Gators offer big time 2018 quarterback

Recruiting is a lot faster these days but it’s even faster for the quarterback position and that showed on Wednesday when the Florida Gators offered a 2018 quarterback.

That quarterback was Joey Gatewood (6-3, 216, Jacksonville, FL Bartram Trail) who visited Florida and met with head coach Jim McElwain on Wednesday.

“The head coach, coach McElwain, was the one who offered me,” Gatewood said. “He came in the office and he said he wants me to be a Gator and that I have a scholarship offer from Florida. It was a pretty cool experience.”

During his visit to Florida the 2018 quarterback got to learn more about McElwain and also hear his message about the Gators.

“I got to sit down and talk with him for a few minutes,” Gatewood said. “He said that it’s really good to be a Gator and that Florida was a nice play to be at. He said that to be the quarterback at Florida you have to be the head of the program because everyone sees you.”

Offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier wasn’t letting the quarterback leave Gainseville without meeting him and Gatewood says the two had a nice conversation.

“I also got to sit down and talk ball with coach Nussmeier too,” Gatewood said. “I liked him a lot and he was stressing to me that to be the quarterback at Florida you have to know your stuff because it’s a big role to take on.”

After speaking with all of the coaches Gatewood and his high school coach got the opportunity to ride around and see the Gainesville campus.

“We got to go around the whole college and see what the campus was like,” Gatewood said. “Everything was nice and I really liked how big some of the facilities were because you had a lot of space to work in.”

Despite only playing one year of high school ball Gatewood has already picked up some big offers from Florida, Ohio State and Florida State but he says that one school leads for him.

“I grew up a fan of Florida so getting the offer means a lot,” Gatewood said. “Florida State is still at the top right now but I’m honored to get offered by Florida.”

 

INSIDERS TAKE: Florida State has a sizeable lead for Gatewood right now and the 2018 quarterback has hinted that he might make a decision soon and that would be bad news for Florida but good news for Florida State as the Noles would very likely be the pick.

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.

7 COMMENTS

  1. Once upon a time not too many years ago I enjoyed reading about Gator football. It has become much harder in recent years. This morning ESPN reports that Tennessee and Butch Jones (who has somehow signed about 40 guys each of the past couple of years) has a commit from another top-tier QB named Guarantano. ESPN then asks, ‘what does that mean for other school’? Conclusion: ‘They need to hurry’! The Gators are going need to a few QB’s before 2018. By October-November many think either Grier or Harris will enter college football’s form of ‘free agency’ and will be transferring elsewhere. Combine that with a Gator OL that may have a problem blocking the DL at Miami Central or St. Thomas and the challenge is obvious.

  2. If Mr Gatewood grew up a fan of Florida as he is quoted as saying, why in the world would he have FSU at the top of his list? With an offer from Florida in hand, this is hard to figure. He is young. Class of 2018, lots can change of course, but being a FAN of the University of Florida football program carries with it certain truths which are not open to compromise.

    • A story about the recruitment of a QB in the class of 2018 who has played only one year of football is hardly news worth. How about an article on the ‘over-and-under’ on how many times he changes his ‘commitment’. The significant story deals with Coach Mac being in a little ‘jam’ on the QB front. According to ESPN 18 – 25 top QBs for 2016 (according to their rating system) have already committed.

  3. We have an excellent coaching staff with an outstanding track record developing QB’s. Give them some time. They will get some players into Gainesville.
    UF signed three of the top high school QB’s in the country (Brantley, Driskel, Brissett), over the last several years. We have a guy that was ranked third in the elite QB evaluation in Oregon and another guy who is a proven winner at the high school level already on campus. Those of you worried what a 15 year old kid thinks right now are amusing. This story illustrates what is wrong with recruiting and social media right now.