Holland enjoys Florida’s practice

When Florida opened spring practice on Wednesday, it was also the first chance for some prospects to see the coaching staff in action.

One such prospect was 2015 Jacksonville (Fla.) Trinity Christian linebacker Jeffrey Holland, who attended the Gators’ spring opener.

“It was a good visit,” Holland said. “I had a good time and enjoyed watching practice. It was an intense but chill practice. They were working more on technique and going over fundamentals and learning the defense.”

While out on the practice field, Holland made sure to play close attention to the linebacker group. He also studied defensive coordinator and linebackers coach D.J. Durkin, to get a feel for how he teaches his players.

“I paid most of my attention to the linebacker,” Holland said. “I really like coach Durkin’s style of coaching and how he teaches stuff. I was taking a lot of mental reps out there and I actually learned some new technique by watching them practice.”

Before the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Holland left Gainesville, two of Florida’s coaches had a nice talk with him.

“Coach (Will) Muschamp and coach (Travaris Robinson) T-Rob both talked to me,” Holland said. “It went real good and we were talking about the defense and different schemes and some of the way they called the defense. Coach Muschamp was also talking to me about my academics and making sure I was doing good in school.”

When Holland was at practice, he watched several true freshmen who enrolled early get a lot of reps  — something Muschamp made sure Holland noticed.

“Coach Muschamp made it clear he isn’t afraid to play true freshman,” Holland said. “He told me that if you come to Florida and work hard you will get the field but that nothing is given to anyone.”

Holland was accompanied on his visit by 2015 cornerback Kevin Toliver II, who is currently committed to LSU. The two of them may visit Florida again on Saturday.

While Holland said his recruitment is open right now, he also noted that he could see himself playing at Florida after watching practice.

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.