The Florida Gators are looking for a quarterback in the class of 2018 and on Tuesday they handed out an offer at the position.
Quarterback Joe Milton (6-5, 222, Orlando, FL. Olympia) was the guy who got that offer from Gators head coach Jim McElwain on Tuesday.
“They offered me during the visit,” Milton said. “Coach McElwain was the coach who gave me the offer. He first told me to think about how I would look in the Orange and Blue and then after that he offered me a scholarship.”
Milton has been very open about how much he wanted an offer from Florida and he explained why that was the case.
“It means a lot to get the offer,” he said of what the offer means. “Not only because it’s my dream school but it’s a good school. “They have had a lot of great players there and have a great coaching staff now. I know Coach [Will] Muschamp used to be there and Coach McElwain came and got things going the right way. I just like everything about them.”
It was a busy day on campus for Milton as he got the chance to meet a lot of people and see a lot of things.
“The visit was great,” he said of the visit to Florida. “I got to watch the practice, talk to all of the coaches and introduce myself to some of the players. Just things like that really. Everyone was excited to have me up there.”
When McElwain extended the offer to Milton, he explained why the Gators need him in this class.
“He told me that being the quarterback for Florida means a lot,” Milton said of what McElwain told him. “He told me that the quarterback spot was still open and that I could compete for that spot.”
Offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier has been talking to Milton a lot and on Tuesday the Gators coach had a brief but important message for the quarterback.
“We had a personal talk, talking about family and life,” he said of his talk with Nussmeier. “We talked about academics and some football too. He said he wants a quarterback that is willing to work and someone that makes everyone better around him. And he wants a winner.”
The Orlando quarterback also got the chance to watch practice and see how the Gators offense works.
“Practice was great,” Milton said. “Everything was good, the quarterbacks were doing very well. It was a fast pace practice. I think I could well in that style of offense, really all of the offers I have right now I could fit into.”
Despite wanting the offer from Florida, Milton doesn’t have any leaders at this time but a decision could come sooner than expected.
“All of my offers are neutral, I don’t know when I’m going to narrow my decision,” he said. “But I know it’s going to come soon. I want to build a program off of me and get receivers to commit to where I go.”
INSIDERS TAKE: Milton was excited to get the offer but didn’t want to give away much more than that. It definitely sounds like a decision could come soon for Milton as he wants to build a class around him.