OT Caden Jones Recaps Second Florida Gators Visit, Updates Recruitment
Photo: Caden Jones; Credit: Zach Goodall
Following a tremendous month of recruiting in July with eight commitments added to their class, the Florida Gators have gone back to the drawing board to reassess their biggest remaining needs before the 2023 cycle wraps up later this year.
Priority No. 1 is finding a blue-chip offensive tackle prospect with enough talent to play sooner rather than later in their college career.
Options are a bit limited as the Gators have missed on a couple of top targets at the position, but New Orleans (La.) De La Salle's Caden Jones remains on the board and is a prospect that Florida will push for until the end.
Jones made his way back to Gainesville this past weekend for UF's Friday Night Lights camp, his second visit with the Gators this year, and noticed significant progress as the Gators put the finishing touches on their new Heavener Football Training Center, which is scheduled to officially open on August 14.
"I came to Gainesville Thursday and I just did the camp on Friday. I went to the facility, the new one, because the first time I came down it was there was getting built," Jones told AllGators. "So, I came down this time and I saw the somewhat-finished product. It was great, man. Just to see what they came from before to what they're at now, it's just awesome."
Checking out the new facility was only part of Jones' experience, however, and he admitted that facilities aren't the biggest factor in his recruitment as much as the atmosphere surrounding his program of choice.
Fortunately for Florida, Jones has come away equally as impressed by the culture head coach Billy Napier has instilled at UF. He had previous insight as to how Napier and his staff operate, as Jones earned an offer from the same group of coaches in June 2021 while they worked at Louisiana-Lafayette.
"They're great people. Absolutely, they're great people," Jones said. "I agree wholeheartedly with coach Napier saying it's people first, player second, because if your players aren't happy they're not going to play their best."
Napier, as well as running backs coach Jabbar Juluke, have grown close with Jones in particular. Juluke especially, as he is from New Orleans as well and coached prep ball in the area, allowing him to develop a personal bond with Jones and other Boot State prospects that many other coaches aren't quite as capable of.
"That really goes a long way because [Juluke] can kind of relate better to me than people can from other places," Jones stated. "Because not everybody is from New Orleans or Louisiana, so it goes a long way."
Additionally, Jones has grown close with offensive line coaches Rob Sale and Darnell Stapleton. The duo envisions Jones as a true offensive tackle in Florida's offense, thanks to his towering frame and length paired with great athleticism for a player of his size.
Jones has quickly grown to appreciate UF's deployment of two offensive line coaches, as well.
"The thing that they love about me is that, as tall as I am, I'm able to bend and use my athleticism. They think it's great, they think I could really fit in in their strategy and in their gameplan," Jones said.
"As far as the two offensive line coaches go, it is a great thing to have. Say you have 8-to-10 offensive linemen, one coach can't help each and every person develop and get better. So, they can split that in half and they can have five on five or four on four, that split."
Jones has recently trimmed down his list of contenders and has placed his focus on Florida, Texas A&M, Texas, Florida State and Houston for the rest of the 2023 cycle.
He intends to officially visit the Gators and Aggies in December in the weeks leading up to the early signing period, as well as the other three programs before that point, and make his college decision immediately after in order to enroll early. If a school makes a big move before that point, however, Jones would not rule out committing earlier than planned.
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