Carter welcomed with big hugs by the Florida Gators

Fans were surprised and happy last month when defensive end Zach Carter (6-4, 250, Tampa, FL Hillsborough) committed to the Florida Gators over Clemson.

Last Friday Carter made his first trip to Gainesville since being committed and he enjoyed the feeling he got.

“It felt good to be back on campus and be around the other commits,” said Carter on visiting Florida for the first time since committing. “I could feel the atmosphere being good and things just went great.”

One of the first things Carter did once he got on campus was meet with head coach Jim McElwain and it was a happy conversation according to the defensive end.

“It went good meeting with Coach Mac because he said he’s been waiting on me to commit so he said he was finally able to be happy,” Carter said. “He said he was happy to see me again and he just welcomed me to the family again.”

McElwain was happy, but defensive line coach Chris Rumph was really happy to see Carter back on campus and he was met with emotion.

“I think Coach Rumph was the most happy to see me again,” Carter said of Rumph. “He gave me a long hug and said welcome to the family too. He was really excited that I committed.”

Carter is committed and he expected the conversations and recruitment to slow down but he says Rumph still talks to him a lot.

“He still shows me the same amount of love as he did before I committed,” he said of Rumph’s message. “He told me that if I committed nothing would change and nothing has really changed either. He meant that when he told me that.”

While on campus on Friday night Carter was talking to a lot of prospects including two defensive players.

“I was recruiting LaBryan [Ray] a lot,” Carter said. “I was also recruiting Navaughn Donaldson and the Georgia corner commit [Latavious] Brini some. I was telling them that there is no better time to be a Gator.”

Going forward Carter is all in with the Gators but he says he would still to take official visits if he’s cleared to do so.

“I’m solidly committed to Florida,” he said. “I’m thinking about maybe taken some officials if Florida is ok with that. I’m not taking one to Clemson because that would scare the fans too much. I’m not sure where I’ll take them too.”

INSIDERS TAKE: Carter is locked in with the Gators and it would take something crazy to flip him away from Florida. Carter is one of the most vocal commits for the Gators and he’s recruiting several guys to Gainesville.

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.