Coaches Billy Napier, Rob Sale and Darnell Stapleton are looking to revamp Florida’s offensive line unit after several years of subpar recruiting by former coaches Dan Mullen and John Hevesy. The new Gators staff so far have prioritized in-state targets like Payton Kirkland, Francis Mauigoa, and Tommy Kinsler.
Now Napier and Co. are trying to sway out-of-state recruits like four-star Samson Okunlola to venture down to the Swamp. Gators Online’s Corey Bender spoke to Okunlola this week about Florida’s attempts to get the No. 2-rated offensive tackle to campus.
The Brockton, Massachusetts product said he has spoken with Stapleton only a couple of times because he’s been consumed with wrestling and workouts.
“But overall, those couple of talks have been pretty good. He seems like a pretty good dude and a pretty good coach, so I’ll talk to him more and see how it is,” Okunlola said.
He added he’s spoken to Sale, too, and is excited about what he brings to the program after spending a season with the New York Giants.
If he did visit Gainesville, it wouldn’t be the first time that he’s visited the University of Florida. He previously visited last July under Mullen’s staff.
Besides the Gators offer, Okunlola has received the green light from other schools like Georgia, Ohio State, USC, Michigan, Notre Dame, LSU, Oklahoma and Texas A&M among others.
He said no visits are currently scheduled but all the schools mentioned are trying to secure a visit this spring. Okunlola also added that he hopes to trim his list of offers before the summer.
Looking ahead to the summer, he wants to take three to four and take the rest in the fall.
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