2021 DE Names Florida Gators a Leading School After Virtual Visit
Recruiting has become increasingly interesting over the past few months, namely due to the on-going pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus. Players are not able to visit programs in person, shake hands, and truly get to know each other face-to-face.
Due to the lack of in-person visits, various schools have begun to conduct "virtual" visits, and that is what occurred yesterday when the Florida Gators hosted Highland Springs High School (Highland Springs, Va.) product and 2021 defensive end Kelvin Gilliam.
Gilliam, 6-foot-3.5, 255 pounds now, spoke to AllGators yesterday in an exclusive interview shortly after posting that he had concluded his virtual Zoom video conference/visit with the Gators' coaching staff, something he says was "just an overall great experience."
The Gators have been recruiting Gilliam for a while now. Florida quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson has been to Gilliam's school many times, and defensive backs coach Torrian Gray has also been in contact prior to his virtual visit on Monday. Gray recruits the Virginia area for the Gators, currently.
His official offer from the program wouldn't come until April 22nd - earlier this year - from defensive line coach David Turner, who was connected to by Johnson, noting that once he sat down with the coach, Turner "loved" it, and offered him right away.
"It wasn't different, but just not being there, they showed me everything I needed to know," Gilliam told AllGators about his virtual visit on Monday. "The campus, on the phone with the entire coaching staff, just seeing the academics, the Strength and Conditioning...game field."
In talking with head coach Dan Mullen, Gilliam was able to ask the head ball coach questions about the program as a whole, noting that it was "great" talking with the man in charge. "He was telling me exactly what he sees in me, what things I can do for him and his program."
"We went through things with coach Turner, he was saying that I could play the [defensive] end [position], defensive tackle, and step at nose guard for them," said Gilliam. "All three positions that are [featured] in their defense, so he thinks I'd be a perfect fit for them."
It is easy to see why the Gators are so high on the defensive lineman, rated fourth at the WDE position, according to 247Sports Composite. His ability to move around, creating a more versatile player on a defensive front is appealing.
"One dude they specifically compared me with was [Florida Gators defensive end] Zach[ary] Carter. We watched a lot of his film and they said 'that's exactly how we want you to come in'."
Carter, 6-foot-4, 263 pounds, currently is slated to start in place of drafted-defensive end Jabari Zuniga in 2020, playing the five-technique, along with some three-technique in sub-packages.
During a virtual tour/visit, the players are able to speak to the coaches more, the people you would typically deal with than they might without a virtual tour, Gilliam explained. While there has not been an official date set for his official visit, the 2021 recruit and the coaching staff have talked about getting him on campus at some point.
While Gilliam does still have a large list of 15 schools on his current "top" schools, he did offer some insight into the current six "leading" schools, which includes Florida, Oklahoma, Penn State, Texas, South Carolina, and Virginia Tech. All of those schools have recruited Gilliam the most thus far.
Florida has been on his mind ever since the team's impressive 11-sack performance in week 0 of 2019 against the Miami Hurricanes, something that made the defensive end say "I wish they offered me". Now they have, it and it looks as though his recruitment is heading in the right direction.
In checking the tape, Gilliam clearly has a knack for getting into the offensive backfield, not easily confused, and is able to play to his gap very well. One thing he wants to improve on heading into his senior season, however, is his reaction.
"[It's] all about reaction. Reaction to offensive linemen stance, reaction to screens, just reaction to the blocking itself, so just all about reaction."
Living the dream, Gilliam is excited to see all of the hard work he has done over the years finally beginning to pay off. Being able to get an education for free, potentially, while playing the game of football has been "crazy" during his time in recruitment.
"It's all just the results of all the hard work I put in throughout the years. It's a great challenge - building relationships with people, great experience."