On Saturday, the Florida Gators hosted several prospects from out of state on campus for the Gators spring practice.
Tight end John Copenhaver (6-3, 210, Roswell, GA. High) was one of those guys who visited campus on Saturday and he liked how the Gators practiced.
“It was a good visit, I went down for the spring practice,” Copenhaver said of his visit to Florida on Saturday. “It was a little different then what they do at times, they would do 7-on-7 and then they had a mini scrimmage, I liked the intensity they brought. After that I toured the facilities, they were beautiful and I loved it.”
While on campus, Copenhaver talked to several of Florida’s coaches including head coach Dan Mullen.
“I talked with Coach [Dan] Mullen but mainly talked with Coach [Larry] Scott in his office for a little bit,” he said of the coaches he talked to on Saturday. “I talked to Coach Mullen during practice, it was just a hey, how are you doing type of talk.”
Tight ends coach Larry Scott broke down to Copenhaver how the Gators would use him in Florida’s offense if he chooses the Gators for college.
“He was just saying that I’m more of a hybrid tight end and not really an in the dirt guy,” Copenhaver said of the message from Larry Scott about how he fits into Florida’s offense. “He said that I can go flexed out as a wide out or in the slot. He really liked how aggressive I was. Just kind of a hybrid tight end.”
Scott has been recruiting Copenhaver for a few months now and something Scott did on Saturday stood out to the tight end.
“It’s a pretty good relationship,” he said of his relationship with Larry Scott. “I was talking to my parents about this but I noticed how that if a tight end did something wrong, he would get in your face and yell out them but he just wouldn’t leave it at that. He would go back and correct them and I think that’s a really good thing.”
Copenhaver says the Gators improved their chances for him on Saturday and several things played into that.
“Just how they’ve used past tight ends and I was watching [Kemore] Gamble play, it just shows that you don’t have to be a 6-7, 260-pound tight end to succeed there,” Copenhaver said on what he likes about Florida. “It shows that you can just ball out, no matter what your size or weight is there. Academics really stood out to me, I knew they were pretty good but not as good as they really are.”
Next up for Copenhaver will be a few more visits and then the tight end hopes to narrow down his choices.
“I’m going to try to visit Purdue, Iowa and Nebraska before the middle of May,” he said on upcoming visits. “Then I’m going to try and visit Michigan towards the end of May or June. Then I will narrow it down to a top 7 or top five and take my officials from there.”