One of the top quarterbacks at the Melbourne 7 on 7 tournament this past weekend was quarterback Deondre Francois (6-0, 182, Orlando, FL Olympia) who is taking a strong look at Florida now that the offense is changing in Gainesville.
“It’s very important to me that Florida is moving to a more open offense instead of just the pro-style offense,” Francois said. “Florida is in my top 5 and one of the reasons is because of the new offense that Coach Roper is bringing to Florida and the excitement he’s bringing around the team.”
Two weeks ago Francois went to Gainesville for an unofficial visit for junior day and he had the chance to meet with new offensive coordinator Kurt Roper who talked to him about his offense.
“When I went up to junior day I got the chance to sit down in his office and talk about the offense,” Francois said. “We got the chance to watch film from when he was at Duke and see how I would fit into that offense. After watching film and talking with him I think I can fit into the offense there great.”
Florida fans have been wanting a glimpse of what Roper’s offense would look like and Francois said he got to see that glimpse in Roper’s office.
“His offense doesn’t have a lot of design runs for quarterbacks but it’s a spread offense,” Francois said. “His offense puts quarterbacks in position to make plays and make the easy throws. The offense is a quarterback friendly offense.”
As suitors start to line up in hopes of earning his services, Francois will stack them all up based on the factors that are most important to him.
“I’m looking for academics first,” Francois said. “After that I’m looking for how I feel at the school and how I feel with the coaching staff. I want to see the offense the teams are running and how they would fit my game and how many quarterbacks they plan on bringing in this year.”
Next up in Francois recruitment will be several visits to other colleges around the Southeast and even a return to Gainesville.
“FSU, Clemson, Ohio State, Tennessee and Florida are my top 5,” Francois said. “I plan to go up to Florida State on March 1st for their junior day and I plan to go to Florida for a spring practice and to camp this summer.”