Florida Gators recruiting: Tatum likes the opportunity at UF

The Florida Gators recruiting board is slim for the offensive line position but on Saturday one of the Gators’ top targets Marcus Tatum (6-6, 265, Daytona Beach, FL Mainland) visited Florida for the Florida State game.

“The visit went really good, I enjoyed myself and I was with my teammate,” Tatum said. “It was good game, it was a defensive game. The offensive line was doing good and they can’t really help coverage sacks, those are the most annoying things, so they aren’t to blame for that.”

While the Florida Gators lost the game, Tatum noticed several things that were positives for the Florida Gators.

“You can tell that they need some help in certain areas on offense,” he said. “They have the right people but they have a lot of young people. Everyone keeps forgetting that Florida is super young and it isn’t a bunch of seniors out there. It will take time for them to get better.”

One thing that Tatum liked about being on the Florida Gators visitor’s list was that he was able to see the atmosphere in the Swamp.

“It was a great atmosphere,” Tatum said. “That game and the Tennessee game were pretty close, because when they played Tennessee that atmosphere was beyond crazy. Both were great though.”

After the game was over Tatum had the chance to talk with Florida Gators head coach Jim McElwain and offensive line coach Mike Summers.

“Coach McElwain just tells me that he needs me and he needs me to come in and compete,” he said. “That’s what I like to hear from coach. Coach Summers is telling me the same thing really. We have a good relationship with each other.”

After visiting the Florida Gators on Saturday, Tatum says that two SEC eastern division rivals are tied at the top.

“Florida and Tennessee are my leaders right now,” Tatum said. “Both of them need offensive linemen and tackles bad so I know that I have an opportunity to play at both schools.”

Now that Tatum is done with his senior season he can now focus on preparing his official visits, and he says he knows one team that will get one.

“My next step is to start planning official visits,” Tatum said. “Florida will definitely get an official but other than that I have to keep looking at other schools. I’ve already taken one to Tennessee.”

INSIDERS TAKE: Tatum says that his decision could come at anytime and that he will decide whenever it feels right. I think Florida still has a slight edge but Tennessee is also in the mix for Tatum, who is one of the best linemen in the south.

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.