Florida Gators recruiting: Swamp stories were true for Oden

The Florida Gators recruiting board already has one quarterback marked down as a commit in Kyle Trask, but the Gators are still looking for a second quarterback to add to the commit list.

On Saturday the Gators hosted Louisville Cardinals quarterback commit Tylin Oden (6-5, 175, Columbia, TN Spring Hill) on an unofficial visit and he enjoyed his time in Gainesville as a Florida Gators recruiting visitor.

“The visit was great, it was a really nice visit and I really did enjoy it,” Oden said of his visit to the Florida Gators. “My favorite part of the visit was getting to meet the coaches and getting to see the indoor practice facility they just built.”

Oden has heard a lot about the Swamp and how loud it was on game days and he says everything he has heard about it showed true on Saturday.

“I liked the atmosphere a lot, everything you hear about the Swamp is true,” Oden said. “I liked it there and I liked the crowd noise. When they say that the Swamp is loud they truly mean that.”

Despite having talked to the Gators coaching staff for almost three months now, Oden says this was his first time to meet them in person and he walked away impressed by the coaching staff.

“The coaches were really honest and they seemed as if they were all on the same page,” he said. “They are all focused on getting to that one goal and that’s what I want. That’s a big thing that I look for in a coaching staff, I just really liked all of the coaches.”

Offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier has been a major factor in the Florida Gators recruiting efforts for Oden and the two got the chance to sit down and talk on Saturday.

“Coach Nussmeier said that he was excited that I was there and to enjoy myself,” Oden said. “He said to take it all in and to pay close attention to the offense and what the quarterbacks were doing.”

Florida Gators head coach Jim McElwain also had the chance to sit down and talk with the Louisville commit and McElwain told Oden some things about the offense before Oden got the opportunity to see it for himself.

“Coach McElwain was telling me pretty much the same thing that Coach Nuss told me,” he said of McElwain’s message to him. “He told me to watch the offense and I thought the offense was good and it would prepare me well for the NFL. I think I would fit really well into the offense.”

Oden says he remains solid to Louisville but an offer from the Florida Gators could change that, and Oden believes an offer could be coming soon.

“They just want me to get more comfortable with them and the campus during the visits,” Oden said on what the coaches are telling him. “They want to get to know me more and I think once we get that relationship established then I think they will offer me a scholarship.”

 

INSIDERS TAKE: Oden says he will definitely be back in Gainesville for another visit but he wasn’t sure when that visit will take place. I expect Florida to continue to evaluate Oden’s game film this season before they extend an offer out to the Louisville Cardinals commit.

 

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.