The Florida Gators hosted a big prospect from California on campus Monday for an unofficial visit
Tight end Jimmie Jaggers (6-4, 244, Roseville, CA High) visited Gainesville with his father and sister and it was the first time for the tight end to meet Jim McElwain.
“It was a great visit overall for sure,” Jaggers said of his Monday visit. “We were able to sit down with Coach Mac, Coach [Doug] Nussmeier and Coach [Greg] Nord and talk football. We talked about where they see me playing as far as an offensive role and of course we got to see the campus and facilities.”
Jaggers got the usual campus tour and liked what he saw from the facilities and decided to take a nice stroll through campus instead of using the golf cart.
“It’s all really nice,” he said of the Gators facilities. “The campus really surprised me and actually it was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. It was really nice to walk through.”
The California tight end told Gator Country that he was looking forward to sitting down with McElwain and the meeting went very well.
“It was a nice sit down meeting,” Jaggers said of his meeting with McElwain. “He just let me know how important I am to the class and how he wants me to feel comfortable there. He really wants me to be a Gator.”
Offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier spent a lot of time with Jaggers on Monday and he explained why the tight end is important to the Gators.
“We talked to Coach Nuss about mainly where I fit into the offense at,” he said of Nussmeier’s message. “We just kind of got to know each other and understand how important the tight end is to their offense. He basically expressed a need for a true Y and in that guy that want one that can still make an impact in the passing game.”
Tight ends coach Greg Nord also got some face time with Jaggers and the coach impressed the tight end with his knowledge of the position.
“Coach Nord just showed me the ways they plan on using me,” Jaggers said of Nord. “He explained why they wanted me to be a Gator. I think Coach Nord has a lot of experience at the position and he’s a good guy for sure.”
Florida’s coaching staff did a good job during Jaggers’ visit by impressing his family, as well as welcoming them to town.
“My dad and sister really liked Florida a lot and they liked the coaching staff,” he said of how the staff treated him and his family. “The coaching staff did everything possible to make me feel important. It’s a bunch of good guys that know how to make you feel at home.”
Heading into the visit Jaggers had an opinion of how the visit was going to go, but he says the visit went even better than he imagined it would.
“They definitely met my expectations and even passed them,” Jaggers said. “They really did everything possible to show me that I’m wanted at Florida.”
Now that the visit is over Jaggers will head back to California and he says the Gators will be on his mind.
“Florida is definitely a school that I’ll be thinking about,” he said of Florida. “As of right now I don’t have a lead group or anything but hopefully I’ll be decided in July but that might get pushed back a little further.”
INSIDERS TAKE: Jaggers raved about his visit to Florida but you have to think the Gators will need to get him on campus again to really feel good about their chances. At this time I would say USC and UCLA are probably the more likely teams but Jaggers pushing back his decision would be a good thing for Florida.