The 2016 football season doesn’t have a ton of marquee games in the Swamp, which means the Florida Gators recruiting staff must take advantage of every home game.
2018 defensive end Nik Bonitto (6-4, 210, Fort Lauderdale, FL. St. Thomas Aquinas) took advantage of that and visited Florida two weeks ago and he liked the Gators defense.
“It was crazy to see the defense, the defensive line was playing outstanding,” Bonitto said about his visit to Florida for the North Texas game. “The line was causing a lot of trouble for the quarterback and helping the defensive backs.”
Another thing that stood out to Bonitto was the atmosphere for a game against a team that isn’t a big draw.
“The environment of the Swamp stands out to me,” he said of the visit. “It’s a dream to come play in the Swamp and to play along great players. To be able to play for Coach McElwain would be great.”
Florida has been recruiting Bonitto and now they’re able to message him which means the Gators are talking to him a lot.
“The coaches just text me good luck and keep up with me,” Bonitto said of Florida’s talks with him. “It just shows me that they care about me and want me. It’s just a good felling to have.”
Linebackers coach Randy Shannon is in charge of recruiting Bonitto’s area so that’s the guy that the 2018 prospect hears from.
“Coach Shannon has come by my school a few times,” he said of Shannon. “He’s my main recruiter and I’ve talked to him a few times. He has watched me practice this spring too.”
Shannon and Bonitto have developed a good relationship with each other and that has helped their communication.
“He just talks to me like a normal person and not a coach,” Bonitto said of his relationship with Shannon. “He asks me about football and how things going there. He asked my family is doing and just stuff like that.”
Bonitto, who has 20 offers, is still waiting on one particular offer to come through but he has been told what he needs to do in order to get that offer.
“They haven’t officially offered yet but they talk to me a lot so I’m hoping it comes soon,” he said of a potential Gators offer. “They just tell me to try and get my weight up because I’m undersized for a defensive end. I’m still trying to transition to an outside linebacker because of a lot of colleges see me playing there. It would be a dream come true to get the offer.”
Despite the Gators not offering, Bonitto says several other have offered him and are talking to him a lot.
“Right now I’ve been hearing the most from Michigan, Tennessee and a few other schools,” Bonitto said of schools calling him. “On September first I woke up to 25 missed calls from coaches but it was very exciting. Michigan was the first call.”
INSIDERS TAKE: Bonitto is a guy that Florida is closely monitoring as he moves to outside linebacker and someone the Gators could offer this offseason.