St. Augustine (Fla.) Creekside three-star offensive lineman Matthew McCoy told Inside the Gators last week that he expected to be offered by Florida over the weekend.
That happened not long after he arrived on campus.
After a great talk with @CoachDanMullen before the game I’m blessed to receive an offer from the university of Florida‼️‼️‼️?@GatorsFB @CoachHevesy pic.twitter.com/FQzko01i8u
— Matthew McCoy (@MatthewMcCoyFB) October 9, 2021
McCoy told ITG that in his meeting with Dan Mullen prior to the offer, the head coach raved about his potential.
“He said that I had long arms and great athleticism, which is hard to coach, and me being new to the position made everything even more impressive.”
After being offered, it is clear that UF made a positive impression, but McCoy wasn't ready to name the Gators as his outright leader
“I don’t have any list yet,” said McCoy, “Florida is definitely one of my top schools.”
He had already scheduled an official visit to Ole Miss. Now he has added one to Florida for December 10th.
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Loganville (Ga.) Grayson 2024 four-star athlete Joseph Stone was scheduled to be in town over the weekend but said that he was unable to make it due to his little brother's football game.
He did say that he is 'Definitely making a game though.'
Stone has early offers from the likes of Florida State, Penn State, and Tennessee and he said Florida is keeping in contact.
“I have a great relationship with Coach Rat [Keiwan Ratliff] and Florida is definitely a big school that could definitely get me to where I want to be.”
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Clearwater (Fla.) ACA 2022 offensive lineman Ramier Lewis has been on Florida’s radar since the 6-foot-7, 360-pounder was a standout at the Elite Camp back at the end of June.
Since then he has been building on building a bond with Florida offensive line coach John Hevesy.
“It’s great,” said Lewis of his and Hevesy’s relationship. “Me and him laugh all the time and tell jokes about each other all types of stuff.”
Lewis, who reclassified from the Class of 2021 to this cycle, said in the past that it was a two-team battle between Florida and Michigan State, but now says Michigan is becoming a factor as well.
He has an offer from the Gators and said he is looking to officially visit either for the Florida State game or in December.
When it comes time to make a decision, he knows what he will focus on – with that mostly being the treatment and development of the linemen.
“Just how they treat me and just the love that they show me and how Hevesy treats the offensive line, and how they developed from when they came here and how they are when they leave.”
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Understandably, with a game to coach, the assistant coaches were focused on Vanderbilt, putting the recruiting support staff front and center to deal with the visitors. That was the case with Apopka (Fla.) Wekiva 2024 defensive lineman Sincere Edwards.
“To be honest, I only got to talk to one coach and that was Coach [Keiwan] Ratliff, but you know it's game day,” said Edwards.
What did Rat have to say to him?
“That this is just a good place to be. He keeps it real all the time like he doesn’t feed me and other players false information.”
Though he still has almost two and a half cycles remaining until he actually signs himself, Edwards, who was a standout at the Orlando UC Report Combine in the spring, said that he is getting plenty of early interest.
“Michigan State, Iowa State, UCF, Utah, Arkansas, Marshall, FIU, NC State,” replied Edwards when asked about the programs in contact. “There’s plenty of them.”
Besides Florida, he has also taken in a game at UCF and visited Ohio State oveA: UCF and that’s it. I took a visit to Ohio State back in July but that was it.
When asked how the visits compared, he replied, “To be honest, Florida is up there with Ohio State I ain’t gonna lie. Compared to what I’ve seen, they're up there.”
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A prospect we've been tracking since the summer is Cocoa (Fla.) three-star quarterback Davin Wydner. The 6-foot-5, 220-pounder was on campus twice in June, first for a 7-on-7 tournament and then returned for the Elite Camp at the end of that month.
He has been on our OTW Mock Classes for the past several months.
With four quarterbacks already on scholarship and Nick Evers committed, there isn't a need for another quarterback in this cycle as things stand today.
However, things change quickly – especially in the day and age of the transfer portal. Therefore, there is still a back-and-forth between the two sides – with UF being transparent about the situation.
