Florida Gators “way higher” up for Henry after official visit

The Florida Gators hosted six prospects on campus to open the January portion of official visits this weekend in Gainesville.

Offensive lineman Ira Henry (6-5, 320, Saint Louis, MO. Trinity Catholic) was on campus this weekend and got to meet everyone involved in the Gators program.

“It was good, I had a good time,” Henry said of his visit to Florida this weekend. “The players, the coaches and the players were telling me about how the coaches coach and stuff.”

This was the first time for Henry to visit Gainesville and he got to see everything at Florida, plus have some fun with his position coach.

“I got to meet the players, meet the coaching staff,” he said on what all he got to do on the trip. “Tour the school, tour the campus and the academics. Went bowling, I was tied with Coach [John] Hevesy but he beat me on the 10th round.”

Offensive line coach John Hevesy has been recruiting Henry since he arrived in Gainesville and the offensive lineman likes how the Gators assistant coaches his position.

“He’s a good coach and knows what he’s talking about,” Henry said of Hevesy. “One thing that stood out to me is the way he teaches, he has videos of his own stuff of you actually doing it on the field. He teaches different ways, he puts checkers on the desk and he set up the offensive line and the defensive front. That was a different way of teaching.”

Head coach Dan Mullen also met with Henry on Sunday and made sure to let the lineman know what to expect if he chooses the Gators.

“He told me that he’s not going to lie to me,” he said on the message from Dan Mullen. “He told me that if I come here that I’m going to have to work hard like everyone else and fight for my position everyday. Basically he kept it one hundred with me and didn’t lie.”

Henry has also wanted to visit Florida and he explained that two reasons made him want to see the Gators for himself.

“It’s Florida,” Henry said on why he has liked Florida since he got the offer. “I’ve always wanted to be somewhere that’s hot in weather but not only the weather but Randy Shannon kept in contact with me and they keep in contact with me.”

When Henry did make it to campus this weekend, the lineman knew what he wanted to accomplish and he did just that.

“Really talking to the players and asking them how the coaches coach,” he said on what he was looking to get out of the trip. “And asking the coaches how they coach to see if the message was the same.”

Henry was hosted by another offensive lineman this weekend but spent time with several other guys as well.

“Jean [Delance], and I spent time with some defensive linemen too,” Henry said on his players host this weekend. “I spent time with Kyrie [Campbell], Jean and I seen some of the other early enrollees.”

Now that Henry has visited Gainesville, the offensive lineman now holds Florida higher in his recruitment.

“They’re still a top school,” he said on where Florida ranks now after the visit. “They’re way higher than they were. They just have to be better than the other schools I’m going to visit and keep in contact with me.”

Next up for Henry is a trip to the Gators rival, but other trips are in the works as well.

“Florida State the 25th-27th,” Henry said on what’s next for him. “Then probably Oklahoma, Texas and probably another school that I may be getting an offer from.”

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.