JUCO defensive lineman Dorian Gerald (6-3, 260, Florence, SC. College of the Canyons) has been a priority to the Florida Gators since Dan Mullen arrived in Gainesville.
This weekend the Gators hosted Gerald on campus for his first visit to Florida and he enjoyed his weekend in Gainesville.
“I really enjoyed myself, it was definitely more than I expected,” Gerald said of the official visit to Florida. “Florida is a great place, great coaches and the players, I gel well with them. This my very first time to Gainesville.”
Gerald has been talking about visiting Florida for sometime now but he came into the weekend not knowing what to expect out of the visit.
“I didn’t know, I thought Gainesville was country backwoods type thing,” he said on expectations coming into the trip. “I didn’t know it was nice like this. It really opened my eyes.”
Ole Miss was making a big push to get Gerald on campus this weekend but the JUCO defensive lineman says defensive coordinator Todd Grantham was the reason he visited Florida instead of Ole Miss.
“Coach Grantham,” he said on what sets Florida a part. “He has been a lot of places and he has a great reputation for not only good coaching but transforming JUCO guys from when they get to school to developing them to get to the league and stuff like that.”
While on campus, Gerald got to speak with Grantham about how the Gators would use him in their defense if he chooses Florida on Wednesday.
“Montez Sweat, that’s exactly how he wants to use me,” Gerald said on how Grantham wants to use him. “I like that, it’s strictly a defensive end.”
Gerald admits that there were several highlights during the visit but the biggest one was seeing how life on campus is.
“Just meeting the people, meeting everyone and seeing them interact with each other,” he said on the highlights of the trip. “A lot of times that’s what I look for. To see if I wasn’t a football player could I see myself here and I could definitely see myself here.”
One of the guys in charge of showing Gerald around this weekend was another defensive lineman but many guys kept the lineman company during the visit.
“Kyree Campbell,” Gerald said on who his host was. “He was my host but I was with everybody.”
Last month, Gerald admitted that the Gators coaching staff and himself came up with a plan but the JUCO lineman says he can’t reveal that plan until Wednesday.
“We going to talk about it on signing day,” Gerald said when asked about him and Florida’s master plan they’ve come up with. “Everything about Florida is right. It’s good.”
Next up for Gerald is a meeting with his family on where is the best place for him and he also plans to pray a lot on his decision.
“Go home sleep on it and pray,” he said on the thought process this week. “Hopefully God will give me the answers.”
Gerald also says that he will make his decision between four schools on Wednesday but he’s still trying to figure how he will announce his decision.
“Florida, Texas A&M, Arkansas and Louisville, “ Gerald said on who he will be deciding between.
INSIDERS TAKE: Florida, Texas A&M and Arkansas all feel like they’re in good shape at the moment. One thing is for sure and that’s that Florida impressed not only Gerald but his mom during the trip and the Gators have made him a priority since day one.