Florida Gators head coach Jim McElwain hosted eight official visitors over the weekend and then left Sunday afternoon to head to South Florida for in-home visits with prospects.
The first stop he made was to see cornerback commit C.J. McWilliams (5-11, 164, Miami, FL Southwest) and the visit was a success, according to the cornerback.
“The visit was good, it was a good visit to see them come over,” McWilliams said. “It was nice to have both Coach Randy Shannon and Coach McElwain visit me together. It’s big to have the head coach visit you.”
McElwain spent a lot of time with McWilliams on Sunday night and the main message was the Gators needed the cornerback.
“Coach McElwain told me he would like to have me at Florida,” he said of McElwain’s message. “He said that he knows that I’m going to be a great football player but he said to finish school first and have a good senior year. He said that I could be a big part of the Gators team.”
Florida Gators linebackers coach Randy Shannon has been the main recruiter of McWilliams and he also had a similar message for the Gators commit.
“Coach Shannon was saying the same thing and that he knows how I can compete,” McWilliams said. “He said that the Gators are a good fit for me and that he can see me being a good defensive back with the Gators.”
This past weekend McWilliams took an official visit to USF and he liked the trip but he remains committed to the Florida Gators.
“I’m pretty solid to Florida but the visit to USF was good,” he said. “The coaches were cool there especially Coach T. [Willie Taggart] and they welcomed me as a family up there. It was a good vibe up there but I’m visiting North Carolina this weekend and then Florida.”
McWilliams will make the trip up to Gainesville on January 29th for his official visit and he hopes to see a few things in particular from the Gators.
“To be honest I’m looking forward to just being welcomed at Florida,” McWilliams said of what he wants to see from Florida. “I want to see what the staff is saying about me and how bad they want me there. I just want to see a great atmosphere up there.”
INSIDERS TAKE: I got the impression from McWilliams that he’s waiting to see how his official visit to Florida goes before he makes his mind up on where he’s going to school. If Florida pushes to keep McWilliams than I believe he sticks with the Florida Gators.
What are you thoughts on him Andrew?
Needs to add a good amount of weight.