Four-star Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy receiver @Michael Re">Michael Redding took a trip to Gainesville over the weekend to check out the University of Florida and ended up leaving the Swamp with an offer.
“It was just a visit,” Redding told Inside the Gators. “Really I just took a tour of the campus and got to see everything. But, I ended up having great conversations with [Dan] Mullen and [Billy] Gonzales.”
The conversations gave Redding a real feel for the school, the program, and the coaches. Notably, the 6-foot-1, 195-pounder could not stop speaking glowingly about Mullen. Although he was lost on which specific word best described the head coach, the rising senior was, in short, impressed.
“He started talking to me and my mom and it was just a great conversation. He talked to me about things other schools didn’t, like injury. Like if I got injured, he talked about my scholarship, staying at the school and on the team, stuff like that. He said he had kids who were injured but stayed on the team and that was important to me.”
If the wide out does choose to spend the next 3-4 years in Orange and Blue, he would be spending the bulk of his time with Gonzales. The Pensacola native praised the receivers coach for his transparency and multi-layered approach to recruiting him. Four players at the position will run out of eligibility and two more could depart early before Redding signs with a program.
The up-for-grabs receiver’s room in Gainesville was a point of emphasis that was stressed to the 2020 prospect.
“He basically explained the situation at wide receiver to me. They’re [going to be] pretty limited. That allows me to come in early and make a big impact in Mullen’s offense,” he said.
Mullen’s offense, which he also learned about during the course of the conversation with Gonzales.
“He was actually telling me the history of Mullen and his success on offense like with [Tim] Tebow and how the Mississippi State offense was always successful.”
Even though he is highly-rated, Redding subscribes to the school of “books before ball” school of thought. Learning of the Gators’ top 10 status both on and off the field opened his mind to what playing at Florida could do for him.
“Coach Gonzales talked to me about networking and internships for after football. Coach Mullen explained how great the Engineering school is, which is what I want to major in.”
Redding was reluctant to drop his top schools to ITG, but he did list Penn State, Notre Dame, Miami, Purdue, and Florida State as other schools he is interested in. Now that he holds offers from the entire ‘Big 3,’ though, the Sunshine State native couldn’t be happier.
“It’s always great getting an offer from an in-state team. Getting an offer from Florida feels amazing.”
Redding is the No. 131 rated prospect in the nation according to the 247 Composite.