This Gator Country podcast previews the Florida Gators recruiting weekend for the January 15th weekend when the Florida Gators will host eight official visitors.
Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre break down which prospects the Gators have the best chance with this weekend out of all of the Florida Gators recruiting visitors.
Andrew and Nick also look ahead to the next few weeks in recruiting as January is always a busy month for recruiting and that’s no different this year.
TRANSCRIPT:
Nick: What’s going on, Gator Country podcast listeners? Nick de la Torre leading you in today. As always, I’m joined by Andrew Spivey for a recruiting centered podcast. The dead period is over, and I feel it’s like a race, and they just shot the gun off and now the race to Signing Day is upon us.
Andrew: I need you to repeat the introduction. We call myself the Goat around this place for a reason. So get that right. The legs are moving. The Goat is running the race, and I’m winning the race right now.
Nick: I’ve never called you that, and I won’t.
Andrew: You should start. Back in the old days you were taught to respect the authority, and being the Goat means I’m an authority figure. Back you in the day you might have been hung or something for disrespecting me. I don’t know. I need to look that up.
Nick: Get back to me when you find out.
Andrew: I will. I will definitely get back to you. Twitter people, let the man know what he should be contacting me as. As you said, midnight Thursday night was the night that Florida, and all coaches around America, were able to get out on the road. That was big. Prospects at midnight had their phones blow up, and it got crazy.
Nick: Penn State’s kicker didn’t have his phone blow up, because he was having a sleepover with Jim Harbaugh. He’s an interesting guy. It was interesting to be a part of his press conferences in Orlando. I guess, maybe that’s the next, hopefully it’s not the next step, but maybe it is the next step in recruiting to have sleepovers on the first night that you can have them.
Andrew: Yeah. It’s for a kicker. Jim Harbaugh and Jim McElwain both spend their first visits with a kicker. Now, will Harbaugh be able to flip him like McElwain did with Odell Kickem? We’ll see.
Nick: I don’t know. I read an interview with the kid yesterday, and he said that he is fully committed to Penn State, but we’ll see. It’s an interesting move to see a coach putting so much on the kicker, kind of like Florida did.
Andrew: I don’t know. You look at things, and you look at the college football landscape, and a lot of teams are struggling for kickers. Bama in the national championship game is missing field goals, stuff like that. So it was big. This coming weekend, Nick, is what I want to call fat boy weekend, or big boy weekend. Let’s say that. Big boy weekend, as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 of the eight official visitors this weekend are all linemen. Let’s just call it linemen weekend. That sound better, Nick?
Nick: Yeah. If we’re trying to spare feelings. It could be fat guy weekend. I’m sure the food will be good this weekend. That’s for sure.
Andrew: Yeah. Probably lots of food this weekend.
Nick: Let’s run it down. Let’s just briefly cover the three commits that will be coming in this weekend. You have offensive lineman Brett Heggie, Jachai Polite, and Jawaan Taylor as the three commits coming in, and just tell me about Florida’s philosophy on not having commits take their official visits during the season. Why does this staff want them to take them after the season? Then I have another question for you after you answer that one.
Andrew: Okay. What was your first question?
Nick: Why does this staff, it’s different than the previous staff, why do they want commits to take visits, their official visits, after the season?
Andrew: It’s not even so much that it’s after the season kind of deal. It is a little bit of after the season. It’s tough on a weekend. Say Florida plays LSU. They’re having to host prospects Friday night when they’re trying to get ready for a game. Saturday after a game, and then we all know the SEC is not an easy schedule no matter who you play the next week. So they’ve got to go to that. So they are trying to get as many guys to visit after the season. Florida’s philosophy is if you’re an early enrollee you can take your official in December or during a game. If you weren’t an early enrollee, they wanted you in January. That was so you could help recruit, and Florida could put the finishing touches on any doubt that’s in the mind of these guys, and it played off. As we’re about to talk about here, one of Florida’s visitors this weekend is a guy that has some doubt about Florida. They need to seal the deal there. Had he visited in November or December, guess what? Florida no longer has an official visit.
