Florida Gators: McElwain hard after Auburn commit Craig

One of the biggest things lacking for the Florida Gators are big impact receivers on the roster after Demarcus Robinson and that’s something that head coach Jim McElwain is trying to change.

McElwain and his staff are trying to change that in the class of 2016 and their top target is Auburn receiver commit Nate-Craig Myers (6-2, 198, Tampa, FL Catholic) who says that he talks to Florida a lot.

“I talked to Florida a couple of times a week usually,” Craig said. “I talk to coach Mac and to coach Cal [Kirk Callahan]. I really have talked to all of the coaches at Florida. I talked to the new receiver coach already too. He seems like a good coach.”

When Craig talks to McElwain on the phone the message is very clear that the Gators need someone like Craig on its roster.

“Coach McElwain tells me that I’m a high priority,” Craig said. “He tells me that he wants me to come up there for a visit so that they can show me what they have to offer. Coach McElwain and coach Nuss [Nussmeier] said that I can come in play right away if I show out in camp. They say that I can be a big impact player at the outside receiver position as a freshman so I want to see how they plan to do that.”

Craig has been doing his research on the Gators new coaching staff and he likes what he has heard on McElwain’s resume.

“I just know that he coached some great receivers in his past,” Craig said. “It intrigues me a lot to know that he has coached some great receivers because I’m a receiver that wants to accomplish those things. It has my attention.”

Florida also has another assistant coach that is very close to Craig in that guy is defensive backs coach Kirk Callahan who has been recruiting the Auburn commit for over two years now.

“Coach Cal recruited me at UCF and he just tells me the same thing that coach Mac does,” Craig said. “ I talk to Coach Cal a lot and that was a pick-up for Florida to get him because I have a good relationship with him. He’s a straight up guy with you. He isn’t going to lie to you.”

The Gators will have their chance to get back in the mix with Craig as the star receiver plans to make a visit to Gainesville soon.

“I plan to visit Florida sometime in March,” Craig said. “It will either be for a junior day or for a spring practice. I want to meet the new receivers coach and see him in practice so it may be for a practice.”

 

INSIDERS TAKE: Florida has Craig’s attention right now and the Gators are starting to put up a fight for the Auburn commit. It will be very interesting to see how Craig likes his Florida visit in March.

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.

3 COMMENTS

  1. AS this may be UF’s most important target in several years, landing him would not only have an instant impact on offense but also let other elite skill position players know that UF will use them properly to succeed and okay to play at UF on offense again.

    That being said this battle will come down to the wire with the likes of AU, FSU, and OSU, the ONLY chance we have is the offensive product we put out on the field this season and if someone like D Rob has a breakout year.

    • The ‘Foley is a Genius’ cult occasionally appear on the pages of various Gator sports sites. But it is interesting to hear/read how others not connected to UF or the ‘Foley is Genius’ Cult view Gator sports programs especially the impossible to watch Gator football offense of the past four years and what many consider sports facilities that are substandard by SEC standards. Mr. Foley may indeed be ‘The Genius’ yet UF is apparently playing ‘caught-up’ in football, in basketball in football facilities and in basketball facilities. A writer for an Orlando sport page wondered if Donovan will leave for the NBA because The Genius has permitted the BB to fall far behind the top SEC basketball programs. Just wondering——.