The Florida Gators hosted several top notch prospects on Saturday for its first junior day and athlete Tyrek Tisdale (6-2, 200, Orlando, FL Oak Ridge) was one of the big name prospects in town.
Tisdale has visited Florida several times in the past but this time he got the red carpet treatment from the Gators staff.
“It was a good visit for me to Florida,” Tisdale said. “I got to see the campus a few times, talk to the players and talk to some of the early enrolling guys. The big thing was getting to talk to all of the coaches and try on the jersey’s though.”
Most prospects say the highlight of the trip was something they were told by a coach but Tisdale said the atmosphere in the coaching offices was what stood out to him the most.
“I was very impressed by the coaches,” Tisdale said. “They mostly talked about how they cared about their players and how they take care of them and how they care a lot about education there. Coach [Jim] McElwain said that when you’re a Gator, you’re a Gator and you take care of each other.”
When Tisdale got the opportunity to sit down with head coach Jim McElwain the message was straight and to the point from the Gators head man.
“He said to take care of my classes and that there is room for me at Florida to be a Gator,” Tisdale said of McElwain. “He said that I could help the offense or defense a lot. He said that he wanted me as an athlete right now.”
Offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier knows that Tisdale is being recruited as an athlete but he and the other offensive coaches told Tisdale which side of the ball they want him on at Florida.
“I talked to coach Nussmeier too and he said that I could help the offense out,” Tisdale said. “The receiver coach [Kerry Dixon] and running backs coach [Tim Skipper] were cool dudes. They were trying to figure out which position I would best at if I come to Florida.”
The Orlando native has seen his stock rise as of late and that has caused Tisdale to go into a wait see mode before announcing any stand out schools.
“I have a lot of interest in Florida now,” Tisdale said. “Everyone is pretty much even right now because I don’t have a leader.”
Tisdale might not say that Florida has an edge but the Gators will certainly have the chance to pull out to a lead in the coming weekend when Tisdale goes back to Gainesville.
“I plan to come down to Florida in a week or two,” Tisdale said. “I want to see one of their spring practices soon so I can how they run things now.”