Florida Gators: McElwain and Nussmeier impress Davis

Receiver Ryan Davis (5-10, 161, St. Petersburg, FL Lakewood) has been to Florida several times during his recruitment but this weekend he finally took his official visit to the Florida Gators and thing went very well.

“It was live, I loved the visit up there this weekend,” Davis said. “I got to hang out with all of the players. I hung out with Vern [Hargreaves], Deiondre [Porter], Ahmad Fulwood and all of the recruits. I really like the energy around the building from the new coaches and they are saying they are going to put the bad seasons in the past.”

Most prospects talk about their favorite part of trips being eating food or other things but Davis enjoyed just getting to know everyone.

“My favorite part was being around the players and coaches,” Davis said. “I loved the visit and just being around the people was great. I just liked being on campus this weekend.”

Davis was able to spend a good part of two days around all of the coaches and he got a warm feeling from everyone.

“I love all of the coaches,” Davis said. “They are all player friendly and they gave me the impression that I was wanted. Coach McElwain is an energetic guy.”

McElwain has said he needs playmakers at Florida and this weekend he laid out his plan for Davis during some meetings.

“Coach McElwain says he doesn’t just want me but he needs me bad,” Davis said. “He said they need a player like me in the slot. He said I remind him of Cyrus Jones that use to play at Alabama. We watched a lot of film together and he showed me how I would be used in the offense.

Offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier also made it very clear that Davis was a needed man in Gainesville and he even described how he would be used at Florida.

“Coach Nussmeier was saying that they don’t have anyone like me on the roster right now,” Davis said. “He said that I’m similar to Brandon Powell but that we do two different kind of things. He said that they need someone to make the big plays and they need someone to make the touchdown plays.”

One coach that Davis has a great relationship with is defensive backs coach Kirk Callahan as the two go back a few years.

“Coach Callahan is my man, we have been cool since he was at UCF,” Davis said. “We are always cool. That’s like my brother.”

Davis has that relationship with Callahan but he is slowly building up a good relationship with McElwain as the two talk almost daily.

“We have a relationship now where we can just talk and tell each other stuff,” Davis said. “We can have talks about stuff other than football now. We can have the father/son relationship now.”

Florida doesn’t have a receiver coach announced yet but Davis said he heard from the two people he needed to this weekend about the Florida Gators offensive plans.

“I know Florida needs playmakers and I know what they want to do but they need guys to do that with,” Davis said. “Even without the receiver coach being there I felt like the stuff I needed to hear came from the head coach and offensive coordinator. A receiver coach doesn’t matter as much as those two guys do. Coach McElwain said he knows who the receiver coach is but he doesn’t want to announce it.”

This weekend will likely be the last visit for the talented offensive playmaker as he’s likely shutting down his recruitment.

“I don’t know about any other visits right now,” Davis said. “I don’t think I’ll take one next weekend but I don’t know right now. I’ll announce on signing day.”

 

INSIDERS TAKE: Things are going very well for Davis and Florida and Nussmeier and Callahan will visit Davis this week to try and close things down.

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.