Everyone that follows or covers the Florida Gators football team knows that Florida needs linebackers in the class of 2016 in a big way to add depth to the position.
Last week linebackers coach Randy Shannon took a step in the right direction by offering Michigan Wolverines linebacker commit David Reese (6-1, 238, Farmington, MI High) a scholarship.
“I’m super excited that I got the Florida offer on Thursday night,” Reese said. “Coach Shannon was the coach that offered me over the phone when we were talking on Thursday night. It’s a big offer for me.”
Most football fans know about Shannon’s rich tradition of coaching linebackers and that was something that stood out to Reese, as the Michigan commit is very familiar with Shannon’s past.
“He was telling me about how many kids he actually coached in the past at linebacker,” he said. “He said he needs players to come in and compete right away at Florida. It was something that was nice to hear from a legend like Coach Shannon. He has coached guys like Ray Lewis and he said that he could see movement in my hips that reminded him of some of the guys he has coached.”
When Shannon compared Reese to a few of his former players, the linebacker was left speechless for a second but he was honored to hear such a statement.
“I was excited to hear that from a legend,” Reese said. “When you hear something like that you just get excited about football and get excited about your future in football.”
Shannon also explained the need for linebackers on the Florida Gators football team next year to Reese.
“He told me about the whole depth chart and how they need linebackers,” he said. “He was telling me that some guys are injured and how most of the guys are seniors or juniors. That just made me even more excited and then they told me they had a spot open for me to be an early enrollee. I have a lot to think about now.”
Reese is committed to Michigan right now but they do not have room for him to enroll early, so a few schools are starting to recruit him hard.
“Florida is a school that I’m definitely going to visit, I think it’s going to be on November 28th,” Reese said. “Texas and Florida are the two schools recruiting me the hardest and Nebraska is also recruiting me some. I’m definitely looking hard at those schools.”
One thing is for sure in that Reese was excited to hear from Shannon and the Florida Gators football program last week.
“Florida is a winning program and that’s never going to change,” he said. “They are always going to be a winning program and they are 6-1 this year with a defense that is playing physical. When you think of Florida, you think of big time football in the SEC and all of the speed they have.”
INSIDERS TAKE: I think it will be either Florida or Texas for Reese and the linebacker says that his family plans to move with him so distance isn’t a factor. It will come down to official visits as both Randy Shannon and Charlie Strong are great recruiters and know the linebacker position well.
that’s a big high school LB, can he handle a college weight program and still play LB
Yes, he can. He’s a guy that is ready to play at size now.