Defensive end JaQuan Bailey (6-2, 235, Jacksonville, FL Raines) made news on Saturday morning when he committed to the Florida Gators and not only were Gators fans happy but it was a dream come true for Bailey himself.
“Florida just felt right and felt like home for me,” Bailey said. “I was one-hundred percent positive that I wanted to commit to Florida. It’s a dream come true to play with my teammate and friend Rick [Wells]. I’m speechless right now because it hasn’t really hit me yet that I’m committed to my dream school.”
When Bailey met with head coach Jim McElwain to tell him the good news the defensive end was greeted by an excited head coach.
“Coach McElwain was saying “hell yeah” when I committed,” Bailey said. “He was very excited that I was committing to Florida and was just happy. He told me that he sees me having a big role in this defense and he’s ready to get me on campus.”
McElwain wasn’t the only happy coach in the building on Saturday as defensive coordinator Geoff Collins also got a little happy when he heard Bailey’s news.
“I talked to coach Collins for a little while and he was very excited when I committed,” Bailey said. “He told me that he loves my type of player I am and that he thinks I can play with my hand in the ground or as a standup defensive end.”
This was the first time for Bailey to meet new defensive line coach Chris Rumph and the meeting went well according to Bailey.
“Me and coach Rumph are really cool already,” Bailey said. “He said was every excited to coach me and that he’s ready to have me on the team. We watched film together today and he was showing me some things.”
Now that Bailey has committed to Florida he plans to start trying to get other guys in the class and he’s already batting a thousand.
“Yes sir, I’m going to start recruiting for Florida,” Bailey said. “My top target was Chauncey Gardner now I have some other guys to recruit.”
INSIDERS TAKE: Bailey is a guy that bleeds the orange and blue and will be a top recruiter for this class this year. He and Wells will likely be the Tyler Jordan of this year’s class.