Last week, the Florida Gators coaching staff hosted several prospects on campus throughout the week as they watched spring practice.
Defensive end Zach Williams (6-4, 220, Little Rock, AR. Joe T. Robinson) was one of those guys on campus on Thursday when he got to watch practice.
“It was great, everything was so big and beautiful,” Williams said of his visit to Florida on Thursday. “We got a tour of the campus, facilities, academic center and we got to watch practice. We got to eat at the restaurants in the big student building to. It was awesome. “
While on campus, Williams picked up an offer from the Gators and received that offer from head coach Dan Mullen.
“Coach Mullen offered me personally,” he said. “He said we want you here and we will do all we can to develop you as a man first and a football player second. He told me he would love to have me and that I could do some great stuff for them.”
Williams who holds several big offers already called the Florida offer a big one as it’s a place he has always wanted to visit.
“It means a lot to me,” Williams said of what the offer means to him. “Florida is my favorite state and I come to my grandparents house here a lot because I just love it so much. I’m going to really consider going to Florida.”
After Mullen offered Williams, the head coach spoke to him about where the Gators see him fitting into the defense if he chooses Florida.
“Because I’m long they see me more as a pass rusher, which I’m good at,” he said of where Mullen wants him at in the defense. “They said I would play some outside linebacker too.”
Mullen wasn’t the only coach that Williams spoke to as several other recruiting assistants spent time with the defense end.
“I was really with Coach Otis [Yelverton] and Coach [Cordell] Landers,” Williams said of the coaches he was with. “Coach Landers was talking to me about practice and how great I could fit in with the defense.”
Williams watched the Gators practice and he liked how the Gators coaching staff ran practice.
“Practice was fast and intense,” he said of practice. “I like the coaches talk to the players like they’re family. I really liked that and I like how the defense ran.”
After the visit to Florida, Williams now sees the Gators in a different light after he finally got on campus.
“I saw it as a great school but now I see them a whole lot better,” Williams said on if this visit helped Florida with him. “I got to see every aspect that they have to offer now.”
Williams has a few more visit he wants to take in the coming weeks and months before he makes a decision.
“I think I’m going to make a decision in the next one or two months,” he said. “I still have to go to Alabama and a few other big schools. But I’m going to make a decision pretty soon.”
INSIDERS TAKE: Williams says he plans to return to Florida for another visit and the Gators are now squarely in the mix for the defensive end. Arkansas is also a legit threat as they’re the home state team and his father played for the Razorbacks.