Florida Gators the biggest competition for Leatherwood

Every year one recruit committed to another school excites the Florida Gators fan base and I think this year’s guy is pretty easy to point out with a quick look on social media.

That prospect is Alabama offensive line commit Alex Leatherwood (6-6, 327, Pensacola, FL. Washington), who says that he speaks to head coach Jim McElwain and several coaches from Florida daily.

“I talk to Florida on a daily basis,” Leatherwood said. “I talk to Coach Mac on a daily basis and to Coach [Mike] Summers a lot too. To be honest I talk to the whole coaching staff from Florida a lot. It’s not always about football, we just talk about everything.”

Leatherwood called McElwain’s personal recruitment of him special and says it shows how much the Gators coaching staff truly wants him.

“It plays a big role with me of course it’s good to see that,” he said on having McElwain personally recruiting him. “It shows how much he cares about me not only as a football player but as a person too. It means a lot to me.”

Offensive line coach Mike Summers has been a staple in Leatherwood’s recruitment since day one and the two continue to talk now.

“Coach Summers tells me that he needs a left tackle to come in and take over for [David] Sharpe,” Leatherwood said of Summers’ message. “He says that they need to get the offensive line good again because they’ve been having issues with that. They want to get better.”

The Gators seemed to have some momentum with Leatherwood during the spring and then lost it this summer, but the offensive lineman says he’s still high on Florida.

“Florida is very high on my list,” he said on his interest in Florida. “They just tell me that they need a dominant tackle to help with the offensive line issues they have right now. They say to just stay instate and put on for Florida.”

Leatherwood isn’t just entertaining Florida but also several schools like LSU and Miami. Those are also the schools that might get official visits from the Alabama commit.

“I will be taking all five of my official visits, most of them will be taken after the season is over in November and December,” Leatherwood said of visits. “I have a pretty good idea of who I’m going to take them too, but I’m not ready to announce that yet. I know Florida will get one though.”

Florida, plus several other SEC teams and instate teams, will also get the chance to impress Leatherwood with their game day experience this fall.

“I will take a lot of unofficial visits this fall,” he said. “I know that I’m going to be at the LSU/Florida game for sure. I also want to visit Miami, LSU, Alabama and Florida State this fall. I don’t have any dates set for those yet.”

Despite all of the talk of visits, Leatherwood has remained very solid with Alabama but he says one school is after him the hardest.

“I’m still solid to Alabama in my commitment,” Leatherwood said. “Florida is the school pushing them the most though. That’s the biggest competition right now.”

As I mentioned in the opening if want to know how bad Gators fans want Leatherwood  just check out Twitter or social media and you will get your answer.

Leatherwood himself says that he has noticed the Gators fan after him and he isn’t upset about the attention.

“I’ve noticed them [Gator fans] coming at me on social media more now,” he said. “I like it, it’s good experience to have and to have all of these people appreciate you and want you is nice. They’re loving up on me.”

INSIDERS TAKE: Leatherwood says he will for sure be an early enrollee so he will be taking most of officials after the season is over with.

Andrew Spivey
Andrew always knew he wanted to be involved with sports in some capacity. He began by coaching high school football for six years before deciding to pursue a career in journalism. While coaching, he was a part of two state semifinal teams in the state of Alabama. Given his past coaching experience, he figured covering recruiting would be a perfect fit. He began his career as an intern for Rivals.com, covering University of Florida football recruiting. After interning with Rivals for six months, he joined the Gator Country family as a recruiting analyst. Andrew enjoys spending his free time on the golf course and watching his beloved Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewSpiveyGC.

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