Johnson wants to visit the Florida Gators

Offensive linemen are a huge need for the Florida Gators once again in the class of 2016 and after signing six in the class of 2015 the Gators would like to sign close to that number again in 2016.

One of the newest offers out at the position is to offensive lineman Baveon Johnson (6-3, 279, Lakeland, FL Lake Gibson) who learned of his Florida offer in a different way than most prospects.

“I’m not sure which coach offered me but I just saw it on Twitter that my high school coach told me that Florida offered me,” Johnson said. “I was very happy to get the offer from the Gators. I haven’t been talking to Florida that much because of the coaching change but I’ve met coach [Mike] Summers before.”

Johnson met Summers during an unofficial visit to watch Florida play last spring, but Johnson also knows one of the other Gators new assistant coaches.

“I went up to the Florida and Kentucky game last year,” Johnson said. “That’s when I met coach Summers. I’ve also met coach [Kerry] Dixon because he was the recruiter for area when he was at FIU. I’m hoping to meet all of the coaches soon but I like those two coaches so far.”

Johnson enjoyed his visit to Florida last year. The lineman had a chance to get up to Gainesville and take in a game day experience in The Swamp as Florida took down Kentucky.

“The visit was amazing and the atmosphere was incredible,” Johnson said. “It was a close game and I liked the little cheer they did in the fourth quarter. The Swamp was great that day.”

Having a good visit was a plus for Florida with Johnson but the Lakeland area prospect also knows about the rich tradition of recruiting from the Lakeland area by Florida.

“I know that the Pouncey twins and Chris Rainey went to Florida and they had a lot of success there,” Johnson said. “Lakeland is a pipeline to Florida and that’s is a good things. It is always good to follow a pipeline.”

Now that Florida has a new coaching staff Johnson is eager to meet everyone plus he wants to see things outside of football and he plans to visit and see those things at Florida soon.

“I plan to go up there for a junior day in March,” Johnson said. “I have already seen the football things so I want to the academics and the facilities they have for academics this time. I want to tour the classrooms.”

 

INSIDERS TAKE: Johnson says that he doesn’t have any leaders but Florida State was his favorite school growing up so the Noles will a team that Florida has to battle for. Florida needs to start adding guys like Johnson on the offensive line for class of 2016 and adding a guy like Johnson early would be a great thing.

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.