The offensive line position is a position of big need again in the class of 2019 and last week the Florida Gators hosted a few instate players on campus for a visit.
Offensive lineman Hunter Rayburn (6-4, 310, Pensacola, FL. High) was one of those guys who visited and on Thursday he picked up an offer from the Gators.
“Coach [Sal] Sunseri offered me over the phone,” Rayburn said of the coach who offered him on Thursday. “He called my coach and I was in the room so my coach handed me the phone and Coach Sunseri said ‘hey Hunter, not trying to be short but we have practice in a few but just wanted to let you know that you have an offer from the University of Florida’.”
Rayburn wasn’t expecting the offer but it’s an offer that has caught his attention in a big way.
“It’s crazy because I’ve been a Florida fan my whole life since I was born,” he said on what the offer means to him. “So that’s been the one that I’ve wanted to get since I started playing football. It just means a whole lot.”
Last Tuesday was Rayburn’s first visit to campus under the new coaching staff and he was impressed by their coaching style.
“It’s awesome, they’re extremely intense,” Rayburn of the coaching staff that he met on Tuesday during his visit. “Every little thing that the players were doing wrong, they were getting on them and making sure to correct them. They’re getting the best out of them.”
Offensive line coach John Hevesy spoke with Rayburn and his teammate Adrian Medley about the offensive line and what to watch for.
“He wants us to come back down again this summer so he could see us again,” he said of Hevesy’s message to him on Tuesday. “He told us to watch the practice so I stood around him a lot during the practice and watched them go through drills.”
Rayburn watched Hevesy closely on Tuesday and he likes the coaching style of the veteran offensive line coach.
“He’s good, he’s intense,” Rayburn said of Hevesy’s coaching style. “We got to sit in the meeting room with them and he was just firing stuff off during film. He knows his stuff very well. While they were going drills he was able to pick stuff up that I would’ve never notice and correct those mistakes.”
Defensive line coach Sal Sunseri is the area recruiter of Rayburn and he spoke with the lineman about joining the Gators.
“Just that the culture is changing there,” he said of Sunseri’s message to him. “He said the guys are buying in that are already there and that they’re getting a lot better. He said he would love for me to come be a part of the offensive line there.”
Over the last few weeks, Rayburn has seen his recruitment blow up with an offer from Florida and Texas A&M and that caused the lineman to slow down and take his recruiting process slow.
“No idea right now, it’s all kind of new to me,” Rayburn said on when he wants to make a decision. “We have a lot of places we’re going to visit this spring and then we’re going to get back down to Florida this summer.”
INSIDERS TAKE: If Florida pushes for Rayburn then the Gators have a real good chance with the offensive lineman. Rayburn has been picking up several big offers as of late and has seen his recruitment pick up a lot of steam after Texas A&M offered earlier this spring.