The Florida Gators held their first scrimmage of the spring on Saturday and several of the Gators’ top targets on the offensive line were in town.
Offensive lineman Maxwell Hiller (6-5, 300, Coatesville, PA. High) was on campus for two days and enjoyed being around the players as he got a up close look at what their life is like as a Gator.
“It was great,” I mean every time I come back here it just gets better and better,” Hiller said of his visit to Florida. “Like all the coaching staff just comes out here, getting more comfortable with everybody down here. I know how coach coaches, I saw him up at Penn State a bunch. I came down here this time to talk to the players a lot. I talked to TJ [Shannhan], I went out to dinner with him, went to his place for a little bit, talked to Harrison [Moore], the center. It was only great things to say and I know Traut well enough, I’ve known him since 8th grade. I feel like he’s not going to BS me or do anything like that.”
Hiller had the red carpet treatment laid out for him during the trip and he enjoyed that and being around other top players.
“It was great, I mean I was here with a couple guys like Kennedy Brown, Olu, Lucas [Rhoa], Peyton [Miller} and all of them,” he said on getting the red carpet treatment. “They were all great guys to be around too, so we kind of hung out as a group the whole weekend, which was great. Just being around all those other top guys, I mean everything was great here. They always treat me awesome.”
The offensive lineman says he has had conversations with other top offensive linemen about playing together in college.
“I mean we’ve had countless conversations about all going to the same school,” Hiller said on having other linemen join him at a school. “Whether it was back down in IMG when we had the Future 50 thing, we were all talking about what school would feel like now that Coach Traut’s here. I mean I think Coach Traut is one of the best if not the best offensive line coaches in the country so I mean just him building his class will be easy for him and I know once one person goes, everybody’s going to pull that trigger.”
While on campus, Hiller was impressed by the Gators scrimmage and the attitude the team had during it.
“It was great, everybody impressed me,” he said of the scrimmage. “It was real live, I’d say it’s more live than other places I’ve been too for a scrimmage wise or just practice wise in general. Mad action the whole time from everybody.”
Several current players stood out to Hiller during the scrimmage as he knows what it takes for the position to improve.
“TJ looked good, I want to say number 63 the right tackle, Caden [Jones] looks really good,” Hiller said on standouts. “I mean the whole offensive line, they’re a lot of young guys and they’re growing which offensive line is a developmental position so everybody is going to need time to grow but everybody looks good for where they’re at right now.”
After the visit, Hiller says the Florida Gators are on top in his recruitment as they battle a rival for him.
“Florida was on top since my other visit, they’ve been on top,” he said on where Florida stands for him. “Every time I come here I feel so comfortable, it’s just like I already know this whole place and everybody here so I feel so comfortable here. Florida is like my top school right now. I’d say Florida and Tennessee are my tops.”