Saturday was a special day in Gainesville as the Florida Gators honored the 2008 national championship team and also inducted Tim Tebow into the ring of honor.
The Gators also hosted a special visitor when 2020 running back EJ Smith (6-0, 197, Dallas, TX. Jesuit) visited Florida. Smith is the son of former Gators great running back Emmitt Smith.
“The visit was great, I enjoyed the game,” Smith said of his visit to Florida on Saturday. “I enjoyed the people, it was nice coming back to see my family too. My cousin plays on the team so it was nice.”
Smith watched the Gators in person for the first time this season and he liked how the Gators running backs performed.
“The running game is strong,” he said on his thoughts on the running backs. “They’re averaging maybe three yards, they’re always falling forward, and they’re always cutting and finding new holes. That’s probably why they won the game.”
The running back has also been impressed with how Dan Mullen has turned around the offense since he arrived back in Gainesville.
“Ever since Dan [Mullen] came back, I’ve seen a major increase in the ability of the offense,” Smith said of the offense. “Just what I saw, [Feleipe] Franks he did it, he was throwing the ball and reading it well. It was good to watch.”
This was the first time for Smith to visit Florida as a recruit and while Gainesville is special to his family, the running back says he has to make the decision that’s best for him.
“No not really,” he said on if he gets a special feeling at Florida because of his dad. “This process is all about, whatever I pick, he will be fine with it.”
The Gators however are putting in a lot of work to get Smith comfortable with Florida as several coaches are talking to him on a daily basis.
“I probably talk to Coach Mullen, Coach [Billy] Gonzales and Coach [Greg] Knox the most,” he said on the coaches he talks to from Florida. “Our relationship is getting strong. Not only do we talk about football but we talk about things outside of football.”
Florida is a school that Smith will continue to look at but the 2020 running back doesn’t have any favorites at this time.
“I’m just keeping up every school really,” Smith said on schools he’s talking to the most. “Florida is included but every school is on the radar for me.”