Nick: Right. Then when you talk about a big weekend like this where you have a lot of kids coming in, what’s the advantage of having somebody like Brett Heggie who’s been so solidly committed on campus and able to hang out with guys like Landon Dickerson and Dontavious Jackson?
Andrew: Everyone asks me, they’re like, what do these guys do? Are they recruiting nonstop during that weekend? Probably not. Are they showing, like for instance, Brett…
Nick: I think fans when they see that they think that Brett Heggie is going to be just you need to come to Florida. Look at this. Look at this. Let’s watch this film. It’s not that. It’s more of building a relationship like you would with a friend, but that friend is going here, and maybe it’s I really vibe with this person. I really get along with this kid. I also get along with these other commits. I get along with some of these players. This place isn’t so bad. I like Gainesville. I like these facilities.
I think it’s more of that, more so than a commit trying to actively recruit and give a recruiting pitch, and more of let’s kick it. We mix well together. Maybe that helps you in making a decision for Florida, because you’re going to be spending a lot of time with your teammates.
Andrew: Right. A guy like Heggie, for instance, and I say this because it’s kind of the best thing I say, best comparison, he’s been to Florida so many times that Florida doesn’t need to show him anything. He’s able to be a tour guide for these guys. So he’s able to say, Landon this is really cool at the Swamp, let’s look at this. Then a guy like Heggie has been with Dickerson all week at the Under Armour game, so they’re very familiar as well. They’re able to hang out, that kind of stuff there. Like you said, it’s all about getting guys comfortable with it. None of these guys are saying, you got to go to Florida. None of that kind of stuff is there. They’re trying to be friendly about things.
This is completely off topic from where we’re at, but I know a guy like Lamical Perine, he’s over here talking to guys in Alabama, and his message is, come check us out. That’s his message. I’m sure that’s what Heggie is telling those guys is just keep us in the mix. When I say that’s Heggie saying Florida. That’s probably what he’s saying and showing them around, showing them video, showing them what they could do together. Does it help? Absolutely. Is it a big thing one way or the other? Probably not. It’s always nice to have future Gators who have already made their decision on campus with five other guys that are uncommitted.
Nick: Right. I agree with that. I think that is spot on the money. It’s not really in the sense that a lot of people think it is where it’s come play. We’ll play early. It’s more of just building those relationships. Kind of like a lot of recruits talk about I have a relationship with a coach, and we’re not always talking about football. When you’re making a decision about what college you want to go to there’s things to think about that aren’t just football.
Andrew: Right. Football is a year round job, but, for instance in the off season, and I say the off season, there is no off season, but right now. They work out in the morning times. They have class in the afternoons. Evenings they get a little time off. They want to be around guys that are their friends or that they like. They want to have something to do, that kind of stuff. I think that’s one of the biggest things that is good for these weekends. That’s what it is. It’s also good because the parents are able to, Brett Heggie’s dad is a very big pro supporter, Florida supporter. He’s able to talk to Dickerson’s father or Dickerson’s mom, saying this is why we’re comfortable with our son going here. What questions do you have, Mr. Dickerson? Is this a bad town? No. This is why we believe that, or maybe this is why we believe this. That kind of stuff. Parents are involved as well, and that’s a thing that is kind of a hidden fact is these parents eat dinner together twice, probably more than that, but two dinners each night. They’re able to eat with these other parents and talk and communicate, and a lot of these guys do that.
Nick: I think that’s another thing that we can kind of lose track of. The parents. That is a big key. For 17, 18 years you’ve raised this boy, and now you’re putting him basically sending him off and putting him in the hands of these coaches, so you have to feel comfortable, and that’s something in talking to parents of current players that’s something that really weighed in on them during the whole recruiting process.
So we’ve talked about three commits coming on. I’m going to put you on the spot here. Other guys coming in, Chris Brown, Dontavious Jackson, Jaleel Laguins, I hope I’m saying that right, John Simpson, and Landon Dickerson. Based on the prospect and the need, who is the biggest uncommitted guy on campus this weekend?
Andrew: Okay. I’m going to answer this in two parts. I’m going to answer it in the part you just asked, and then I’m going to answer the part of who does Florida have the best chance with. Is that cool?
