Weekend Official Visitor Parental Roundtable

Please Read: Welcome to the new-look Inside the Gators

• Weekend Visitor Updates: Lineman can see himself at UF
• Behind-the-scenes look at Wednesday’s Florida Football Team Draft
• Reranking the Early Entry Freshmen Post Spring Practice
• Early Entry Review: Speedster excelling despite position coach change
• Early Entry Review: IMG experience helped prepare Harris for Florida football
• Buy, Sell, Hold: 12 in-state four-star prospects
• The Inside Scoop: In-depth spring review

We know what the prospects themselves have had to say about Florida’s first official visit weekend, so Inside the Gators went a bit further behind the scenes by asking four parents about their experience in Gainesville.

Joining us for the RoundTable are Will Filsaime, the father of four-star safety commit Xavier Filsaime, Alberta Jackson, mother of three-star defensive tackle visitor Jayden Jackson, Keri Jackson, mother of three-star defensive lineman Kendall Jackson and Jai Ross, mother of four-star defensive lineman Jordan Ross.

Obviously, your son is in the coaches’ spotlight during an official visit weekend, but how would you describe the parental experience?

Filsaime: “The staff made us feel like we are a priority as much as our son is to them. That was really important to us. Family is everything to us. What I felt this weekend. It is one big family.”

Alberta Jackson: “It’s been amazing. I’m new to this so yeah it’s been really good. Just from texts, phone calls, emails, DMs, from coaching staff to assistants to the recruiting staff.

“Seriously Ross [Bares] is our guy. He was assigned to us for the official visit and it wasn’t the first time we’ve met him. From picking us up to always making sure we’re ok to just hanging out with us or my 3-year-old grandson and playing games with him to watching him so I can partake in some of the activities or sneak in a chair massage. You know the little things. He showed us around town even his little spots, we went and got slushies at The WaWa. I mean did you know that there’s a large concentration of fruit bats on campus and they built houses for them next to a grove of banana trees? I haven’t seen or heard of that since I was little back on the islands.”

Keri Jackson: “I think that they did an amazing job from my perspective. They made sure that they engaged the parents as much, maybe even more at times than they engaged the recruits. You know, they pick really good hosts for each player. So the way they had it set up we would be together for a certain amount of time, do dinner together, their host would come and have dinner with us and then the recruits would get to go away and then the parents would get to mingle, and I thought that that was really good because at that time even when we were doing lunch or breakfast and everyone was at the table to include the recruit, the coaches would come over. We sat with different coaches at every event they had, which I also liked because it really speaks to the continuity of care that the coaches have for every player and just the cohesiveness of the staff. They really truly are a family. I used to go to UF and I was actually a Gator way back in, I graduated in 2004 and so I’ve been part of some official visits back in the early 2000s and this was completely night and day. So yeah, I think they did an amazing job with making sure that the parents were involved, just giving us attention, and answering questions that we did need to ask. It was a great experience.”

Ross: “It was great. They gave us the same experience that they gave the players that were going out with their counterparts later on. Whatever the guys were doing, we were doing as well.”

What have you and your family’s interactions with the coaching staff been like through the recruiting process and this weekend?

Filsaime: “Great! It’s a blessing to have a son that is a top recruit because the process can be a bit overwhelming. FL has made the interaction genuine they want to get to know us and we want to get to know them as well.”

Alberta Jackson: “They’ve been awesome since the beginning and nothing has changed. To the coaches offering to hold my grandson while he was sleeping so I can enjoy myself or just random conversations to break the awkward silence sometimes lol it was all love.”

Keri Jackson: “They’ve been amazing. You know so we see them often because my husband, we have a business, we have a barber shop here in town and we partner with UF. We’ve been doing that since we moved to Gainesville so my husband’s been a barber for many years, but we moved to Gainesville about six years ago when my mom got sick and we’ve had that partnership with UF really since then when Coach [Jim] McElwain was still there, so now it’s just kind of grown so we’re there a lot and we see them often but outside of that when we go there for visits, football-specific visits or even them just calling. They’re always in contact with Kendall. Coach [Billy] Napier, you know, he’s always calling Kendall. Even when he went to the draft, he face-timed him while he was there. On the first day, he just wanted to touch base with some of the guys and encourage them, like this is where you’re going to be one day.

“I love Coach Napier because every time we speak with him, he’s always pouring into Kendall, and it’s not just from a football perspective, which is important for me. Wherever he decides to go to, whichever coaching staff, is blessed to have him because Kendall’s a really good kid and I’m not just saying that because he’s my kid. I’m amazed at some of the things that he does and just how he thinks. I’m really looking for a coaching staff that really cares about the person Kendall, and not just the player and they show that. They show that through their interactions, they’re consistent, they’re transparent, they’re authentic. All the things that I’m looking for that I love, they do.”

