This weekend, the Florida Gators hosted one of the best players in the country on campus as they try to flip him away from another SEC school.
Texas receiver commit Easton Royal (5-11, 200, New Orleans, LA. Brother Martin) was on campus and he likes how important the receiver position is to the Gators coaching staff.
“Just the attention to detail with everything, it’s very rare,” Royal said on what stood out to him during his visit to Florida. “Florida is probably the only school that I know with five receiver coaches, you know some people may think it’s a bad thing, but I think that’s a really good thing and the best thing about it is there’s no egos.”
Head coach Jon Sumrall spent a lot of time around Royal and his family this weekend and they all made him feel like a priority but it was Sumrall’s energy that stood out to the Texas commit.
“All of the staff, they’ve been telling me how much I fit the program,” he said on the message from the staff. “They like me as a player and what I can do physically but just my character and like how I really can fit into the program. Coach Sumrall, I think he’s probably the most energetic coach out of the three schools, and I like how he has some Louisiana in him. He’s very hype, he knows how to wake you up in the morning.”
Heading into the visit, Florida and LSU were battling Texas and Royal says this weekend made that decision even more complicated.
“It makes it a lot more complicated because I really do feel like I can fit in with each school, Texas, LSU, and Florida,” Royal said on if this visit helped Florida. “I’m just really trying to get to the nitty gritty and the realism of it all and not just the fluff of it. I know every school is going to put their best foot forward. I was telling my mom it’s going to probably be one of the biggest decisions I make in my lifetime. I’m just trying to soak it all in and not be close minded.”
Sumrall and his staff made Royal and his family feel welcomed this weekend and were trying to give him advice for his future and that’s what the receiver commit will take home with him.
“Just the family aspect of it,” he said on the biggest thing he takes away from the Florida visit. “Like everybody, all of the coaches, I feel like they’re like uncles to me. Then you know there’s player development, here name is Mrs. Savannah, I think she’s really going to be helpful if I do decide to come here. She put us through a little activity on like our contract and we divided it by per year and then all of expenses and taxes and stuff, she was just really trying to help us.”
Next up for Royal will be a trip to Texas and then the receiver says he will talk things over with his mom and come up with a final decision.
“Texas is still in the lead, until they’re not,” Royal said. “I don’t have a timetable right now, just trying to soak in all of the information and just worry about that later.”