Perry details why he committed to the Gators

Friday was a big day for the Florida Gators in recruiting when Jim McElwain got to tweet the hashtag “chomp chomp x2” which signaled that the Gators landed two commits.

One of those commits was safety Spencer Perry (6-3, 202, Bradenton, FL IMG Academy) who described the scene of when he committed to Florida as crazy.

“Coach [Jim]McElwain was very excited and energetic when I told him I was committing,” Perry said. “All of the coaches were excited and my family was happy for me. I just have a really good feel for the coaches.”

The decision for Perry to commit to Florida was a very easy decision to make after he got to see all Florida had to offer him as a student-athlete.

“My family and I went up to visit Florida and we got to talk to the academic advisors and the coaching staff and my family and I are very high on academics and Florida is one of the top schools for academics,” Perry said. “I’m very impressed by the coaches and the coaches fit very well with my parents and I so I decided to commit to Florida.”

Friday was the first time for McElwain to meet and talk with Perry’s parents and the message was simple from McElwain to the Perry family.

“Coach McElwain was just telling us his vision for Florida and what he sees in the future,” Perry said. “They are making some great improvements on campus already with the new indoor practice facility. They are also remodeling the dorms and making them like an apartment. He’s definitely bringing a different vibe to the University of Florida.”

The IMG prospect has built a good relationship with defensive backs coach Kirk Callahan and Callahan believes Perry could be in line to be the next great Gators safety.

“Coach Callahan says he sees me fitting in very well at safety in the defensive scheme,” Perry said. “He said that [Keanu] Neal could be going pro next year and coach Callahan says he sees me filling in there pretty well.”

Perry has lived all around in SEC country and on Friday he got a taste of what an SEC football practice looks like.

“Practice was energetic and fast pace,” Perry said. “It was a lot of reps for everybody with coach McElwain coming from Alabama he runs his practices like Nick Saban does. He runs the very energetic and fast pace so that he can get things done. It’s not boring at all.”

Despite committing to Florida, the hard hitting safety says that he will still see other schools but he will also be recruiting for the Gators.

“I do plan take other visits this summer but I’m very firm to Florida,” Perry said. “Chauncey Gardner and I have gotten close so we plan to start doing some recruiting. A couple of friends at IMG like Rashaun Smith, Shavar [Manuel] and our kicker Ricky Aguayo. I’m going to try to get those guys up to the spring game with me.”

 

INSIDERS TAKE: Florida got a really good hard hitting safety in Perry and he’s a leader that will help the Gators in a big way off the field in recruiting. Perry is a first class person with great character.

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.

3 COMMENTS

  1. I really like this kid. I’m not sure why he’s only a 3* bc he’s got great size for a rising senior and if he runs a legit 4.5 at 6′ 3″ 200+ lbs that’s extremely impressive.

    Do you think the lower rating is more of him not having a ton of big name offers yet, and when those come in and he goes to more camps this summer we’ll see his stock rise so to speak? Or is there a gap in his game that doesn’t show up on highlight film?

    Either way I’m glad he’s a Gator, and we can use all the help we can get recruiting IMG kids.. they’re absolutely stacked this year!