Nick: Yeah. Break it down into two. Don’t let the first answer be affected by the chances that Florida lands them.
Andrew: Right. So the first one is Dickerson. He’s a guy that can play guard, can play tackle, could even play center if need be. Is a big need who’s a very good football player. Right now Florida is battling Florida State, Auburn, Tennessee, and Georgia. It’s probably going to be a three team battle between Auburn, Florida, and Florida State, if Florida has a good visit this weekend. That’s big. Florida got in a little later because of the other guys on their board, but I think that Florida can get in there and get a shot here. Him and Heggie did develop a good friendship together, and that was good.
The second part I’m going to say is John Simpson. I think Florida can get John Simpson with a good visit. Clemson, I don’t know what happened there, but they really messed things up there. Florida’s going to battle Clemson there. I am going to Florida has the best chance of Simpson this weekend, but Dickerson’s the best prospect.
Nick: Okay. Then what are the chances with Dickerson?
Andrew: I would say a good visit gets Florida in the mix. Florida State is wanting one of him and Jawaan Williams. Jawaan Williams is likely already silently committed, so his spot may be gone at Florida State. A good visit this weekend, and I think Florida is definitely in the mix here. The only thing is Florida’s only been recruiting you for a month or so. It’s tough to say too much till he sees the campus, till his family sees the campus, and then we’re able to talk to him, because it’s a lot of unknowns. He still hasn’t met Jim McElwain yet. For all we know he goes in there, and he thinks Jim McElwain’s a corny old Montana guy. We don’t know. I say that, and I don’t mean that in a bad way to Coach Mac. I’m just saying we don’t know how this guy is going to like the coaching staff outside of Greg Nord, the only guy he’s met. Then he’s talked to McElwain. He’s talked to Summers, and he’s talked to Randy Shannon and those guys, but he hasn’t met them in person yet. That’s a big thing. I think we’ll see a lot of where Florida is after this weekend when Dickerson is able to leave his official sometimes Sunday.
Nick: That’s interesting. To me, that kind of, because he is, I don’t know what the word is. He is kind of quirky, and it seems to be working in Florida’s favor right now, but everyone will react to that differently. Everyone has their own preferences. He is Missoula, Montana McElwain. It’ll be interesting to see how that plays with these kids coming down down the line. What about if we’re looking at other weekends coming up?
Andrew: Hold on. Let me hit on something real quick just for this weekend. Jachai Polite’s a guy. He comes in. He’s a defensive end commit out of Daytona Mainland. He’s the guy that I was saying is a worrisome issue as far as Florida has some work to do here. Florida was his big school he wanted to go to. He got the offer, committed pretty quickly after the offer, but USC has had very good success at Mainland. Leonard Williams, Quinton Powell. Florida just doesn’t do well at Daytona Mainland for some reason. I don’t know the answer to that exactly, except for Florida just doesn’t do good there.
Anyway, back to where I’m saying with this. Florida has some work to do here with Polite, because he is going to USC on the 22nd, and as I just said USC does really well with Mainland kids. Florida is going to try to bump that visit to USC for next week out and keep him in the class. That is another good thing about this school getting official visitors in after December, because that’s good there. I would say that Polite probably takes that USC visit next weekend, and if he does definitely things to worry about, but that’s a storyline that I’m following this weekend, because it’s interesting to see what feedback he gives to the staff. Is it good feedback, or is it worrisome feedback? If it is, does Florida move on to another lineman? As you and I both can attest to they need defensive ends in this class.
Nick: Yeah. You definitely do need defensive ends. To me, if I were a recruit I might never come back for my official visit to Los Angeles.
Andrew: Of course you would.
Nick: Beautiful weather. Beautiful women. I’m out. I’m done. Sorry, Florida. I am decommitting. I don’t know why I ever committed. I am staying in Los Angeles. That’s just me.
Andrew: I would want to go to like Arizona State though or Oregon.
Nick: Rob Gronkowski said his dad said that Rob chose Arizona State because of the pool parties. I would have chosen them because of the pool parties.
