The official visit calendar is in full swing as Florida football hosts a myriad of prep prospects this month ahead of the 2023 college football season. Billy Napier and Co. have worked tirelessly to restock an empty cupboard left behind by the previous coaching staff and have undoubtedly gained some ground this offseason.
Among those who came away from this past weekend’s list of official visits was three-star tight end [autotag]Eric Karner[/autotag] out of Elmhurst (Illinois) Immaculate Conception, who made his first-ever trip to Gainesville. The 6-foot-5-inch, 220-pound rising high school senior knew very little about the program when he arrived, but by the time he departed on Sunday, he was a believer.
“Coming down here for the first time, I didn’t know much,” Karner told Swamp247. “They did a great job of explaining everything to me. Coach Russ (Callaway), he’s amazing, the way they run their offense. He was talking to me about how it fits me and my play style, which was amazing, and I think it correlates to how I play, which is a big factor for me. I love the head coach, coach (Billy) Napier, he’s awesome. And it feels like a really big family around here, so that’s going to be probably one of the driving factors in my decision.”
A month ago, Karner named his top-five schools, which consisted of the Texas A&M Aggies, Alabama Crimson Tide, Iowa Hawkeyes, Michigan State Spartans and Florida. It appears that the Gators have risen to the top of the list after his stop in Hogtown.
“It really bumped them, they’re probably at the top right now after this visit,” he offered. “(The visit) was great, it was really good.”
Karner is ranked No. 564 overall and No. 28 at his position nationally according to the 247Sports composite while the On3 industry ranking has him at Nos. 422 and 27, respectively. On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine has Iowa ahead of the pack with a 27.4% chance of signing him, while Michigan State (24.0%), Florida (15.6%) and Texas A&M (13.0%) trail closely behind.
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