The Florida Gators hosted several top targets for the second straight weekend, including a five-star Florida State commit that has some tough decisions to make in the next couple months. 2025 offensive lineman Solomon Thomas spoke with Gator Country on Sunday to discuss where the Florida Gators stand in his recruitment.
“It’s more of a press to get me on board because after the summer you want to know who you have coming in, especially with me being an early enrollee, I’ll be enrolling into school in about six months. So just getting the gameplan, when they say pro-style at Florida, it’s pro-style. So when you transition into the NFL, god willing, that there’s no surprises,” Thomas said on his biggest takeaway from his visit. “It’s the people and it’s not just one person, that’s my biggest takeaway. It’s a whole collective, it’s everybody.”
Despite Thomas being committed to Florida State since December of last year, LSU and Florida are making a big push for the 6-4, 315-pound offensive lineman.
“I’d say it’s neck-and-neck right now,” Thomas said on the battle between LSU and Florida. “This is home, because it is home since I’m in Florida still. It’s the palm trees and the buildings that I’m always seeing and grew up seeing, but it’s the people that are keeping me around for sure.”
One of the biggest highlights this weekend for the Jacksonville native was simply getting to see the people he’s built strong relationships with throughout this entire process. The people and the culture are two things that keep bringing Thomas back to Gainesville.
“Just seeing life after football, the plan, the expectation and the people,” Thomas said on the highlight from his official visit. “I feel like there’s nothing like playing with people you’ve known for a great amount of time. I’m coming to realize that culture is something that I’ve always known and always believed in, and everything is good in Gainesville for sure.”
This staff has stressed the importance of needing a top 15 player like Thomas on their team, and he handles himself like a player who can make an immediate impact on the offensive line.
“Coach Decoster is an NFL guy, I mean, he told me from the beginning that he’s business, Coach Sale is business and Coach Napier is business. You want to get the guys that you feel are going to produce not only on the field, but also has your best interest in the offensive line room,” Thomas said. “I feel like I definitely bring that to the table, that good energy, and I’m not a jealous guy. If I see a guy working harder than me, than I have to step up. That’s the bond that I feel like I’ve built with not only the offensive side of the ball, but the defensive side also. I know a handful of guys here, and as time goes on, I’m going to end up knowing more.”
It’s going to take more than people think to land the highly touted offensive lineman out of Tallahassee, but Billy Napier and the Florida Gators are in as good a spot as anyone right now.
“At the end of the day it comes down to a gut feeling,” Thomas said. “It’s the relationships man, it’s just the relationships.”