Unlike most, Calvin Ridley competes at Friday Night Lights

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium was rocking as many of the top prospects from around the state of Florida and the country descended upon Gainesville for Friday Night Lights. Most of the big name players in attendance chose to sit on the sidelines and watch the action after a long summer filled with workouts and camps but not everyone.

Florida Gators receiver target Cavin Ridley (6-1, 190, Deerfield Beach, Fla Deerfield Beach), despite being one of the highest rated receivers in the state of Florida and having already competed during camps at Ohio State and Alabama, Ridley decided to lace them up on Friday night in The Swamp.

“It was pretty nice. I just like to compete with people and players,” Ridley said. “I like to compete all the time, no matter where I go; I can go to New Jersey, I just want to compete. I don’t want to stand on the sideline.”

Ridley was one of the standout receivers on the night and continues to impress the Florida coaching staff. By working out, he got a chance to get coached up by Kerry Dixon. Dixon is doing a good job of building a relationship with Ridley quickly, as the two have become close in a short time.

“He’s the coolest,” Ridley said of Florida’s receivers’ coach. “He just likes me to play with more enthusiasm. He’s a nice guy. I like to come and see him all the time, I tweet him all the time, and he’s a nice guy.”

It probably helps that Dixon is selling a school that Ridley grew up watching and one that he calls a “dream school.” However, this is a business decision and Ridley knows that.

“I’m just trying to take it slow. I don’t want to speed things up,” Ridley said of his recruitment process. I just want to get the feel for everything and choose the school that I want to choose, the proper school for myself. I’m just going to take it real slow.”

Ridley said he doesn’t have an official top list of schools but that Florida, Tennessee and Alabama are schools that he likes more than others, “ those ones right there are mainly at the top,” he said.

As far as Florida goes, Ridley enjoyed his time in Gainesville, taking in the campus, competing and talking with the coaches. The trip was successful and continued to help the Gators in their pursuit to land the talented receiver.

“It most definitely helped their cause,” Ridley said of his visit.” I really wanted to come back and see how everything is and get the feel of Florida. How they rock and how they do everything here.”

Ridley isn’t sure when he will make a final decision but he wants to take his official visits before that decision is made, so fans may have to wait until an all-star game after the year.

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC