LB Willis McGahee IV Schedules Visits to Florida, Other Top Programs
During the early 2000s, Miami running back Willis McGahee took the college football world by storm as he helped facilitate a national championship victory for the Hurricanes in 2001. He spent three seasons in Coral Gables and was a Heisman finalist in 2002 before declaring for the NFL Draft.
He spent over a decade in the league, last playing in 2013. McGahee officially retired as a Baltimore Raven — after spending four seasons with the team during his 11-year career — in 2019.
Now, his son, Willis McGahee IV, walks up to the plate as a class of 2024 recruit. Instead of following in his father's footsteps on the offensive side of the ball, he aligns as an outside linebacker prospect.
McGahee, seeing time at traditional linebacker and edge for Columbus High School (Miami, Fla.), has shown promise as a quick-twitch athlete both rushing the passer and in pursuit of the ball. His skill set has garnered offers from Auburn, Michigan, Nebraska, Pitt, Tennessee and others thus far.
He looks to continue adding schools to his 19-team offer sheet early this year. That process includes a busy visit schedule this spring, announcing the slate of trips he is set to take in the coming weeks via Twitter on Thursday morning.
It includes a trip to the University of Florida, set for April 13, where he'll look to receive an offer from a staff that endures an extensive scouting process prior to extending their hand to prospective talent.
The four-star recruit will travel to Texas on March 25 prior to a busy mid-April slate when he'll take trips to Florida, UCF, Tennessee and Nebraska.
Florida drew the most recently documented visit from the Miami native as he attended the team's Junior Day on Jan. 28.
Given his size, standing at 6-foot-1, 225 pounds, McGahee has the makings of a tweener and his experience mostly comes as an edge rusher. His speed and production at the spot on the prep level, recording 13 sacks in 2022, certainly raises eyebrows, but Florida's shown their desire to equip that position with size and length since the new staff took over.
As a result, if they were to pursue McGahee, the offer would likely come as a WILL off-ball linebacker.
The Gators hold two commits in the off-ball linebacker category by reeling in early pledges from Myles Graham and Adarius Hayes. However, they have shown a desire to equip the roster with a third high school backer this cycle.
If they do so, McGahee could be an intriguing option to fill that void.
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