Prospects and commits have said for the last few years that they get a home feeling while in Gainesville and that was the overwhelming statement last weekend after Friday Night Lights.
Receiver commit CJ Smith (6-1, 180, Orlando, FL. Bishop Moore Catholic) received that feeling as he knows that he will soon be a Florida Gator himself.
“Amazing, it was a different vibe knowing that this is the school that I intend to go to,” Smith said of his visit to Florida on Friday. “Mostly just making sure that this is my home.”
Smith didn’t receive the same recruiting pitch since he’s already committed but he didn’t receive the same feeling from the coaching staff on Friday.
“Same conversation and same tone they didn’t switch it up on me,” he said on the message from the coaches now that he’s committed. “No horror stories where recruits went somewhere and the coaches were completely different, the coaches stayed the same.”
Receivers coach Billy Gonzales and Smith have already built a solid relationship and the receiver says the relationship continues to improve.
“It builds everyday more and more,” Smith said on his relationship with Billy Gonzales. “Just talking mainly about counting down until I get there or my football season or track season.”
Smith and the rest of the Gators commits in the 2022 class have been building a relationship with each other the last few months and the receiver is ready to join his future teammates in the Swamp.
“It’s good,” he said on his relationship with the other commits. “We DM each other on Instagram or snapchat, just steady building that relationship. I think it’s going to be amazing; it’s going to be unstoppable.”
The Gators’ commit is also recruiting others to join in Gainesville including another receiver in the class.
“Evan, Evan Stewart, that’s the main guy,” Smith said on guys he’s recruiting. “Just to have him on the inside of me in the slot would be dangerous.”