The Florida football program has been hosting visitors since the reopening of the prep recruiting contact period, making many inroads with a plethora of prospects from around the nation.
While it will take some time for these efforts to bear fruit, the Gators are hoping that one of their recent visitors is impressed enough with the Orange and Blue to flip from another orange-and-blue Southeastern Conference school that he is already committed to.
Four-star offensive tackle [autotag]Tavaris Dice[/autotag] out of Fairburn (Georgia) Langston Hughes in the 2025 cycle is currently committed to the Auburn Tigers but made an extended visit to Gainesville last week. After having been to campus a few times in the past, the 6-foot-6-inch, 275-pound lineman was in town once again from Thursday to Saturday.
Highlights from Dice’s trip to Gainesville
The three-day stay in Hogtown permitted the high school junior ample time to get acquainted with the members of the program as well as the campus itself — including a glimpse at what daily life is like at the University of Florida.
“Being with the players and seeing their everyday schedules was a good experience,” Dice noted according to Swamp247. “That was a key thing for last weekend. I was with Caden Jones, and he was good to hang around. After being hurt last season he told me important parts about the program, and about how it’s been since he’s been there.”
The Peach State product finally got a chance meet the Gators’ new assistant offensive line coach John DeCoster in the process as well.
“I saw a lot of good things from coach DeCoster,” Dice said. “You can tell he’s going to put effort into changing the program especially bringing NFL knowledge into the program. That’s going to change things a lot for the o-line.
His stop also coincided with the team’s first spring scrimmage, which took place on Saturday.
“The scrimmage was intense, the practice was structured for the ones going at it on defense, and offense it was fun to be there and experience that.”
Finally, Dice got to speak with the head coach himself, Billy Napier, who offered some extremely encouraging words.
“They told me that coming there could change my life. They also said no matter how long I’m locked in with Auburn, the specific thing the head coach told me was ‘he’s coming’, and he’s never going to stop recruiting me until the process is over.”
Recruiting summary
Dice is ranked No. 252 overall and No. 26 at his position nationally according to the 247Sports composite while the On3 industry ranking has him at Nos. 241 and 22, respectively.
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