Thompson “I’m a Florida boy” talks visits and Florida Gators

Florida Gators running back commit Mark Thompson (6-2, 230, Dodge City, KS JUCO) is glad that it’s football season because that means he’s that much closer to reaching his goal of becoming a Florida Gators football player in January.

Thompson committed to Florida last spring and he still talks to the Gators a ton;  mainly speaking to running backs coach Tim Skipper, who continues to recruit Thompson hard.

“I talk to Florida a good bit, I was actually on the phone with Coach Skip last night [Monday night],” Thompson said. “He just tells me the same stuff that me and Lamical [Perine] are the only backs they are recruiting and that they aren’t after anymore backs this year. Coach Skip also gives me advice about stuff off the field and on the field as well when I ask him for it.”

Skipper has been making sure that Thompson is in touch with the current team as the JUCO running back commit has been getting updates on how the current Gators are doing.

“He’s been telling that the team is looking really good this year and that they have a couple of freshmen starting on the offensive line so they will have a year of experience under their belt for when I get there,” he said of Skipper’s message about the team. “I’ve been hearing that Will Grier is looking good and that the defense is good. Florida always has a stacked defense.”

Since fall camp is going on for the Florida Gators, Thompson hasn’t talked to head coach Jim McElwain as much, but McElwain makes sure to keep the running back in sync on the class of 2016.

“I haven’t really talked to Coach McElwain much besides the small talk about how my family is doing and that stuff,” Thompson said. “We haven’t really talked much about football except when they get a recruit, he always tells me who they got and stuff like that. I know he has a lot on his plate so I try not to bother him a lot.”

Thompson is doing a lot of recruiting for Florida in the class of 2016 but he talks to a current Florida Gators running back the most out of everyone.

“I talk a lot to Jordan Scarlett from the team now,” he said of whom he talks too. “There really isn’t much advice I can give to Jordan, because he already has his head on straight and he’s been playing the position a long time. I know he’s going to be good and he will hold it down. Hopefully when I get there we can be a 1-2 punch for the Gators.”

Last month Thompson made news by saying he was planning on taking all five of his official visits this fall, but now those plans seemed to have changed some.

“With those five visits, I’m really not sure because I feel one way about them one day and then another thing the next day,” Thompson said of his plans. “Ever since I released those visits, I haven’t been felling them because I’m a Florida boy and I really don’t have any interest in any other school. There is really no point in taking the visits because I know where I want to go and where I’m going. So don’t be surprised if I don’t any visits except for November 28th when Florida takes on the Noles at home.”

 

INSIDERS TAKE: Mark Thompson loves Florida and Running Backs Coach Tim Skipper and I don’t see any way that Thompson doesn’t sign with the Gators in December. Right now I lean towards Thompson not taking any other visits except for his one to Florida on November 28th.

 

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.