McElwain to evaluate Polite this fall

Last Friday was a busy day on the Florida Gators with the coaching staff hosting several big name prospects for the Gators spring practice.

Defensive end Jachai Polite (6-4, 230, Daytona Beach, FL Mainland) was one of those prospects who visited Florida as he was hoping to meet the new coaching staff for the first time.

“The visit was good, I had a good time on Friday and got to finally see everyone,” Polite said. “We went around the facilities and they were telling us about how they were remolding everything. They showed us little details that a lot of people didn’t know about the facilities. We got to watch practice after that.”

Polite has gotten to speak to defensive line coach Chris Rumph several times and on Friday he got to see Rumph coach the defensive line.

“The practice was up-tempo and nobody was standing around, everyone was moving around,” Polite said. “They were working hard out there from what I was able to see. Coach Rumph is a great coach and he’s intense because he expects a lot of people.”

With so many prospects on campus on Friday the Gators coaching staff didn’t have a chance to have a lot of one-on-one time with prospects but Polite did get a chance to introduce himself to Rumph.

“I didn’t get a chance to talk to long with coach Rumph because he was busy but we did get to meet,” Polite said. “He told me that he would be in touch with me to talk more to me but that he was glad that he got to meet me and evaluate me in person. I got to meet a lot of the coaches on Friday.”

Polite came onto campus on Friday hoping to gain a Florida offer and while that didn’t happen, he did learn what he needed to do to earn one.

“Coach McElwain told me that he wants to see my first three games of film this fall,” Polite said. “He said that my first three games of film will determine whether I get the offer from Florida or not.”

 

INSIDERS TAKE: Polite is a guy that Florida wants to see in camp and he’s a guy that could very well see getting an offer from the Gators if he does well. He’s a long athletic defensive end that needs to gain weight.

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.