Tuesday was a busy day for the Florida Gators and head coach Dan Mullen as he made several in-home visits to prospects committed elsewhere.
Florida State defensive end commit Derick Hunter (6-5, 285, Fort Myers, FL. Dunbar) was one of the guys who received a visit and it was a big visit for both parties.
“Coach Mullen and Coach [Todd] Grantham came to visit, Coach Sal [Sunseri] is coming next week,” Hunter said. “It went really good, we just sat down and talked academics most of the time. The football part was the easiest part, we really wanted to talk about what was going to be going on in college. We talked real life stuff last night. Everybody had a good time.”
Joining Hunter on Tuesday night was his father and it was a huge visit for his father to talk with the Gators coaching staff.
“We got all of our questions answered,” he said. “My father, he really enjoyed his time and he and Coach Mullen have a good relationship. They talk every single day. It was about my father building his trust with Coach Mullen.”
Grantham and Mullen did talk a little football with Hunter on Tuesday and told him how he would be used in the Gators defense if he chooses Florida.
“Basically how they’re going to have me at strong side defensive end,” Hunter said of where they want him to play at. “They’re going to have me playing like [Jabari] Zuniga. That’s an important role for me, I feel comfortable about it. I really feel like I fit into that scheme and I feel that role fits me.”
Hunter visited Florida once this fall but he watched them closely and he was impressed by how the team bought into Mullen’s process.
“Just to see how they came back and battle through adversity and stuff was amazing,” he said on his thoughts on the team this year. “Just seeing them this spring when Coach Mullen first got there with my own eyes, seeing them buy into everything and trusting the process is big for me.”
Next up for the Florida State commit is another official visit to another of Florida’s instate rivals.
“I’m going to take a Miami official visit on December 8th,” Hunter said on what’s next for him. “After that I’m just chilling and waiting on signing day.”
After the visit to Miami, Hunter will start to weigh his options but he says right now he’s pretty sure on where he’s going to sign in December.
“To be honest my decision is already made up,” he said of his decision. “I know where I’m going in my head right now. After I took a visit my mind was made up, question marks did come up when coaches came down but I’m going to see how the Miami visit goes. But one school in mind really changed my mind about everything.”