2016 RB has Florida connections

The Florida coaching staff is splitting time between taking some much needed vacation and recruiting for the next few weeks. Even with some of the staff on vacation, recruiting never sleeps and the Gators handed out several offers.

One of those players that received an offer was 2016 running back Robert Washington (5-10, 205, Huntersville, NC Southlake Christian Academy) who received the news in a special way to him.

“Coach [Will] Muschamp the head coach of Florida offered me a scholarship,” Washington said. “I was speechless because usually you don’t have the head coach offering you. So it was a big offer to me and having him do it was even better. It’s always special to talk to the head coach himself.”

Receiving an offer from Florida often catches recruits off guard but Washington had an idea that he would receive the offer at some point he just wasn’t sure when.

“I’ve been talking to Coach [Drew] Hughes for some time now and he’s been telling me that he was going to get me on the phone with Coach Muschamp,” Washington said. “Coach Muschamp when he got the phone was like, ‘we love your film and we are offering you a scholarship’. He said that I was a very good player.”

Now that Washington has the offer from the Gators he’s already planning to make an unofficial visit to Gainesville to check out Florida in person.

“I’m going to the Rivals 250 next month and I was going to visit then but it’s during the dead period,” Washington said. “My parents are going to sit down and try to figure out a better time for me to get down there this summer for a visit.”

When Washington does get the opportunity to get down to Gainesville for a visit he will have a familiar face on campus to show him around.

“I have a lot of interest in Florida because growing up I watched them play a lot,” Washington said. “Growing up I watched Will Grier play and he was like my big brother so him being down there makes me interested as well. Coach Chris Leak is also from my area so I know that about Florida too.”

Despite being a 2016 prospect Washington says three schools are already recruiting him pretty hard but don’t expect a decision anytime soon.

“Notre Dame, Ohio State and Florida are also starting to recruit me pretty hard,” Washington said. “When I come out with my top schools Florida has an excellent opportunity to be high up there. I’m not in any kind of rush to do that though.”

INSIDER TAKE: For a few months it looked like Washington was a lock to go to Notre Dame but now that Florida and Ohio State have entered the mix he has slowed things down and also opened up more to other schools. Washington is a big back but also ran a low 4.5 forty recently a camp and that makes him a perfect fit for Kurt Roper’s offensive scheme at Florida.

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.