Richards impressed by the Florida Gators plan for him

The Florida Gators are looking to add more speed on the offensive side of the ball and they hosted one of their top targets on campus this weekend.

Athlete Mark-Antony Richards (6-1, 195, West Palm Beach, FL. Wellington) was on campus and spent a lot of time with Dan Mullen and Greg Knox.

“It was a great visit, I got to hang out with Coach Mullen a little longer,” Richards said of the visit to Florida. “Coach Knox too, I got the chance to sit down in the film room and do a lot of film study and go over schemes, all sorts of stuff. Learned a lot from Coach Knox, he’s a real good coach.”

Richards also spent a lot time around some of the freshmen and they had a message for him about how the coaching staff in Gainesville.

“Really just kind of hang around Emory [Jones] and Trey Dean and just hear what they had to say about the coaches outside of football,” he said on what all he got to do. “What was huge for me, one thing they said was the coaches are the same people that you see right now and they don’t change. I think that was huge for me.”

The coaching staff expressed to Richards just how they see him fitting into the offense and how they value him as an athlete who can do a lot of things.

“One was just versatility,” Richards said on the message from the coaches this weekend. “Not just being a running back but also being a slot receiver, kick returner, punt returner, running back, I think that was something that also stuck out to me. I think that’s one of the reasons that I see myself attracted to Florida a lot.”

Running backs coach Greg Knox spent a lot of time with Richards going over film of how Mullen has used athletes like himself in the offense before.

“Yeah that’s what we were doing in the film room,” he said on the coaches really explaining to him how they would use him. “Really just showing me video evidence of Kadarius Toney, Percy Harvin, guys who are truly an offensive athlete, which is what I think of myself.”

Head coach Dan Mullen also explained to Richards how valuable players like himself are in Florida’s offense.

“Coach Mullen was expressing to me was that they use those guys in the offense and you kind of need those guys,” Richards said on if he likes that role. “That’s something that I bring to the table.”

One thing that stood out to Richards on the trip was getting to be around other guys who early enrolled in college that he already knew.

“The players that are already early enrolled, Chris Steele, Jaydon Hill are real cool kids,” he said on the standout of the trip. “They had a lot of great things to say about the staff and everything in general. I know Chris and Jaydon from the Opening, it was a good feeling.”

After the visit, Richards has a lot of positive comments about the Gators but he’s not rushing a decision.

“Obviously it pushes them but I don’t have a leader or anything,” Richards said on what this visit did for Florida. “I’m not really easy to convince so I’m going to take my next official and go from there.”

Next up for Richards will be another official visit but he isn’t sure of which school will get that visit right now but he has already taken three official visits.

“I’m actually still trying to arrange them,” he said on his next visit. “I took Penn State in October and went to Auburn in December, I try to take my time and break down every school.”

Richard who doesn’t name leaders did post four schools that are standing out to him right now.

“I think all five schools are in it,” Richards said of school still in contention. “Auburn, Penn State, Florida, Miami.”

Andrew Spivey
Andrew always knew he wanted to be involved with sports in some capacity. He began by coaching high school football for six years before deciding to pursue a career in journalism. While coaching, he was a part of two state semifinal teams in the state of Alabama. Given his past coaching experience, he figured covering recruiting would be a perfect fit. He began his career as an intern for Rivals.com, covering University of Florida football recruiting. After interning with Rivals for six months, he joined the Gator Country family as a recruiting analyst. Andrew enjoys spending his free time on the golf course and watching his beloved Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewSpiveyGC.