Jon Sumrall and his coaching staff has done a great job of getting prospects on campus this year and that continued on Saturday when the Gators went through spring practice.
Defensive lineman Josh Johnson (6-5, 270, Key West, FL. High) was on campus and was glad to meet the whole staff for the first time.
“It was awesome,” Johnson said of his visit to Florida on Saturday. “It was great to up there, great to see everybody, great to meet the coaches and great to watch practice.”
One thing that stood out to Johnson on the trip was the energy of the staff and how those guys coach at practice.
“I definitely say the energy,” he said on what stood out to him. “The energy is always high, especially around Coach [Jon] Sumrall and Coach [Gerald] Chatman. Also getting to watch my position practice was great. I love the energy that Coach Chatman brings every single period. He’s always bringing it and I love that he gets after his guys and I’m a big fan of what he does.”
Johnson was impressed by how Sumrall and his staff run practice and how they have energy throughout the practice.
“I love how organized it was and how serious it was,” Johnson said of practice. “Like they weren’t playing around, and the energy was up the whole time. The guys were going hard so it was definitely good to see that.”
Defensive line coach Gerald Chatman met with Johnson after practice and explained to him what the Gators like about his game and how he would fit into the program.
“He likes my speed, my strength and my size,” he said on what Chatman likes about his game. “That’s one of the reasons I’d be a good fit for Florida and also kind of my versatility that I could play defensive tackle and I could also play defensive end. He really likes that about my game and that’s one of the reasons that he thought I’d be a good fit at Florida.”
Saturday was also a chance for Johnson to meet with Sumrall again and for the first time since Sumrall arrived in Gainesville.
“It was great to meet him, kind of ironic how we met at Tulane and now he’s at Florida,” Johnson said of meeting with Sumrall. “You know it was great to see him, he’s kind of told me you know that I’m wanted at Florida and told me that I would be a big help to defensive side of the ball right now.”
After the visit, Johnson says the Gators are right there with the Hurricanes as the defensive lineman really likes the staff in Gainesville.
“Florida is definitely top two,” he said of where Florida stands for him. “Super close with Miami, it’s going to be a very tough decision when I have to make that decision, but I was thinking of maybe dropping my top two pretty soon and Florida and Miami would be in there.”
Next up for Johnson will be more trips to Gainesville and Miami as he hopes to get a better idea on where he wants to attend college.
“I want to go up for another spring practice and maybe the spring game,” Johnson said of getting back to Florida. “I don’t know if I’m going to make my decision like before official visits, but I think at some point I’m just going to like wake up and be like Oh I’m a Gator or oh I’m a Hurricane. I think that day could be coming pretty soon, I just need to get back up to practice some more and kind of figure some things out.”