Ross: “We met with Coach [Larry] Williams, Coach Mike P [Peterson], and Coach Napier. This particular time, I was able to really get a feel of who they were, especially Coach P and Coach Napier. I talk to Coach Williams all the time anyways. He is trying to make sure, you know, everything is okay with Jordan. I was able to get a better view of them being the men that they are and the coaches. Especially when you have other players like Kelby [Collins]. You know you can talk to the players about the coaches and get a good feel of them and they tell you exactly how the coaches are and basically who we got is who we thought we were going to get. I can actually say that because it was the same way when we went for our first visit for this visit. The only difference is there were more people around, but the atmosphere was the same with them.”

What would you say the highlight of the visit was from a parental perspective?

Filsaime: “Haha I would say the highlight was karaoke night! You wouldn’t believe how smooth some of these coaches are! It felt like a good old family reunion. I missed Coach Napier’s song. The best singer/entertainer had to be Coach [Russ] Callaway. He had the crowd involved and brought a lot of energy.”

Alberta Jackson: “Watching my little guy allow himself to relax, take it all in and enjoy it because he’s worked DANG hard to get where he’s at. He still doesn’t realize that he’s that JAYDEN JACKSON not another Jayden Jackson if that makes any sense.

“How serious they take academics and the help and support each student will get. The people in place to help them realize their goals whether it’s to continue playing or not. Talking and learning about the coaches as people. Meeting some of their families and just transparent random conversations on anything asked.”

Keri Jackson: “There were a couple. Honestly, my biggest highlight… So, I had a lot of fun moments, right. Karaoke was amazing because you got to see everyone in a different light. Everyone was already cool but everyone was truly happy at that time and I enjoyed that. But I think the highlight for me as Kendall’s mom was when we had our meeting with Coach Napier on Sunday and he told Kendall, you know, he’s talking to Kendall about football and he’s like honestly Kendall you’re definitely underrated and we acknowledge that like we see that. And that was big for me because he’s definitely underrated for different reasons. Some of it is because of where we live, but to have the coaching staff acknowledge that they know that he should be ranked higher and that they know the player that they’re getting in him, regardless of what 247, Rivals, or what any other sports platform may think. That was the highlight for me because I know how much work my son puts in and no one will ever outwork him.”

Ross: “Truthfully, to walk in, because this was our first official visit. The way they set up the room. I know it is minute, but to walk into a room and see my child on everything, like the table, the bathroom, the couch, the bed. I might be minute, but, it just went a long way for me because I have never experienced seeing my child laid out that way. Another thing for me, is the medical part. For them to come to me and tell me that if anything happens to my son regardless of the situation, they are going to take care of him. The medical staff was amazing. Not excluding the academics because that was the main highlight to go through a day how they would go through their school. I would say those three things were major.”

Is there anything that wasn’t that great, or what would you change if you could?

Filsaime: “Everything was top notch I can’t think of anything that I’d change.”

Alberta Jackson: “Nothing. Everything and everyone we’ve met has been amazing.”

Keri Jackson: “They asked that question too and I actually liked that because I’m definitely like I’m very data-driven and so I love a good plus like delta session with what did we do good what do we need to change and they asked us that. Actually, Coach [Austin] Armstrong asked us that before we started the meeting and I actually didn’t have a thing to say and it wasn’t because he put me on the spot because I actually like honesty and just like I couldn’t tell you right now, I couldn’t say one thing that they could have done better because honestly they did such a great job. They truly set the bar for official visits. For this to be our first one and we have the rest of this month and we’re supposed to do some in the Fall, we’ll see but they did an amazing job of handling the crowd because it was a lot of people there like it was a pretty big official visit weekend and they did everything great like if something went wrong, we didn’t know and that’s how it should be. So, I can’t really give you any like things that I would say oh this could have been improved upon. Not on this OV visit maybe if you asked me like a junior day or something like that I’d probably have something but they did an amazing job so kudos to the staff because they really did well.”

