The Florida Gators and head coach Jim McElwain have started to hit South Florida hard in recruiting after signing seven prospects from the area in the class of 2015.
That pattern is continuing into 2016 and on Saturday the Gators handed out an offer to defensive end/linebacker Eric Mitchell (6-3, 225, Miami, FL Central) as he heard from one of the Gators coaches.
“Coach [Randy] Shannon from Florida offered me on Saturday afternoon,” Mitchell said. “He told me that he wanted me at Florida and that he needed me there and that they were offering me a scholarship to attend Florida.”
Mitchell currently only holds an offer from Florida Atlantic and Florida but the Gators offer was the one offer that Mitchell has always wanted.
“Florida has been my dream school for awhile now,” he said. “It was always a dream to get an offer from Florida. It’s a big offer for me. Also two of my former teammates are going to Florida so it would be nice to play with Keivonnis [Davis] and Rayshad [Jackson] in college. They are both recruiting me already.”
When Shannon offered Mitchell on Saturday night the conversation was short, but Shannon did mention how Mitchell would fit into the Gators defense.
“We didn’t get to talk too much but he said that he sees me as a pass rusher and an outside linebacker,” Mitchell said. “He told me that they need some linebackers in this class real bad.”
Mitchell hasn’t met Shannon in person yet but they have spoken several times, as Mitchell is very familiar with Randy Shannon’s resume.
“I know a lot about Coach Shannon because a lot of people that I know talk about him,” Mitchell said. “I know he’s from Miami, and he used to play at Norland, and he was the coach at Miami too. I like what I know about Coach Shannon so far.”
McElwain and Shannon can expect to meet Mitchell in the coming months as the Central prospect says he will be in Gainesville soon.
“I’m going to visit Florida for either junior day or for the spring game,” Mitchell said. “I haven’t picked a date yet but I’ll let you know.”
INSIDERS TAKE: Mitchell hinted that a decision could be coming soon and if he decides soon then I expect the Gators to land the outside linebacker for the class of 2016.
Very good article Andrew, as usual. I am so excited Coach Mac has made it public and emphatically clear he is going to recruit in South Florida. It has been a long time since we had a Coach who would make all of Florida (including Miami) and south Georgia his recruiting base. There are so many players who would come to Florida from all over the state. I have always wondered why, why, would the guys get on airplanes to fly all over everywhere to recruit when they have all of this talent we are letting other Schools to swoop in here and pick up the cream of the crop. I would certainly close the gate on all of those. We are going to lose a few, but there will he many 5 star guys who would step forward to play at FLORIDA AND BE A FLORIDA GATOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I completely agree with your statement. Florida needs to own the state and then go outside of the state for a few other kids.