The Florida Gators “WOW” King on Saturday

The Florida Gators had a few underclassmen on campus on Saturday including 2018 defensive end Jonathan King (6-3, 230, Tampa, FL Tech), who enjoyed watching the Gators practice.

“It was a great experience. I got to watch practice,” King said. “I liked practice. I liked the level of intensity and the level of importance that everyone had. They treat practice like it was a game. I’m going to try and bring that same kind of intensity with me to my high school.”

King, who entered the visit without a Gators offer, learned he had earned one from Florida Gators head coach Jim McElwain after practice.

“I kind of had a suspicions that I may be getting an offer but it didn’t register until he told me,” he said. “I was like ‘oh wow’ that’s cool when he told me. Coach McElwain was the one that offered me face-to-face in his office. His office is cool too.”

McElwain didn’t just offer King, but he also told the defensive end that the Gators want him on the team in the future.

“His words when he offered me were ‘your highlights are fun to watch’, “King said. “He went on to say that he would like me to be another piece of his masterpiece he’s building there. He said they’re trying to build up to be national champions and he wants me to be a part of that.”

This was the first time for King to really interact with McElwain a lot and the defensive end liked his energy, plus he got the chance to hang out with defensive line coach Chris Rumph.

“I liked Coach McElwain’s energy, he’s a cool dude,” King said. “I also got to talk to Coach Rumph. Actually me and Coach Rumph are good friends I would say. I’ve met him a couple of times now. We have good conversations with each other and joke around.”

The veteran defensive line coach tried to make King feel a part of his defensive line meetings on Saturday when he tried to stump King.

“Coach Rumph was asking me questions in the meeting room to see if I knew them already or not,” he said. “He was testing me to see my knowledge. I was able to answer them and when it comes to defensive line he likes my frame and ability. He sees good things in me.”

Florida impressed King and his family during the visit and the defensive end was happy to have a Florida offer after the visit.

“Florida is a great offer and a great opportunity,” King said. “Right now I can’t really say that I’m going here or there but I really do like the offer from Florida.”

INSIDERS TAKE: King is pretty wide open in his recruitment but he’s teammates with Gators receiver commit Daquon Green in high school, so that should help Florida out. King has the potential to be one of the top guys next year at his position.

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.