The Florida Gators coaching staff is suppose to be taking vacation time but that hasn’t stopped them from continuing the daily grind called recruiting.
This week the Gators coaching staff offered defensive end Ronnie Perkins (6-4, 250, St. Louis. MO. Lutheran North) after a conversation with two coaches.
“Coach [Drew] Hughes and Coach [Chris] Rumph offered on Monday,” Perkins said of his Florida offer. “They just told me I had a scholarship to Florida and now we gotta work on getting me down there.”
Defensive line coach Chris Rumph talked with Perkins for the first time on Monday and was basically getting a feel for the defensive end’s interest.
“We talked about my interest in Florida,” he said of what Rumph told him. “He asked me what I knew about Florida and he was telling me some things about the school. He talked to me about his coaching history and guys he’s coached.”
Rumph and Perkins didn’t get into a lot of details on Monday but they plan to expand on their conversation soon.
“Not yet,” Perkins said on if Rumph talked to him about where the Gators see him playing. “We kept the conversation brief because he was on vacation but we plan to talk about that soon.”
First impressions are always a key and Rumph made a good impression on Perkins on Monday.
“We’re still building a relationship and I’m still getting to know him,” he said of Rumph. “So far he sounds like a good coach and a great guy.”
Despite never visiting Florida, the Missouri product says the Gators offer caught his attention and spiked his interest level.
“I have a lot of interest in Florida,” Perkins said. “Florida has a lot of school history and a lot of history of putting players in the league at my position.”
The defensive end recently posted a top 12 but Perkins says that has changed a little bit now.
“No leaders right now,” he said. “I narrowed it down to a top 12 but Florida is now up there after they offered.”
This summer, Perkins plans to take a lot of visits and that includes a trips near Florida and he hopes to visit while in the area.
“Yes I want to,” Perkins said on if he plans to visit. “Hopefully when I go down south in July I can stop by there.”
INSIDERS TAKE: Perkins is a long ways away from making a decision and he doesn’t have a decision date in mind. Perkins does seem very interested in Florida and wants to visit Florida.