Offensive lineman Brandon Sandifer (6-3, 332, Warner Robins, GA Northside School) was the last guy to commit to the Florida Gators and Will Muschamp in late August and he says one of the biggest things that drew him to Florida was Muschamp.
Sandifer was on campus last weekend when Muschamp was fired and while he says it didn’t surprise him that he was fired, he also believes that Muschamp is a good coach.
“He’s a good guy and a harder worker,” Sandifer said. “He loves his players and his team. He will do anything for his players and I feel like they would do the same for him and that’s what makes him such a good coach.”
Despite the news of Muschamp’s firing, Sandifer says that his commitment level is unchanged and that fans don’t have to worry about that.
“I’m solid to Florida,” Sandifer said. “I’m still with the Gators and that isn’t going to change. I’m ready to get on the field at Florida. Me and the rest of the committed guys stay in touch with each other so we are going to be ok.”
After news broke on Sunday, Sandifer says he received a call from offensive line coach Mike Summers who had a message for him.
“I talked to Coach Summers last week about everything,” Sandifer said. “He told me to keep my head up and to keep in contact with Florida and that the Gators were going to get a good coach for me. I really hope the new coach keeps Coach Summers on though.”
Sandifer, much like the rest of the Florida Gators offensive line targets, believe that Summers has helped the linemen in 2014 turn into better players.
“Coach Summers has helped the offensive line improve this season a lot,” Sandifer said. “I think they get better each week and you don’t see them making the same mistake twice so that shows that he’s coaching them up pretty good.”
While on campus for the South Carolina game the Florida commit got to meet a few of the current Gators players and he says that he thinks the future is bright in Gainesville.
“We got a bright future at Florida on the offensive side of the ball, I think,” Sandifer said. “We got Treon [Harris] playing good and they have David Sharpe at left tackle. Those guys are both young so we should pretty good in the future if everyone stays healthy.
Sandifer has been on campus several times for unofficial visits and he was ready to take an official visit in December but he says that now he may have to push it back until the new year for a few reasons.
“It’s set up for December 12th but the high school championship game is either December 12 or 13th so I may have to push it back some if we make it that far,” Sandifer said. “It also depends on if Florida has a new coach or not by then.”
INSIDERS TAKE: Sandifer is as solid as guys like Tyler Jordan and George Brown are. Sandifer said he doesn’t believe he will take any more visits besides his official to Florida. I could tell though that Sandifer was really looking forward to playing for Coach Summers but it didn’t sound like that would be a deal breaker either.