Andrew: Rob Gronkowski and pool parties, that’s like water and wet going together. It’s happening somewhere, some shape or form. That’s interesting. The thing for Polite is that he’s going to go out there and check it out, because he does have some friends there, and knows people out that way. Florida just needs to try to get that visit off the board. You never feel comfortable when a prospect takes visits, no matter what they’re saying. You never feel comfortable, because when you get on campus we know pressuring’s going to happen. Lie are going to happen. The negative recruiting is going to happen. Florida’s best bet is to not get him to take that visit to Los Angeles on the 22nd.
Nick: Yeah. I would never come back. That’s just me though. Florida doesn’t want me to play football for them. Another thing, we talked about the commits coming in, but we’re forgetting the early enrollees there as well. Particular someone like Chauncey Gardner. When it comes to, talk to me a little bit about what goes into the coaches’ decision. When a kid comes in on an official visit they’ll have a player or a couple players as their host. What goes into trying to pair kids up? Is it location? If you were a coach, or how are Florida’s coaches going to go about pairing kids together? You don’t want to take a shy kid, put them with somebody he’s not going to click with, and then all of a sudden the visit’s terrible, because so and so wants to go out and do this, this, and that, and all the recruit wanted to do was sit in the dorm room and play Call of Duty.
Andrew: It’s some to do with location. I’m trying to get a good comparison. For instance, when David Reese came down he was with Cam Dillard, Antonio Morrison, because those were both, I guess we’d call them Midwestern guys, north whatever. They were from that area. So that’s kind of what they did with that.
It also goes to what these people like. For instance, if somebody’s going to be with Chauncey Gardner they better not want to sleep, because he ain’t going to let you go to bed. Better like to go out, because Chauncey Gardner likes to go out, and must be very loud. Chauncey Gardner wouldn’t be good with someone like myself. Nick, you know myself. I’m not a be out till 4:00 in the morning kind of person. I’m probably a guy that wants to be with a lineman like Tyler Jordan where we’re in bed by midnight or 11:00. A lot of that has to go in with that.
Then if there’s a build in relationship. For instance, I’m trying to think here. This weekend Stone Forsythe and Brett Heggie are good friends. I’m sure Stone’s going to be a part of Brett Heggie’s host. I’m sure he’s going to be that. Brett’s also close to a couple other guys like Tyler Jordan. I’m sure those are going to be with him. They try to pair them with personality, location, interest, what they are interested in. So a lot of that goes into that.
It’s tough. You and I talk all the time about Drew Hughes and those guys’ jobs being crazy, because of all the work they have to do. This is like matchmaking here. It’s like which guy fits the best with this guy? I can’t mess this up, or we’re going to be in trouble. That’s kind of where a lot of that process goes in. It’s no easy process, for sure, because, like you said, if somebody comes on and they’re a homebody, and then that person wants to go out every night, and they’re sitting in their room by themselves, they’re going to be like, my official visit sucked to Florida. When I went to Auburn we played Madden football till three in the morning.
Nick: Yeah. I’d probably be out with Chauncey.
Andrew: Yeah, but you know what I’m saying. Is it bad? Absolutely not. You and I talk about this all the time. Everybody’s different, and a guy like Chauncey wants to go out, or a guy like, I’m trying to think of another player that’s coming in. A guy like Dontavious Jackson, he might want to go out this weekend, but then a guy like Jawaan Taylor might want to stay inside. There’s nothing wrong with either one of those. That’s how they’re going to be on campus. I’m sure every 125 football players that Florida has, walk-ons and scholarship guys, aren’t partying in midtown every night. Some of them are back in the dorm room watching ESPN. It’s just the way it is.
Nick: I’m trying to think. I don’t know who would be my best host.
Andrew: Who would be your best host?
Nick: Yeah. We’d be in midtown, that’s for sure.
Andrew: I’m going to say Jake McGee.
Nick: Jake and I would have an awesome, yeah. That’d be good. I would commit to Florida, until I went out to USC. Then I’d decommit.
Andrew: I was thinking it’d be somebody like Jake McGee. That’s who I was thinking it would be. Mine would not be Will Grier.
Nick: Yours would be Cam Dillard, because Cam is married. He’s not going out. You’re not going out. You guys are just hanging in, probably watching some ball. Cam Dillard would be your host.
