Petit-Frere thinks highly of new Florida Gators OL coach

The first few weeks on the job for Florida Gators new offensive line coach Brad Davis has been successful on the recruiting trail as prospects visit campus to meet him.

Two weekends ago offensive lineman Nicholas Petit-Frere (6-6, 260, Tampa, FL. Berkeley Prep) was on campus and had a great visit that included meeting the coaching staff.

“It was a good visit, Gainesville is a very special place,” Petit-Frere said of his latest visit to Florida. “The coaches were great and it was just a great visit. We had brunch, and then I got to meet some of the coaches. After that, we got to go see some of the basketball game and then tour the campus.”

The first visit between Petit-Frere and Davis went well and instead of a recruiting message the two got to know each other during this visit.

“Coach Davis is a great coach and he seems like a really good guy,” he said of his first impressions of Davis. “He just seems like a good all-around person. We were just trying to get to know each other since he’s new to the area. He got his name out there with me and the others.”

Despite Davis not giving the offensive lineman a message, two other Gators coaches including Jim McElwain pitched Petit-Frere on the Gators.

“I talked to Coach McElwain and Coach [Doug] Nussmeier during that trip too,” Petit-Frere said. “They were telling me about Florida and why it’s a great college to attend. They were saying what it would provide first in education and then as a football player. Things like that.”

McElwain who usually talks more about off the field things spoke with Petit-Frere about how big of a need he was to the Gators class this year.

“Coach McElwain was talking more about education with me,” he said of McElwain’s message. “He was talking about some football like how the team was doing. How he would really like it if I was a part of the Gators class of 2018.”

21 different schools have offered Petit-Frere already and the offensive lineman admits he’s nowhere ready to make any kind of decision.

“I’m still trying to figure out all the schools and now I’m starting spring football,” Petit-Frere said. “I’m still open in the process and I really haven’t started thinking about making any decision or anything like that.”

 

INSIDERS TAKE: Petit-Frere doesn’t have any schools standing out and he says he’s going to visit some schools this spring but he isn’t sure of where he will visit. Florida is one of the schools he named as a school he might visit this spring.

 

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.