DL Will Norman Finishes Official Visit With Florida, Has Gators in Top 2
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Photo: Will Norman; Credit: Zach Goodall
The Florida Gators concluded official visits with prospects from the 2023 recruiting class, making their intentions clear about who they want to bring in and what plans they may have for the athletes that opt to join them.
One player that clearly is on their radar is IMG Academy (Fla) defensive lineman Will Norman, who is currently ranked as the No. 26 player in the state of Florida, according to On3 consensus. Norman is also the No. 16 ranked defensive lineman in the entire class this year.
Speaking with reporters on Sunday shortly following his official visit to the program, Norman enjoyed the "family" atmosphere that goes into an official visit. Now, players are able to sit down and spend quality time with coaches, players and other recruits over a three-day weekend.
"Just seeing everybody and spending a weekend with them was definitely eye-opening and it let you know something could be great from this 2023 [recruiting] class," Norman said shortly following his official visit on Sunday.
The Gators are one of the top five teams currently vying for his services, including Penn State, LSU, Texas A&M and Michigan. Still, that's ever-changing, and Norman says he has visits that he would like to take to schools such as USC and Tennessee.
Those aren't planned as of right now, however, and Norman's next scheduled visit is to Penn State on June 24. He plans to commit to a program just prior to his senior season, something to keep an eye on as August approaches.
Still, Florida is one of the programs very high on Norman's radar, with the recruit admitting that in the big picture, Florida is in his "top two" as far as teams he's interested in. Norman wouldn't name the other program, but it's clear Florida is one of the leaders of the pack.
That, perhaps, has been born out over his last few visits, both unofficial and official, with the official visit hammering home more of an idea of how Florida will ultimately use him within their scheme. That part of the visit certainly intrigued Norman, who says knowing the team will move him around a bit definitely makes him feel good.
"I'm a big guy, but I'm also athletic so just knowing that they'll have me slanting, knowing they'll have me in different run games ... that's definitely eye-opening," he said. "I don't want to be one of those D linemen that's just full blow nose guard, I kind of want to get to move around, maybe do some stunts let me slant here and there."
Something that has been said before about the Florida coaching staff is their consistency in how they've approached recruits with plans and what their plan is for the overall program. That hasn't changed with Norman, who added that throughout the whole process, the coaching staff has been "genuine," starting from the top.
"[Head] coach [Billy] Napier, his whole message I feel like is just powerful. Having a coach that's down-to-earth. Even though he was that Bama for five years, Clemson, seven years, he just came from Louisiana, like not a very big school," he said. "So that's definitely like, somebody like me who made it off hard work, I definitely feel like that's eye-opening, having a coach that's down-to-earth."
Norman, now 6-foot-5, 299 pounds, plans to come back to campus for a game this fall, and perhaps during the program's Friday Night Lights event at the end of July just to soak up more of what he might be in store for if he does ultimately sign on the dotted line to Florida.
Now, Norman will continue his recruiting journey, having gathered more intel and more to think about following his first official visit. The last few days have been about bringing him on to the UF football program, and time will tell whether or not it was enough.
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