Mitchell enjoys Florida Junior Day

One of Florida’s top priorities this year is to find a tight end. Last weekend, Will Muschamp and his staff offered an out of state target.

Opelika (Al.) High tight end Jakell Mitchell visited Florida for Junior Day and while on the visit, picked up an offer and now has co-leaders.

“Coach (Will) Muschamp and the tight end coach Derek Lewis offered Jakell,” Mario Mitchell (Jakell’s father) said. “Jakell and coach Lewis talk a lot on the phone. The same thing can be said for Jakell and Auburn too. Florida and Auburn are his early leaders right now with nobody having an edge right now.”

The visit went great for the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Mitchell according to his father who was on the visit with Jakell.

“It was a great visit,” Mitchell said. “He loved the school a lot and he bonded really well with coach Lewis too. Florida is a very good fit for Jakell, just like Auburn is too. Both schools really fit his style of play as a pass catcher and a run blocking tight end.”

One of the things that intrigues Mitchell about Florida is the style of offense that offensive coordinator Brent Pease runs. Mitchell likes how Pease uses tight ends in his offense.

“Jakell and I sit down and I pull up film on each school that offers him,” Mitchell said. “One thing we liked lot about Florida is how they used #11 (Jordan Reed), their tight end last year. He is going to end up being a draft pick this year in the NFL draft.”

The Mitchell family plans to narrow down things down to four or five schools and focus on them this summer.

“We hope to have it down to four or five by this summer,” Mitchell said. “We will visit those schools. One thing Jakell wants to do is visit Florida this summer and work one on one with coach Lewis in camp. He wants to see how he coaches and if he likes his style of coaching.”

Mitchell plans to make a decision before his senior season at Opelika starts.

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.