It has been over a month since the Florida Gators last landed a verbal commitment but that all changed on Sunday as the Gators landed commitment number nine.
That commit is linebacker Rayshad Jackson (6-1, 205, Miami, FL Norland) who committed to Florida on Sunday after taking his official visit to Florida this weekend.
Jackson had a previous relationship with new Florida linebackers coach Randy Shannon, who had offered the linebacker at Arkansas before coming to Gainesville.
“We got a great relationship with each other because he had been recruiting me to Arkansas already,” Jackson said. “He’s a really good guy and someone that I can talk to about everything. I probably have the best relationship with him out of all of the coaches.”
Jackson is the first linebacker to commit to Florida in this class and Shannon sees him as an outside linebacker in Geoff Collins’ defense.
“He was telling me that he wants me as outside linebacker at Florida and that he thinks Florida is a great place for me,” Jackson said of Shannon. “He said they need guys like me on the defense and he can’t wait to coach me.”
Jackson may be Shannon’s first recruit, but he isn’t likely to be his last, as Shannon has been recruiting South Florida like a mad man for several years now.
The Gators are hoping the commitment of Jackson will help get the momentum rolling as Jim McElwain and his staff try to finish off the class of 2015 strong. Florida hopes to finish with 25 members in the class but with just nine commits currently the Gators have a long way to go.
Jackson finished his senior season with 62 tackles and 26 tackles for a loss and also added an interception at Norland High.
GatorCountry.com will have much more on this commitment.