Florida leads for 2015 running back

During Will Muschamp’s football camp the agenda is to watch and evaluate top prospects in all classes.

On Saturday the Gators got the opportunity to evaluate 2015 Lakeland (Fla.) Lakeland Christian School running back T.J. Simmons and afterwards give him some good news.

“After I got done camping coach (Will) Muschamp asked me to come to his office,” Simmons said. “When I got up there he was asking me a lot of questions like what schools I was interested in and how I felt I did in camp. He asked how my grades where and what I want to study in college and stuff. After he got done with all of that he said I want to offer you a scholarship to attend the University of Florida.”

For the 6-foot, 195-pound this offer was a big one to him and one he had been waiting on for some time now.

“I was excited and thrilled at the same time,” Simmons said. “This one was one I had been waiting on a long time now. This is a big SEC school and my coach is Wayne Peace who use to play at Florida.”

During the camp Simmons had the chance to work out with running backs coach Brian White who showed him some drills.

“Coach White gave me a lot of good pointers during the camp,” Simmons said. “He told me what I needed to work on and what I was doing well at and what I could progress in. He said overall that I did good and had good awareness and competed well out there. He said that I have a chance to be a great Florida Gator running back one day.”

The 2015 prospect grew up a fan of one Florida’s biggest rivals but has a different team on top.

“I grew up a fan of Miami but Florida is ahead right now,” Simmons said. “I like what Miami is doing down there but Florida is ahead. “Clemson, Ohio State and Auburn are also up there for me too.”

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.