Gators Coach Ron English Shares Story Behind Famous Recruiting Picture
Photo credit: Kevin Camps, University of Florida Athletic Association
Recruiting works in mysterious ways. Coaches are oftentimes put up to do things out of their comfort zone in order to attract recruits to the program. For Gators safeties coach Ron English, he did so without hesitation, in an antique of a vehicle, a '69 Mercury Marquis.
This photo, of course, took the Gators fanbase by storm, making the vehicle and English go viral within moments. Much of that is thanks to Gators assistant assistant director of creative media, Kevin Camps, English explained to the media via Zoom on Thursday.
"I was just driving in my car – well it’s my wife’s car actually, which is a whole ‘nother story, but it’s a ‘69 Mercury Marquis – and then our graphic design guy, Kevin [Camps], was like ‘I’m gonna take some pictures, get here so we can take some pictures’ and of course we’re taking pictures, and [assistant director of player personnel John Herron] Hova’s got to jump in and get in the pictures, so he jumps in and there we go.
"And then people were like ‘I thought that was Photoshop, man!’ and I’m like ‘Nah, man, this is – you look at the license plate, this is the ‘69 hooptie she calls it. And if I didn’t drive it, it would probably not start, because she never drives the darn thing. But it’s fun to drive.”
Personality and engagement are all a part of how programs recruit to high school athletes. To be able to relate to them, oftentimes coaches use new-age techniques to show their personality and give players something to think about, talk about - the Gators have done just that, and coach English is part of the equation.
Over the past several months, the Gators have landed plenty of defensive backs, but none more than the safety position. The Gators currently have multiple safeties set to graduate, including Donovan Stiner, Shawn Davis and Brad Stewart Jr. With that, the team needs to bring in fresh, new talent.
Thus far in the Gators' 2021 recruiting class, the team has landed verbal commitments from three safeties, including Corey Collier (Miami Palmetto), Donovan McMillon (Peters Township) and Dakota Mitchell (Winter Park). Both Collier and McMillon project immediately as safeties, while Mitchell has an opportunity to transition to the STAR position, a combo-player that can perform the duties a nickel cornerback, safety and linebacker can.
Florida has had no issues in converting players, and one player from the 2020 recruiting class, freshman defensive back Tre'Vez Johnson, is already making that change to STAR right now.
The Gators will continue to recruit safeties, and as English has made it clear - there is room for one more.
That "one more" the team could be chasing right now is John Paul Catholic (Tallahassee, Fla.) safety Terrion Arnold. Arnold has been taking his recruitment slow as he decides between several elite programs, including the Gators. If the team lands Arnold, they'll have landed the No. 3 safety (Arnold) and the No. 5 safety (Collier) in the class, according to Sports Illustrated - quite the haul.