Andrew: I have nothing wrong with that. Again, it’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just you have to play it up as to that. I’ve heard several guys say that their official visit they went and watched a movie, or they went out to eat by themselves. It’s just what is good for that person. A lot of that is on the host. The host needs to be a good host in that they need to change their plans for a weekend if that’s what it is. Then it’s a deal like, for instance if a guy, if Sam Bruce came up, when Sam Bruce comes up next weekend. Jordan Scarlett, Quincy Wilson, those are going to be two of his hosts, because why? They’re good friends with the guy. That’s good for it.
Nick: Who was Jacob Eason’s host?
Andrew: Alex Anzalone.
Nick: I need Alex Anzalone as mine. He’s a great host.
Andrew: Here’s the thing. They kind of went together, because they’re both from areas that weren’t familiar with Florida. They both like to, excuse me, Alex, party. They both like their blond women.
Nick: Who doesn’t?
Andrew: No complaints there by me. Yeah. That was what it was, but it was a perfect deal. The thing is I can say this. Alex Anzalone was successful, because why? They were still talking. Alex Anzalone and Jacob Eason were still talking. They may still be talking. They’re tweeting back and forth on Twitter. Did he go to Florida? No, but you can’t blame that all on…
Nick: Not on the host.
Andrew: Yeah, on the host at all. That was a lot of Georgia.
Nick: Alex Anzalone and Jake McGee would host me at Florida.
Andrew: I don’t know if you could keep up with Alex Anzalone.
Nick: I’m not as good as I once was.
Andrew: I’m just saying. I don’t know. Alex Anzalone’s the Riley Cooper of this era.
Nick: That’s not bad. Riley Cooper is a legend around these parts.
Andrew: Depends on what it is. That’s a topic for another time.
Nick: We’ll lose our clean rating.
Andrew: Yeah, we’ll lose our clean rating. Let’s talk about another guy that’s on this weekend, Dontavious Jackson. Linebacker out of Texas. He’s a big need for Florida. He’s a position of big need for Florida. I don’t think he goes to Florida. I think it’s Alabama or Texas or Michigan, but Florida has a shot to get there. Randy Shannon has done a really good job there. If there’s one guy I’m not betting against that’s Randy Shannon with a linebacker. He can pull out tapes of Ray Lewis, probably get Ray Lewis on speed dial, and the rest of those Miami guys and NFL guys on speed dial, and get those guys on board. He’s also coming with his good friend, Chris Brown, a cornerback from that Houston area as well. Florida’s going to try to go with those two guys and go for them. They got some work to do there. They got work to do, but that’s what official visits are all about.
Nick: You and I are both advocates of if a school is going to pay for you, fly you and mom out there, and put you up, and show you around, break out the red carpet, go ahead and do it. Even if you don’t want to go there. We’re advocates of that. Go take your five officials. Take all of them. Get a chance to travel, even if you’re not interested.
Andrew: If you’re uncommitted, yes. If you’re committed I’m not for…
Nick: That’s what I’m saying, if you’re uncommitted.
Andrew: If you’re committed, I don’t believe you should be taking other officials, because you committed for a reason. That reason you committed was because that was the school. If you’re taking other visits you’re not committed. That’s the way I’ve always looked at things. I’m absolutely, if you’re uncommitted, take all five of those visits, and go see five schools that are your dream. For instance, if I was taking an official visit schools that I really want to see are I’d like to see Michigan. I really want to see Michigan for myself. I’d like to see Ohio State for myself. I’d love to see Texas for myself. Those are schools that I would probably take my official visit to.
Nick: You only gave me three. You got two more visits. Michigan, Ohio State, Texas.
Andrew: I’ve seen Florida, so I wouldn’t go to Florida. I would go to one of the west coast schools. Arizona State’s got the women, man. I’d have to probably go out to Arizona State. Then I’ve never been to Cali, so it’d either be UCLA or USC. I’m not a USC guy though.
