This past weekend was a big weekend for the Florida Gators as they hosted four transfers on campus including several guys at positions of need.
Penn defensive line transfer Joey Slackman (6-4, 300) was on campus and got the chance to meet everyone for the first time.
“It was awesome,” Slackman said of his visit to Florida. “It was really great to meet with the staff, talk to Coach [Billy] Napier and Coach [Austin] Armstrong about where I fit into the defense, and talk some scheme and ball. It was a good time.”
Slackman is one of the top transfers in the country and he says the Gators’ history played a big part in why he decided to visit Florida.
“The brand of the Gators is unlike a lot of other places,” he said on what made him want to visit Florida this weekend. “The coaches did a really good job of explaining their plan moving forward to turn this thing around and where they see me fitting into this defense and being a part of this thing.”
When Slackman met with Napier and Armstrong this weekend, they explained to him just how he would fit into the Gators’ defense.
“They kind of stressed the same thing you’re saying about needing a guy like myself,” Slackman said on how he would fit into the defense. “I fit that big end, big tackle position, kind of what I played at Penn. They expressed a clear interest and it’s mutual and I’m sure we will be in communication over the next couple of days.”
Slackman says the Gators are up there following his visit to Florida as the Penn transfer plans to stay in talks with the staff.
“I’m being pretty meticulous about where I want to visit, I don’t really want to visit too many places anyway because this is a pretty speedy process for me,” Slackman said on where Florida stands for him. “Florida is one of the top schools I’m looking at and we’ll see how things work out at the end of the week.”
Next up for Slackman will be finals at Penn and then he will take some more visits as he wants to see three other schools if possible.
“I have other visits scheduled for the end of the week,” he said on what’s next for him after visiting Florida and Wisconsin. “I have to talk things over with my family, I’m going to New York this weekend and then I will figure things out. I’m scheduled to go to UNC, Virginia Tech, Michigan and I’m looking at a couple of other schools. I’m still kind of keeping my options open but I’ve kind of narrowed it down to those five.”
After taking visits, Slackman hopes to have a decision made soon as the defensive lineman is enjoying this process for the first time.
“I will probably have a decision made in the next week and a half or so,” he said on when he wants to make a decision. “It’s a childhood dream come true, I was a wrestler going into Penn, I wasn’t a football player at first, my recruiting process out of high school was different so I’m not used to this kind of thing.”