The Florida Gators handed out several offers after Friday Night Lights two weeks ago and one of those offers went out to defensive end Jachai Polite (6-4, 230, Daytona Beach, FL Mainland) who worked out for head coach Jim McElwain and the staff.
“I was in the office with Coach McElwain when he told me about the offer,” Polite said. “Coach [Kerry] Dixon, Coach [Drew] Hughes and Coach [Chris] Rumph were in the office too.”
McElwain made sure to talk to Polite about handling his business in school but he also had a message about where the Florida Gators are headed as a team.
“Coach McElwain was just talking to me about what I needed to handle and what all I needed to get done,” he said. “Coach McElwain told me that he wanted me to be apart of the program and about how he was building the program back up.”
Florida has a couple of things going in its favor in that two of the Gators coaches have a relationship with Polite’s family.
“Coach McElwain coached my uncle at Louisville so we have a good relationship,” Polite said. “Coach Dixon also knows my uncle so we have a good relationship too.”
During the camp Polite was able to work with Rumph and the defensive end learned a few things from the veteran defensive line coach.
“Coach Dixon is my area recruiter so he was just talking to me,” Polite said. “ Coach Rumph was working with me on my technique and going over 1-on-1 skills with me. He was telling me that Florida wanted me as a rush end and a redzone tight end.”
Now that Polite has a Florida Gators offer, he says that the Gators and three other schools are sticking out to him.
“Florida, Miami, Tennessee and South Carolina are standing out for me right now,” he said. “I’ll make my decision whenever I feel the time is right. I plan to take some officials to those schools this fall.”
INSIDERS TAKE: Polite earned his offer from the Gators and right now it seems like the Gators and the Miami Hurricanes are the teams truly in the mix for him.