The Florida Gators give Eason reasons to think

Georgia quarterback commit Jacob Eason (6-5, 207, Lake Stevens, WA High) stole the spotlight of Gator Nation last week when he took an official visit to check out the Florida Gators.

Eason, who is one of the top quarterbacks in the country, isn’t a guy that likes doing interviews but Eason’s personal quarterback coach Lavelle Durant, talked to Gator Country about Eason’s visit to Florida.

“It definitely left a really good, positive impression on him,” Durant said. “He liked it a lot, it’s definitely giving him something to think about. He’s doing a lot of thinking and he talked about how well they treated him there and how the vibe he got there was unbelievable. He said everyone there was behind him and he enjoyed his time there big time.”

Florida Gators head coach Jim McElwain is often mentioned as the “quarterback whisperer” as he’s known for his work with quarterbacks and this past week he impressed Eason.

“Jacob talked about how he liked Mac. He likes Mac a lot,” Durant said. “He said that Mac was a really cool guy, I mean who doesn’t like Mac? Coach Mac is an awesome guy and Jacob said that he really liked all of the people there.”

McElwain is just now building a relationship with Eason but offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier has had a long relationship with the Georgia commit and that’s a big plus for the Gators.

“He’s definitely comfortable with Coach Nussmeier, Coach Nussmeier is a good guy,” Durant said. “Coach Nussmeier has been around and recruited him to Michigan, so he’s a familiar face with Jacob. He’s definitely more comfortable with Nuss than he is with a lot of other OCs around.”

Eason is really close to former Georgia, and new Miami Hurricanes coach Mark Richt and has been rumored to have interest in Miami, but Durant doesn’t think that is the case.

“Jacob hasn’t mentioned anything about visiting Miami. Yes, he had a good relationship with Coach Richt, but Miami already has Brad Kaaya that is going to be a junior and has a great career,” Durant said. “They also have Jack Allison committed already and he’s somebody that Jacob is really close to and they’re in the same class. I’m not going to say that’s out of the question for Jacob to take a visit there but I don’t believe it’s high on his priority [list] right now. Those are my words and not Jacob’s, but that’s the vibe I get from him.”

One thing hurting Miami but helping the Florida Gators and Georgia Bulldogs is the fact that Eason could compete for playing time as a freshman, and that’s something McElwain brought up to him last week.

“Playing early of course is on the mind of Jacob, of course,” Durant said. “Any quarterback’s is decision is impacted on how quickly he can play at a school, so, yes that’s something that Coach Mac has talked to him about.”

Richt was also very close to Eason’s family. When Eason traveled alone to Florida last week quite a few people were concerned why he would travel without his family but Durant says it was more about making sure Eason could live in Gainesville alone.

“I actually stood behind his father’s decision to let Jacob go by himself to Florida,” Durant said. “His dad has said pretty much that if Jacob decides to go across the country for school that he isn’t going to be there with him so he wants Jacob to show him how comfortable he’s on campus without his mother or father around.”

Now that Eason has made his official visit to Florida, Kirby Smart will visit Eason on Monday and an official visit to Georgia is scheduled for this weekend, but Durant isn’t sure if that visit will take place or not.

“I’m not sure,” Durant said on whether or not Eason visits Georgia. “I think he’s waiting to see who Georgia gets as an OC and I know he has interest in taking the Georgia visit but after the visit to Florida, I’m not sure what’s holding him up. I’m behind him 100 percent though.”

Durant, who has coached several big time quarterbacks, told Gator Country what he would do if he was in Eason’s shoes right now.

“If I was in Jacob’s shoes, I would be leaning heavily on Florida,” Durant said. “They have such good history with quarterbacks, plus they have McElwain and Nussmeier on the same team. That’s awesome right there, plus the quarterback competition is wide open as we can all see. That’s what I see but whatever decision Jacob makes, I’ll stand behind him.”

INSIDERS TAKE: I expect Eason to get a visit from McElwain and Nussmeier later in the week, but as of posting this I do not have an exact day of when that visit will take place.

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.

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