Florida wants to flip Auburn Tigers commit

The Florida Gators landed the top offensive lineman in the state of Florida in 2015 and the Gators hosted the top offensive lineman for 2017 two weeks ago on campus, as Florida goes for the flip.

Auburn Tigers offensive line commit Calvin Ashley (6-8, 311, Orlando, FL Dr. Phillips) committed to the Tigers earlier this summer, but he finally made it up to see Coach Jim McElwain and the Gators two weeks ago.

“It was pretty good, it was my first time to Florida and I liked it,” Ashley said. “I was there during the camp but they showed me around and I met with Coach Mac. They took me around the facilities and let me hang out with some of the players on the team. It was just a nice time.”

Offensive line coach Mike Summers has led the charge in recruiting Ashley to Florida and the two had a long meeting while he was on campus.

“Coach Summers is a really cool dude,” Ashley said.“He showed me some plays in the offense and broke it down for me. He really wants me there and he was telling me that.”

Ashley has taken notice of the Gators’ need for linemen and he feels that it’s a plus for any linemen looking at Florida.

“He needs offensive linemen bad,” Ashley said of Summers’ message to him. “It shocked me a little bit to know that they only had a few offensive linemen in the spring. It’s intriguing though.”

McElwain has landed several stud players from Dr. Phillips High School in the past and he brought that up to Ashley during his visit to Florida.

“Coach McElwain is a cool dude and he wants me too,” Ashley said. “Coach Mac is the type of person that is real funny and a cool dude. He left Colorado State to come to Florida and he’s cool with people at my school and he has gotten a lot of players from my school.”

Will Muschamp and the previous staff didn’t gain much traction with Ashley while they were at Florida but McElwain and company have Ashley’s attention now.

“I’m committed to Auburn but the new staff at Florida is making me look at them,” Ashley said of his commitment status. “I have two years left so we will see what happens. I’m keeping everything open some. I’m going to get back up to Florida soon and to Auburn.”

 

INSIDERS TAKE: Ashley is one of the best players in the country for 2017 and he’s a huge priority for Florida. The Gators will have plenty of time to show him that the offense is better in Gainesville.

 

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.