Will Muschamp’s football camp saw a slew of talented players come through Gainesville. The coaching staff extended scholarship offers to several players and received verbal commitments from a couple others while camp was still ongoing.
Despite only being a sophomore in high school, one player who was extended an offer decided to pull the trigger. Tyler Byrd, an athlete form Naples High School, attended camp last Saturday and received his first official scholarship offer from the Gators. It took Byrd less than a week to jump at his first opportunity and verbally commit to Florida.
Byrd is a two-way player on the football field, playing both wide receiver and cornerback. He said that the coaching staff wasn’t as interested in what he did on the field, as much as how he impressed them with the way he carries himself off of the football field.
“They said I performed pretty well and stuff,” Byrd said. “They said they watched me on video and stuff and then they saw me at camp. They weren’t into what I could do on the field, it was how I carried myself off the field and things off the field, character and stuff like that.”
Byrd also runs track and that’s something that he would like to continue doing in college.
“I actually took that into consideration and thought about it,” Byrd told GatorCountry.com. “I do want to run track and play football for Florida.”
After impressing the coaching staff at camp, Byrd got a tour of the facilities.
“Yes, they showed me through the weight room, locker room and just different stuff like the trainers’ room and some meeting rooms,” Byrd said.
While Byrd had 17 catches for 451 yards and 9 total touchdowns on offense, he thinks that the coaching staff is looking at him to play defense. He says he doesn’t have a preference between playing offense or defense in college.
“I don’t have a preference,” Byrd said. “It’s just wherever they need me at.”
Despite committing so early, Byrd believes that Florida is the school he will end up at.
“It’s a childhood school; I watched greats come up from Florida. I just wanted to be a part of the Gator Nation.”