On Saturday, the Florida Gators coaching staff hosted several prospects on campus to watch spring practice and meet with the coaching staff.
Defensive end/outside linebacker Kendall Jackson (6-4, 250, Gainesville, FL. Buchholz) made the short drive over to campus and got to meet one of the newest coaches on staff.
“The visit was great, I got to meet and talk to the new defensive coordinator [Austin Armstrong],” Jackson said of his visit to Florida on Saturday. “I got to learn more about their defensive scheme and learn how I would fit in their whole scheme of things.”
Jackson has seen Florida practice before under Billy Napier but he admits Saturday’s practice was a lot better than the previous ones he has watched.
“Practice was definitely different, the intensity was different,” he said of Florida’s practice. “The intensity and energy were unreal, the first time I went to practice, it wasn’t that high of intensity or clean but today [Saturday] they were getting after it and there was a lot of competition. Good competition.”
Defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong was a guy that Jackson wanted to watch in action and the coordinator’s energy impressed Jackson.
“It’s great, Coach Armstrong is a high intensity person,” Jackson said of his first impression of Armstrong. “His energy is through the roof, when they’re doing their circuit drill, he will race the position group to the next station. He gets after his guys and really coaches them up.”
Outside linebackers coach Mike Peterson explained to Jackson that the Gators are going to start recruiting him at a new position under Armstrong.
“They’re recruiting me as a Jack now, so my coach got switched from Coach Spencer to Coach Peterson,” he said on the message from the staff. “It’s pretty much what I do now, standing up and stopping the run and getting after the passer. I drop back a little bit; I’ve shown I can do that in 7-on-7 and cover small guys.”
Armstrong made sure to break down just how Jackson would fit into his defense and what the Gators like about his game.
“He was just letting me know how much they like me and that he’s already seen my film,” Jackson said on the message from Armstrong. “He likes my get off and he gave me a couple of things to think about during this recruiting process but overall, he said he liked how I cover with my size and still have the speed.”
Next up for Jackson will be more visits and then he plans to start narrowing things down so he can set official visits.
“I have four more unofficial visits and then I will be dropping my top eight on April 10th,” he said on what’s next for him in his recruitment. “I plan on dropping my top five around the first week of June so I can start planning my official visits. I’m trying to do some in the summer and some in the fall and then make a decision.”