus this past Saturday.

That commit was receiver Tristan Payton (6-0, 187, Jacksonville, FL First Coast) who enjoyed watching Florida’s spring scrimmage.

“It was actually pretty good, I got to hang out with some of the players and stuff like that,” Payton said. “I got to see the personnel they are going to be using on offense and got to see a few plays and some of the routes they like to run on the offense.”

Payton was very impressed by what he saw out of the new offense in Gainesville and he likes the way the receivers were used.

“The offense was pretty good on Saturday during the scrimmage,” Payton said. “They actually passed a lot more than I thought they would. They were showing me a lot of different routes and they use a lot more hand signals. They are actually are a lot more of a hurry up offense.”

After the scrimmage was over Payton had the chance to sit down with receivers coach Joker Phillips who talked to him more about the offense.

“Coach Joker was telling me that he needs me to come catch the ball for him and make some plays at Florida,” Payton said. “He said he’s excited to have me committed already and to be ready to make plays.”

When Payton was done talking with Phillips he had the chance to sit down with Will Muschamp.

“I got to talk to Coach Muschamp twice on Saturday actually,” Payton said. “He was happy to see me there and was talking to my mom a lot. He told me to come on the field and make sure I watch the offense closely. He said he wanted me to see what the receivers do at Florida.”

Since Payton is already committed to Florida he did his part in helping the Gators recruit and he had two prospects in particular he was recruiting.

“I was talking to Deon Cain and CeCe Jefferson a lot on Saturday,” Payton said. “I’m trying to get Deon Cain to join me at receiver. I think he had a good time and I think Florida has a chance.”

Next up for Payton will be a return trip to Florida for the Gators Orange and Blue game this Saturday in Gainesville.

“I’ll be back for the spring game next Saturday,” Payton said.

Despite his solid commitment to Florida the talented receiver says he still plans to take a few official visits this fall.

“I’m solid to the Gators,” he said. “I still want to take some official visits during my senior year but I’m not sure who I want to visit yet.”

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.

1 COMMENT

  1. I see Dexter Williams has committed to the Hurricanes. I guess he wasn’t as “amazed” as you thought. I’m beginning to think last years bad record is hurting recruiting. Last year, at this time, UF had some high profile prospects, like Grier, already committed. No one who has said yes to UF so far is anything to write home about. UF needs a Cowart, Ivey, or someone of that ilk to say yes to UF now to gain momentum for this year’s class. Perception is everything, and right now UF needs someone to step up and be the first guy that other players will take notice of and say,”Hey, he’s going there. Maybe I should too.”