The Florida Gators have a big need for linebackers but the good news is that Florida has several prospects interested in them and several of them plan to visit the Gators in January.
One of those linebackers who have plans to visit Florida in January is linebacker Dontavious Jackson (6-2, 238, Houston, TX Elsik), who is being recruited by Florida Gators linebacker coach Randy Shannon.
“I’m going to Florida on January 15th and Alabama on January 23rd for official visits,” Jackson said. “Coach Shannon is my main recruiter for Florida and he has been doing his thing recruiting me, recruiting me hard. He offered my teammate Chris Brown, that’s intriguing for me so that’s why I’m going to visit them.”
Shannon visited Jackson earlier this month and two parties have developed quite the relationship with each other.
“It was a cool visit with Coach Shannon when he came to see me,” Jackson said. “Coach Shannon has been doing his thing when recruiting me, he’s always on me and we talk frequently. We have a lot in common so are conversations are lasting if you know what I’m saying.”
One of the reasons that Jackson likes Shannon so much is because of his track record with as a coach.
“He puts guys in the league,” he said of Shannon’s message to him. “He says that guys are going to have fun playing under him but they’re going to learn from him and get better.”
Shannon isn’t the only reason that Jackson likes Florida, as the Texas linebacker likes how the Gators play defense.
“Defense, defense is what stands out about Florida,” he said. “They do a lot of blitzing and they run a lot of schemes in their defense down there. I like that about them a lot. They’re a good defensive school.”
Now that Jackson has done his homework on the Gators coaching staff, next he will visit Florida, where he hopes to see the university as whole.
“I want to see the environment because I’ve never been to Gainesville before,” Jackson said of what he wants to see from Florida. “I want to see everything that Florida has to offer during my official visit.”
Jackson who only has a little over a month to go before signing day says that he’s nowhere close to making a decision.
“I’m all over the place on my last two official visits because I’ve already taken one to Michigan,” Jackson said. “This recruiting process is stressing me out and I’m just taking it day by day. I’m going to take my time and use every day that I have left. I’m going to announce on signing day.”