Two weeks ago the Florida Gators hosted several big-time prospects on official visits including Miami offensive line commit Navaughn Donaldson (6-5, 330, Miami, FL. Central) who was in town.
Donaldson has been committed to Miami for well over a year but he admits that his official visit to Gainesville was a success.
“The visit was good, everything was good,” Donaldson said of his official visit. “I expected a lot of out the visit and it came through. They met all of my expectations. The highlight was getting to see the area and seeing how the players react to each other.”
The Miami commit got to see a good crowd as the Gators held Senior Day and that stood out to Donaldson.
“The atmosphere is always good and they had a packed stadium for the game,” he said of the Gators atmosphere. “They were loud and it was crazy. They were into the game.”
Head coach Jim McElwain had several conversations with Donaldson during the visit but one message was consistently talked about.
“Coach McElwain told me that it was a good time for me to come in and start early,” Donaldson said. “He was telling me that they need tackles in this class and I noticed it as well.”
Offensive line coach Mike Summers also made sure to let the offensive lineman know how bad he was wanted in Gainesville.
“I had good talks with Coach Summers and he was telling me that I would be able to learn the playbook easy because they run a lot of similar plays as we do in high school,” he said. “He said it would make the transition easier and that I was needed at tackle.”
Those two coaches have been talking with Donaldson a lot and their relationship has grown because of that.
“I have a good relationship with both of those guys,” Donaldson said. “We don’t always talk about football but we do talk about me coming in and playing early. They’re always talking to me.”
Summers and McElwain talk with Donaldson a good bit but linebackers coach Randy Shannon is actually the coach with the best relationship with the lineman.
“I’m close with Coach Shannon,” he said. “He says they have good playing time there and that I will be with people from my area. Also, that Florida is a great family atmosphere.”
Joining Donaldson on the trip was his mom who got the chance to meet McElwain and the staff for the first time.
“It was my mom’s first ever visit there,” Donaldson said. “She liked the visit and she had a lot of questions. They answered her questions and she got to meet everyone. She liked it.”
After visiting Florida, Donaldson visited another SEC team this past weekend and now he has three ACC visits ahead of him.
“I just went to Mississippi State and this week is Florida State,” he said. “Then I’m going to visit North Carolina and then Miami. I’ll make a final decision after the Miami official visit is over.”
Despite a good visit to Florida, Donaldson says that the Hurricanes are still in good shape with him.
“This visit helped Florida but I’m still good with Miami,” Donaldson said. “I don’t want to say that any team is second or anything like that.”
INSIDERS TAKE: Miami will get the last official visit but Donaldson is keeping his options open. Multiple people have said that Donaldson has Florida and Florida State neck and neck behind Miami.