Nick: Yeah. I would definitely go see Michigan, see the Big House, see that campus. USC, absolutely. I’d probably go out to UCLA, just to get back there. Where else? Arizona State would on the list. Maybe Oregon. Go on official visit, get some Nike swag. I would do my best, my absolute damndest, to convince Hawaii that I was interested and try to get an official out to Hawaii.
Andrew: All you got to do is commit. That’d be the shortest commitment ever, but I’d commit.
Nick: I need the Hawaii official.
Andrew: Definitely. What was your question about Jackson and visits?
Nick: My question is who is the player that’s coming on a visit either this weekend or next weekend that you think is just I’m in Gainesville because they’re paying for it? No chance. Who’s taking the official visit joyride?
Andrew: That’s tough, because Mac’s done a good job of figuring out who is screwing around. You’re killing me here. I would probably say, I don’t know. I guess I would say Jackson, because I just don’t think he goes to Florida, maybe. It’s tough, because Florida’s done a good job of…
Nick: Weeding those kids out.
Andrew: Of if you want a visit you’re going to visit on this date, and a lot of kids back off, because they want to visit, I don’t want to call a name. There was one prospect that wanted to visit Florida, and he was like, can I visit Florida on January 15th? Florida was like, no, you can visit on the 29th if you really have interest. He was like, I’m visiting the home state school there. They’re like, that’s what I thought. You’re not coming here. I would say it’s probably Dontavious Jackson, just because I don’t think Florida’s got a shot there. I think he goes elsewhere, but it’s tough. It really is tough.
Nick: Okay. That’s all right. It was a question we hadn’t talked about before. I kind of just sprung it on you.
Andrew: Usually I would say there was probably multiple of them, but they’ve done a good job on that. They’ve done a really good job of weeding those guys out. It kind of, I say that, and you look at the January 29th official visit schedule, I know we’re jumping way ahead, but that’s why guys like Mack Wilson, Tyrie Cleveland, even Josh Uche are coming in on that last weekend, because Florida knows they’re serious if they’re coming that last weekend and spending their last weekend of the recruitment in Gainesville. They know they’re serious, and that was one of the big reasons they’re coming. That’s kind of some logic of why January 29th is big.
Nick: That last weekend. Maybe that’s a method that Florida used to weed those people out. How serious are you? Social media really thinks that Mack Wilson is trolling Florida. You and I don’t see it that way. I think we both think it’s a two team race between Florida and Georgia. I guess my last question to you will be, looking ahead to the next two weekends, there’s only three weekends, this one included, for visits before Signing Day. Florida’s class is kind of filling up. Lot of players coming in. Let’s go with a top five of these next weekends. If you could only get five more in.
Andrew: You’re trying to get a mock class out of me.
Nick: I’m not trying to get a mock class out of you.
Andrew: Yes, you are.
Nick: No. I’m saying this is like your list to Santa.
Andrew: The five best players.
Nick: Yeah. These are the five that Florida would be best case scenario, not necessarily I think Florida’s going to get them. These are the five best players that are coming on campus, and Florida would love to have them.
Andrew: Excluding commits, correct?
Nick: Yes. Excluding commits. Assuming all the commits stick.
Andrew: Let me get two from each weekend. That’s what I’m going to do.
Nick: Get six.
Andrew: I’m going to get six. If I was going two from each weekend I would say from the January 15th the two best players coming in are Dontavious Jackson and Landon Dickerson. That’s the two best players, two position of needs. If was going January 22nd I would say Brian Burns and Benjamin Victor. Burns, elite speed rusher off the edge, can replace McAlister there. Benjamin Victor, best receiver in the state of Florida, by far, in my opinion. Love the guy’s film. Those two guys. Then if I’m going January 29th, oh my gosh. I limited myself. There’s three good players.
Nick: Here we got. We got Uche, Kristian Fulton, Lyndell “Mack” Wilson, and Tyrie Cleveland. Good luck picking two.
Andrew: Tyrie Cleveland’s my favorite receiver in the nation. Lordy.
Nick: You should have used some roll over minutes and left somebody off along the way.