Ross: “Sure, Lucifer on my back. It was hot! It was Saturday. We had a picnic, but before we went through the campus and it was so nice and we went in the building for a second and came outside for a pool party and I was like, who invited Lucifer? I was ready to go. I catch an attitude when I get hot. Other than that, everything was amazing. They couldn’t have done anything else. I cannot give you any negatives that they did or that they didn’t do. They had the pool party at Heavener [Complex] and they went all out. It was nice. They catered to the kids and everything for the parents. They had food trucks for us. We didn’t have to pay for anything. They went the extra mile. I had another coach just call and ask if they needed to call a car service to pick us up at the house. I said, ‘Yeah Florida did it, so I am pretty sure you need to do it too.’ When I say they said it was ‘red carpet,’ it was ‘gold.’ Not only that, we got stuck in Charlotte. We left Florida at 1 o’clock. We didn’t get home until 11:45 pm. I had to call the school and let them know that we were stuck and I couldn’t get a flight to Birmingham but I could get one to Atlanta. Do you know they called a car service to pick us up in Atlanta and drive us back to Birmingham? I was upset because we left Florida at 1 and didn’t get home until almost 12. We could have driven home. But, that was the exact experience that we had with them. Bri [Wade] was amazing. When I called her and told her what happened, she said, ‘I got you. I am on it. Don’t worry about it.’ Florida set the standard.”

Overall, what are your thoughts on Florida Football?

Filsaime: “Florida Football is doing great things putting all the right pieces in place so they can get back to the days of being a top program in the country. I’m glad our son is part of this process!”

Alberta Jackson: “Gators are iconic not just football but the University as a whole. So give them a chance to one day get back to those glory days whether it be with my son or someone else’s. They’ll be back there one day soon.”

Keri Jackson: “Well, of course, Florida football, I’m passionate about Florida football. I graduated in 2004, Warrington College of Business. My siblings graduated from the University of Florida before me. I have a niece that graduated from there, my nephew graduated from there, I have a niece there now, so my family are Gators. My brother-in-law [Aubrey Hill] who played at UF and coached at UF, he graduated there, so Florida football, I’m really passionate about it and I feel like I’m not worried about it. I really do believe that we’re in good hands. I love the way that Coach Napier is attacking the issue because Florida football didn’t get here overnight and I think sometimes the fans as I’m going through my Twitter feed I see not understand and I can feel the frustration that the fans are voicing but I think sometimes we forget that it’s going to be a process and I think that we’re at a really, really great start with Coach Napier. I think the program is in great hands and I think the people that he has around him, just even how he chooses his staff members and the reasoning and whys behind it. For me, it gives me a very good sense of security. I’m not worried. I do see us getting back to where we once were very soon. I think 2024’s class, the young men that they are recruiting are phenomenal players. I was joking with one of the parents like there was something in the water in 2006 because there were a bunch of HIMs. Kendall’s been playing with a lot of these kids, like we came from Tampa so he’s been playing with a lot of the kids that are being recruited since he was like four, five, six or seven years old. And these kids have been winning championship games since then and now they’re all like top recruits. I think 2024’s class is going to really impact the football program in a very positive way. Love the coaching staff and I’m excited to see what we’re going to do and what they’re going to do this season. And then, you know the University of Florida is amazing. I didn’t apply to any other college, my mom was like you’re going to UF so I’m glad they accepted me because I would’ve been without a college but it’s the best thing that’s happened to me like the network is phenomenal. I remember taking my first job in Dallas and I was so nervous, this was 20 years ago and I was driving to work. And the first welcome I received at Dallas was another Gator waving me down because I had my Gator Alumni tag and we ended up meeting at the gas station he told me oh there’s a Gator club here. You know you can’t beat that experience so I have nothing bad to say about the University of Florida. It’s always Go Gators for me.”

(Bonus) How did the staff celebrate your anniversary over the weekend?

“You’ve probably seen the video on Twitter. So our anniversary was technically on Sunday but Saturday we had a busy day and we had a break where we came back to the hotel and in between from that morning up until our break, someone came to our room and they did like fresh rose petals and they had some bottles of cider, sparkling wine grape juice because we’re pregnant and a nice cake, a beautiful cake. It was definitely a gourmet cake. It was really good too. Yeah, they had some roses on the bed in the shape of a heart, put some rose petals on the bed, and then some long-stem roses in a vase on the table so it was a nice gesture and definitely a surprise. My husband I, we typically go away for our anniversary but with Kendall’s recruiting process, we kind of figured out it wasn’t going to work out this year and so we canceled our plans. So, it was nice of them to take that time out you know, to let us know they appreciate us and just the acknowledgment of our anniversary was a sweet gesture.”

Ross: “I love them. I told them they are number one in my book because I have never experienced anything like it. So anybody that comes behind them, in my book, has to come harder and I don’t think they can. If someone is calling me and asking me, ‘Hey do I need to do this?’ Then I tell them, ‘Florida did it this way and Florida did it that way.’ They might get upset with me, but I am just going to tell you what Florida did and how that experience was for me. That is what I am used to now, so not to be funny, but if this is an official visit, and this is the standard, I would want everybody else to follow that standard as well.”

Ellie Shreve and Mark Wheeler contributed to this report

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