Mallory enjoys his first game in the Swamp: Florida Gators recruiting

The state of Florida is loaded with prospects in the class of 2018 and that visible by just looking at the Florida Gators recruiting visitors list from last Saturday. Several big time instate 2018 prospects were in town for the South Carolina game.

One of those was 2018 tight end Will Mallory (6-5, 200, Jacksonville, FL. Providence) who enjoyed his first game in the Swamp.
“It was a lot of fun, it was a great atmosphere,” Mallory said. “I didn’t get to see any of the facilities but I’ll definitely be back to check that out. Probably for a junior day.”

Mallory has ties to the University of Michigan but he also has some ties to Florida and that helped make Saturday even better for him.

“I’ve been down here a couple of times because my sister goes to school here but it was good to see the recruiting side,” Mallory said. “She shows me around and I like it a lot, it’s close by and just a short drive. I like all of the coaches and they’re nice people.”

One thing Mallory learned on Saturday was just how much the Gators offense is centered around throwing to the tight ends.

“I liked the way they use their tight ends,” he said. “I can see myself fitting into that offense. It’s a lot of fun to watch that and I liked the way he [C’yontai Lewis] played and they used him.”

The play of the tight end is something that the Gators coaching staff has shared with Mallory and they’ve told him where they want him playing at in Gainesville.

“They tell me that they want me as a flex tight end so they can move me around,” he said. “They want to use me in different areas so I’m looking forward to seeing what they have in mind for me. It’s something we will talk about.”

Running backs coach Tim Skipper is the recruiter for the Jacksonville area and the one mainly after the 2018 prospect.

“Coach Skipper is my main recruiter,” Mallory said. “I haven’t gotten a chance to really sit down and talk to him a lot but I’m going to come back so we can do that.”

Mallory has already racked up 25 scholarship offers but he says that he has high interest in the schools that he’s visited so far.

“I don’t have any leaders right now,” he said. “I’ve really liked all of the places I’ve visited. I’ve been to Clemson, Miami, North Carolina and I’m going to Alabama and Michigan next.”

 

INSIDERS TAKE: Mallory has ties to Michigan and also ties to Florida but he says Ohio State is the school really recruiting him the hardest. Florida is still evaluating a lot of tight ends for next year so the Gators could easily turn up the heat on him soon.

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.