News broke on Wednesday morning that the Florida Gators were hiring linebackers coach Randy Shannon to fill the same position at Florida and that should pay dividends for the Gators on the recruiting trail.
One prospect that Shannon will help with is linebacker Jeffrey Holland (6-1, 225, Jacksonville, FL Trinity Christian) who Shannon recruited while he was at Arkansas this past year.
“He and I had a good relationship and bond together when he was at Arkansas so it’s pretty good deal,” Holland said. “He recruited me to Arkansas and we had a great bond with each other.”
Holland has obviously done his homework on Shannon as the Jacksonville linebacker knows a few guys that Shannon has coached in the past and he believes that Shannon could help him at the next level.
“He coached Ray Lewis so I know he’s a great coach,” Holland said. “He said he wanted me at the two outside linebacker positions and the BUCK and that he could teach me a lot of stuff at the next level.”
Earlier this week Holland named Auburn his leader but Holland has now changed that and is saying he may now take an official to Florida.
“Things are tough, it’s tough right now because Coach Shannon is a great guy and I used to talk to him a lot,” Holland said. “I’ll probably visit Florida for an official now. I’m going to take officials to UCLA, Auburn, Virginia Tech and Florida. I’ll probably push my Florida official to a mid week visit.”
Not only is Shannon going to recruit Holland hard but new defensive coordinator Geoff Collins is also recruiting him hard with a simple message.
“Coach Collins tells me that I can come in and make big plays,” Holland said. “He says that I can come in and play early. He says he will use me as a pass rusher and in coverage. Kind of a like a BUCK.”
INSIDERS TAKE: Shannon truly helps Florida here but I get the feeling if T-Rob truly leaves Florida then things will be tough for the Gators. Getting an official from Holland is definitely huge for Florida and Shannon.