The Florida Gators picked up two offensive line commits this weekend and now have five offensive line commits in the class of 2015 but the Gators are looking for more.
One of those top targets is Miami offensive line commit Tyree St. Louis (6-5, 300, Bradenton, FL IMG Academy) who took an official visit to Florida this weekend and had a good trip that showed St. Louis just how intense Gator fans really are.
“It was a fun visit, I had a great time down there in Gainesville,” St. Louis said. “I got to meet everyone and hang out with all of the guys. One day we got to go to the basketball game. The basketball game was great, it was a great atmosphere there. Florida has a great fanbase.”
Head coach Jim McElwain has made St. Louis a top priority since he was hired and this weekend McElwain laid out a clear message for the Miami commit.
“Coach McElwain was just mainly telling me how much they need me at Florida,” St. Louis said. “He was telling me about the opportunity that I had at Florida and how big of an impact I could have on the team.”
St. Louis, who has talked to McElwain a lot, got to finally hang around the head coach for a few days and the head coach made a solid impression on the young lineman.
“Coach McElwain is a great dude with a lot of energy,” St. Louis said. “I’ve been talking to Coach Mac a couple of times now so it wasn’t the first time we sat down and talk about football. He’s always a great guy to talk too.”
Offensive line coach Mike Summers also showed St. Louis a good time and laid out his message for St. Louis as well.
“Coach Summers is a little bit calmer than Coach Mac but he’s also a good guy,” St. Louis said. “He was telling me mainly the same thing that Coach McElwain was but he was also telling me that he wants me to play tackle at Florida.”
During the visit St. Louis got to hang out with two guys he’s familiar with and another player that he has watched on TV as the current Gators players were selling Florida to St. Louis.
“I was hanging out with Vernon [Hargreaves], Joey [Ivie] and Jalen [Tabor],” St. Louis said. “Vernon and I pretty familiar with each other so he was just telling me how much he enjoys Florida and playing there. He was telling me about how great of a choice he made when he came to Florida and how much they have done for him.”
After this visit Florida is on the mind of St. Louis but he admits a final decision won’t come for a couple more days.
“I’m still committed to Miami but I’m going through the process and looking at everything,” St. Louis said. “I’m going to make my final decision on either Tuesday or Wednesday. I’m probably going to just sign and be done with it.”
St. Louis does know what will go into his decision as he and his family will sit down and talk about where is the best place for him to go to college.
“It’s going to be what me and my family think is best for me,” St. Louis said. “I’m loyal to Miami but I need to sit down and go over everything and see if Florida showed me enough to make me flip.”
INSIDERS TAKE: Florida made a big impression on St. Louis this weekend and the Gators put themselves in a good spot to flip him. St. Louis knows he can play early at Florida and that’s a big factor for him plus he knows a good amount of guys at Florida.
YESS! COME ON ST LOUIS
My thoughts as well….St Louie and Ivey would be HUGE for our o line….with Rod Johnson and David Sharpe back I would actually feel decent with them next year. Especially with Summer time coaching them.
Getting St. Louis and Ivey would be two huge guys for this class
Man…coming over to the good guys would be very cool. At least he’s talking about flipping, which is nice :)
Florida is trending up here but not sure it’s enough
C’mon St Louis, come to a school where fans can actually fill the stadium, not making plans for their new renovated stadium that will need to cover the endzones due to it being empty.
Come to UF where so many of the fan actually go to the school. Chomp, Chomp