Florida impresses Thomas and his mother

Linebacker Adonis Thomas (6-4, 217, Lawrenceville, GA Central Gwinnett) has become a frequent visitor to Florida and was on campus for the Gators Orange and Blue game two weeks ago with his family.

Thomas has tried to refocus his attention back to his high school team so Gator Country spoke with his head coach Todd Wofford about the trip and he says that Thomas enjoyed his time in Gainesville two weeks ago.

“The visit went great,” Wofford said. “He was down there with Jeff Holland and they clicked pretty good. Adonis said it was a comfortable environment down there and he said that Coach [Will] Muschamp was the most comfortable coach that he’s dealing with right now. Seeing the crowd during the game and being able to interact with the players after the game stood out to him as well.”

Fitting into Florida’s defense is something that Thomas has seen firsthand and defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin has reassured Thomas he would be a perfect fit in the Gators defense.

“Yeah he feels like he fits in well, he said that he likes the way they change and rotate in linebackers in the defense,” Wofford said. “He likes the way the linebackers can play multiple positions in the defense and he feels like he can do that as well. Coach Muschamp has told him that he fits in at all the positions too. He likes that Coach Muschamp is a defensive coach and he likes how [D.J.] Durkin sees him fitting in from a defensive coordinator point of view.”

Thomas’ family is a big part of his decision and the Gators have done a great job of winning over his mom with their academics.

“His mom really likes it there, she really likes the academic part at Florida,” Wofford said. “She likes the family feel that Coach Durkin and Coach Muschamp create there. She got to meet their families when they were down there for the game.  But academics mean more to her than football and she likes what she has seen from Florida.”

A few weeks ago Thomas named Florida his leader but due to the pressure he receives from other schools he has backed off of that statement. Despite backing off of the statement that he has a leader, Thomas has decided to move his decision up.

“Adonis says right now so he doesn’t get a lot of grief from anyone that everybody is even and that nobody is his leader,” Wofford said. “He was going to do a decision after the season but now he’s going to do it in July.”

Next up for Thomas is spring practice but after that he plans to hit the road for a few more visits including a trip back down to Florida.

“I know he’s going up to Notre Dame on June 21st,” Wofford said. “He’s talked about going to Tennessee and I know he may go back to Alabama. I think he may come down to Florida for a camp and hang out a couple of days this summer too.”

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.