The Swamp is usually a family atmosphere on Saturday’s and that was particularly true in the south endzone as several members of the Florida Gators recruiting class of 2018 visited Gainesville on Saturday.
Running back commit Dameon Pierce (5-11, 205, Bainbridge, GA. High) was one of those in the Swamp and he’s just trying to get a feel for things in Gainesville.
“Same as always. I’m always impressed by what I see,” Pierce said on Saturday’s visit. “I’m just getting familiar with what I’m gonna be around hopefully in the next couple months, and just having a good time out here.”
Pierce paid close attention to the Gators offense on Saturday and liked what he saw for the most part.
“It was well run, but there were little mistakes every now and again,” he said on Florida’s offense. “They just came up short today. It’s nothing that can’t be fixed, and knowing Coach Mac, he’ll fix that ASAP, so they’ll get back rolling.”
The one thing that caught Pierce’s attention was how well the Gators ran the ball against LSU last Saturday.
“That was good running,” Pierce said on Florida’s running game. “They probably should’ve ran the ball more tonight, but like I said, Coach Mac, he’ll get back to that. The plays that was made, he can’t do nothing about it now, but it was just a great overall effort from the Florida Gators.”
Running backs coach JaJuan Seider has told Pierce to be ready to play early and he realized that the Gators aren’t afraid to play freshman on Saturday’s.
“Coach Seider says you’re gonna have potential to get rotated in,” he said on freshman playing early. “Seeing Malik [Davis] do things as a freshman just makes me wanna follow his footsteps and do the same thing.”
One of the big reasons Pierce visited on Saturday was to hang out with the other commits and they’re building a tight bond already according to the running back.
“They my boys, man. We go way back,” Pierce said on hanging out with the commits. “Just getting familiar with some of the players I’m gonna be around the next couple years and just having a friendship.”
Pierce and the rest of the commits are recruiting several guys but the running back has eyes set on one guy in particular.
“The only one we’re really focusing on now is getting Trey Knox on board,” Pierce said on who he’s recruiting. “That’s my boy. I like him. He will be a great fit to the 2019 class and add to those 4-star and 5-star caliber athletes we got now. Aside from Trey Knox, really no one else.”
Now that Pierce has visited Florida twice this year, he says that he doesn’t play to see any other schools besides the Gators.
“Nah,” he said on if he’s taking any other visits.
Pierce broke down why he’s solid in his commitment to Florida and why he isn’t visiting anyone else.
“For me, it’s being comfortable. I feel comfortable,” Pierce said on why he’s shutting down his process. “I feel at home with this place. My mom likes it, my family likes it. Most people might not like the Florida Gators because they’re FSU fans or whatever, but they like the decision I made and they see why I made the decision. For the most part, it’s a great decision overall. It feels good and I’m comfortable with it.”
INSIDERS TAKE: As Pierce said above, he’s very solid in his commitment to Florida and not planning on taking any other visits. Pierce is recruiting several other players to join him at Florida.