Several 7-on-7 teams stopped by Gainesville on Friday to let their players visit and meet with the Florida Gators coaching staff on their way to Orlando for a big tournament.
One of those teams was a team out of Tennessee, which meant Tennessee athlete commit Alontae Taylor (6-0, 182, Manchester, TN. Coffee County Central) got to visit Florida.
“It went great, real great time,” Taylor said of his visit to Florida. “We got to meet all of the coaches, tour the facilities and try on the jerseys. After that, we got to talk to all of the coaches.”
This was the first time for Taylor to visit Gainesville since his freshman year and it was everything he thought it would be.
“Everything was perfect and everything that I thought it would be,” he said on if the visit was what he expected. “I got to come down here and see everything for myself but everything I’ve been told about Florida was true. It was even better than I thought it would be.”
While on the visit Taylor got the chance to speak with just about every coach including receivers coach Kerry Dixon.
“I talk to all of the coaches today [Friday],” Taylor said. “Coach Dixon, Coach [Chris] Rumph, the quarterback [Doug Nussmeier, Coach [Drew] Hughes and all of them. We didn’t get a chance to talk to Coach McElwain but all the others ones we did.”
In high school, Taylor plays quarterback but most schools are calling him an athlete but on Friday the Gators told him where they want him to play.
“Coach Dixon told me that they want me to play receiver, I like that,” he said. “He was just telling me how he wants me and how they’re going to be in touch with me a lot. He said that I could come in and succeed as a freshman as long as I work hard. He said that Florida wasn’t going to give up until I signed the dotted line.”
Dixon wasn’t the only one giving a recruiting pitch to Taylor as they were all saying something to him and trying to get him back on campus.
“All of the coaches were just saying that they were hoping to see me in the Orange and Blue,” Taylor said of the coaches’ message. “They said that they want to get me down there next fall for either the LSU, Texas A&M or Tennessee game.”
Now that the Gators have Taylor’s attention, he’s trying to set up another visit to Florida with his good friend and safety prospect.
“It was a real successful visit for me,” he said. “Brendon Harris is one of best friends and he got an offer on the visit today [Friday] so we’re talking about coming down again soon. We’re going to try and set up a date that we can come back down.”
INSIDERS TAKE: Taylor plays quarterback in high school but is expected to play receiver in college and despite his commitment to Tennessee, he’s listening to Florida and others.