“The Gators’ staff has been very open and honest with me in regards to that situation. Which to be honest, is a breath of fresh air and a rarity in today’s recruiting game," said Wydner. “I have to imagine that is what allows UF to stay ahead of most programs that are not so transparent in their thought process when it comes to recruiting. There are too many variables in play that can happen along the way to ever truly stop recruiting at any position.”
Florida isn't the only program showing interest.
He is also hearing from the likes of Louisville, Maryland, Mississippi State, Pittsburgh, Toledo, and others.
According to Wydner, the recent NCAA ruling allowing an additional 5-7 scholarships for the coming cycle has meant that other schools have just recently been in contact as well.
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Covington (Ga.) Newton 6-foot-4, 330-pound 2023 offensive guard Sean Thompkins said that he didn't get a chance to talk to the coaches on Saturday, but said that he is interested in any program that is showing interest in him.
So far that list includes East Carolina, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, and Mississippi State.
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A player Inside the Gators focused on as part of the Visitor Preview was Lake Butler (Fla.) Union County 2023 offensive lineman Mikah Wilson. The 6-foot-5, 295-pounder is starting to get interest from programs.
“My whole family is one big Florida-Georgia rivalry,” said Wilson. “Me personally, I'm a Georgia fan because I was born in Georgia. But it was a true honor to be invited to the game to see what they are about. Honestly would love to come to Florida for college. Their program is something of awe."
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Over the weekend East St. Louis (Il.) 2023 four-star Miles McVay was making his second trip to the University of Florida, after camping with the Gators over the summer.
Well, he didn't just camp, the 6-foot-7, 345-pounder was actually named ITG's No. 1 June Camp performer after his outing at the Elite Camp.
With offers from all over the country, he has yet to formulate a leaderboard but said that he wants to get to Florida next year for a Junior Day or sometime in the spring. Before then though, up next is a visit to Georgia.
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2024 Blountstown (Fla.) four-star safety Jordan Pride is committed to Florida State but still planned on visiting UF for the Vanderbilt game.
However, the plans fell through.
“I was [visiting], but I had a school event today, so I couldn’t make it," said Pride – who was a Florida camp session standout back in June.
He may be committed to the Seminoles, but he said UF keeps in contact.
“I’ve been talking to Coach Rat and Coach Jules [Montinar], just getting to know them," said Pride.
He added that he plans on visiting Florida when the Gators take on the Seminoles at the end of November.
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An underclassman we've talked about in the last two Visitor Previews is Kissimmee (Fla.) Osceola 2025 athlete Taevion Swint.
Weekend Visitor Preview: Class of 2023 stars due in
He was first scheduled to attend Florida's game against Tennessee, but instead, his high school team had to play a make-up game that Saturday.
Swint did make it this past weekend, and Florida extended an offer to the 5-foot-10, 175-pounder.
Extremely Blessed To Get invited to The University Of Florida football game today. I loved the atmosphere in the swamp. After a Great talk with @CoachGregKnox I’m blessed to receive my First offer from The Universtity of Florida?#gogators @KeiwanRatliff @GatorsFB @247recruiting pic.twitter.com/gy9Xa88PXc
— TaevionSwint (@TaevionSwint) October 9, 2021
He is definitely a prospect to watch going forward. He was an MVP of an Alabama camp last summer and has 320-yards and nine touchdowns so far this year, averaging almost nine yards per carry in Class 8A ball.
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Another prospect who was supposed to be at the UF-VU game but didn't make it in was Quincey (Fla.) Munroe Day School 2023 four-star wide receiver Ahmari Borden.
Instead the 6-foot-3, 190-pounder decided to go to the Auburn-Georgia game.
"I was going to visit [Florida]," said Borden. "I’ll be there next home game
Borden is yet another prospect who is mostly in contact with Kiewan Ratliff.
"He [Ratliff] said they would like to get me down there and meet the coaches."
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Cory Benavides and Chris Will contributed to this report