Tisdale has ties to the Florida Gators

The Florida Gators are sending out offers on a daily basis and that continued over the weekend when Florida handed out four offers to prospects in the class of 2016.

One of those offers went out to athlete Tyrek Tisdale (6-2, 200, Orlando, FL Oak Ridge) who heard the news from one of the Gators main recruiting coaches.

“Florida offered me on Sunday night,” Tisdale said. “Coach Drew Hughes offered me the scholarship. He said that he wanted to welcome me to be a part of the Gator Nation and that Florida was offering me as an athlete.”

When Tisdale received the news he was very excited but he also knew how much it would mean to his high school coach who is a former Gators running back under Steve Spurrier.

“It means a lot to get the offer,” Tisdale said. “It means a lot knowing that I’m one of the first players that has been coached by Elijah Williams to be offered by the University of Florida. That’s the college he came from so it means a lot. It also means a lot knowing that all of the hard work and help from my coaches has paid off.”

When Tisdale spoke to Hughes on the phone on Sunday the two talked about a visit and the Orlando athlete says that he plans to come check out the Gators in the coming weeks.

“I plan to visit Florida for a spring practice later this month,” Tisdale said. “I have interest in Florida so I just want to see the campus life and the football team and meet everyone. I need to make that visit and see how I like things and also see how the academics are.”

When Tisdale visits Florida he wants to meet the coaches that he has been talking to on the phone, plus he wants to sit down with running backs coach Tim Skipper to talk about what the Gators running back coach has been telling him over the phone.

“I’ve been talking to coach Hughes but I mainly talk to coach T-Skip [Tim Skipper],” Tisdale said. “Coach Skipper has just been saying that I can make some big plays and that I just need to keep working on my agility and my strength because the SEC is a powerhouse and he wants me to come in and be ready to play.”

Despite the ties to Florida, the Orlando product says that the Gators don’t lead but he does have a few visits in mind, plus a timetable of when he would like to decide.

“All 14 of my offers stick out to me right now,” Tisdale said. “I don’t have a leader but it will probably be late July or August before I make a decision. I’m going to take a trip to Louisville, South Carolina and some other schools before I make a decision.”

 

INSIDERS TAKE: Tisdale is a very good athlete that can play running back or potentially some receiver and in high school he plays some quarterback. Florida has a good shot here with Tisdale’s coach being a former Gator plus the distance from home.

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.