Gouraige gets a dream offer from the Florida Gators

Florida Gators head coach Jim McElwain uses the phrase “recruit daily or die” about recruiting and so far through a year and a half he’s living up to that mantra. The Gators are offering prospects almost daily in several different classes.

On Monday night, Florida offensive line coach Mike Summers handed out an offer to 2018 offensive lineman Richard Gouraige (6-5, 250, Tampa, FL Cambridge) and explained why the Gators were offering him.

“The offensive line coach, Coach [Mike] Summers was the coach that offered me,” Gouraige said of who offered him on Monday. “He was just like [saying] that he loved my film and that I had great technique. He said that he wants me to be a part of the program on the offensive line.”

Gouraige, who has double-digit offers already, was excited and surprised to hear from the instate Gators so soon.

“The offer means a lot to me,” he said. “I was dreaming of this offer as a little kid. My dream really came true because Florida has always been a school that I wanted an offer from. Ever since Tim Tebow left, he left a great legacy for the Florida Gators and I like that.”

The 2018 prospect is no stranger to Florida, as he visited the Gators several times last fall and he got to meet the coaching staff during those visits.

“I came up to Florida for the Ole Miss game and for the Vanderbilt game last fall,” Gouraige said. “I got to meet the coaching staff and meet Coach [Jim] McElwain. Coach McElwain changed the program in a big way during his first year. Everyone thought they were going to lose the Ole Miss game, but the players came out hyped and dominated the game.”

During the games, and last season as well, Gouraige paid close attention to Florida’s offense.

“I like their offense a lot, they’re like a fast tempo offense,” he said. “They run the ball and stuff like that and that’s what I like. I like how they get to the ball fast and run the pro-style offense.”

Florida is a school that is starting to recruit Gouraige hard and several other SEC teams are also in the mix.

“Auburn, Georgia, USF, Louisville, North Carolina and Kentucky are also recruiting me hard,” Gouraige said. “Nobody is really standing out to me, I’m staying pretty open to all schools right now. I plan to take some visits and I plan to visit sometime either this spring or fall.”

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.