With Florida’s hiring of defensive line coach Brad Lawing from South Carolina, the Gators get a coach who already holds a number of ties within the southeast. Lawing is a name which should resonate immediately with d-line recruits, as the 55-year-old coached arguably college football’s best defensive lineman over the last two seasons in Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney.
Now that Lawing is headed to Gainesville, the immediate focus will be centered around recruiting and whether he can positively impact the Gators’ efforts in nailing down another top-flight defensive line prospect before signing day on February 6th.
Gator Country’s Andrew Spivey reached out to several defensive line recruits in both this year’s and next year’s classes to see how they felt about UF’s most recent coaching addition:
Somerville (N.J.) Immaculata defensive end Tashawn Bower – “That’s pretty good, I had a good relationship with him.”
Hop Mills (N.C.) South View defensive tackle Greg Gilmore – “Good for them. They need some experience for next year.”
McDonough (Ga.) Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy defensive end Andrew Williams – “He can be a big part of Florida seeing how his success at sc was.”