Andrew: That’s right. Tyrie Cleveland’s my favorite receiver in the country. Tyrie Cleveland has got to be there. Kristian Fulton, I love you, man. You’re best cornerback in the nation outside of Chauncey Gardner probably, but I got to leave you off the list and say Mack Wilson. When you’re able to get the #1 or #2 linebacker in the country from the state of Alabama, and he’s interested in you, you want him. Mack Wilson and Tyrie Cleveland. God, that was hard. Kristian Fulton is one of my favorite players in this class, but Mack and him would be the two guys. You look at these weekends, and Florida may have a small amount of numbers, but, man, do they have the talent coming in these next three weekends. It’s going to be a fun ride.
Nick: Yeah. I really look, with those three guys, specifically the last weekend in Fulton, Mack Wilson, Tyrie Cleveland, and that’s a huge weekend for me. I don’t know if I’d be able to pick just two from that group.
Andrew: The thing is I left off probably my second favorite receiver in the country in Eli Stove on January 22nd, because you just couldn’t go away from Victor and Burns. Eli Stove’s an electric athlete that is a phenomenal football player that can play anywhere. If Florida got tight on cornerbacks, go to cornerback. If Florida needs a punt returner, go to punt returner. He’s a guy that can play anywhere there. It’s tough. I’m glad I don’t have to weed this out if it came down to numbers, because it’s a lot of good players coming in. That’s a credit to McElwain, Drew Hughes, and really this entire coaching staff, because this is when your work pays off all season is when you get these guys on campus.
Nick: It kind of just comes down to it. These are high pressure jobs, and a lot of it comes down to the decisions of teenagers. Not really something you can control.
Andrew: Yeah. It all comes down to it. It’s a thing where you can do your best job and still not win. That’s where Florida and other schools are at. You got guys that are committed early, and you keep them on there. Then you got guys that are like a Benjamin Victor who Florida did a great job on and lost ground on just simply because the kid had some outside influences pushing him elsewhere. Things can happen, and it’ll be a wild ride. That’s one thing I can guarantee is it’s going to be a wild ride. The guys we have on the visitors list, Nick, I would almost bet you my paycheck for a year that this official visit list changes over the next three weeks.
Nick: Additions or subtractions, or both?
Andrew: Both.
Nick: Okay. You know where to keep up with the ever changing commits, official visits, everything with recruiting is fluid, and Andrew Spivey does the best job keeping you up to date at GatorCountry.com. You can follow me if you want on Twitter, @NickdelaTorreGC, but Andrew Spivey, @AndrewSpiveyGC, will be keeping you up to date, up to the minute, up to the second with everything recruiting as we race to Signing Day.
Andrew: If you hit Nick up do not let him pass on his question to me.
Nick: I will absolutely pass on the question. Ask Andrew about Ira Denson.
Andrew: Do not ask me about Ira Denson, or you will get blocked.
Nick: As Andrew about Ira Denson. He will not block you.
Andrew: I will block you. I have literally blocked more people this year than I ever have, and it’s simply because it gets to the point where I start seeing frustration and anger come out, and I’m like do I want to embarrass myself on Twitter, or do I just want to send this guy to the block button?
Nick: Yeah. We’ll see. Ask him about Ira Denson anyway. As always, TheGatorCountry on Instagram. It should be fun. Wild two, three weeks.
Andrew: Rollercoaster ride. It is. It will be fun. As always, we do have good stuff coming. Nick, got some basketball up. Basketball team plays at Ole Miss on Saturday. Should be a good one. Women’s basketball team ranked #20 in the country. First time being ranked since ’09. That’s good for them. Baseball, softball right around the corner, and guess what? Nick and I are already planning some good stuff.
Nick: Yeah. 36 days as you listen to this until baseball kicks off. The #1 team in the country according to everyone.
Andrew: It’s 36 for baseball?
Nick: We’re doing this on Thursday, and it’s 37. I’m assuming people will listen on Friday. That’d be 36.
Andrew: Florida will have 29 for softball then. It’s a week ahead.
Nick: Quick man.
Andrew: 29 days until the three-peat goes on board, and the Goat will be covering it. As always, Gator Country, Mark Richt and Butch Jones know the drill. Chomp, chomp. Go Braves.
Nick: You stay classy, Gator Country.